Gates of Fire

Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: This is one of the best books i have ever read. It tells about a spartans life and has really cool battles. I really suggest this book but it is a very hard book.

Rating:
Summary: Stranger Passing By...
Review: Having first read Pressfield's 'Tides of War', I was impressed with his acumen with writing about classical history. I was in awe at the scope of the novel, haunted by descriptions of the horrors of war in those days, but left a little unsettled by how 'textbook' this 'novel' felt. It seemed as though I were reading a fiction writer's first foray into education material, albeit an excellent foray.

But with the excellent 'Gates of Fire', published prior to 'Tides', Pressfield far surpassed my initial impression of his skills as a chronicler of this story matter. Here the voice of Xeones, squire to a Spartan warrior and lone survivor of the battle of Thermopylae, recounts his early childhood, induction in the Spartan army, and service to his master, Dienekes, through many bloody battles as three hundred Spartans fight to the last man, which is their ultimate undoing.

I experienced a similar result (in terms of reading a second novel prior to reading a first) with author Gregory Maguire. Perhaps reading them out of succession, however, was all for the best, as this novel far exceeded my expectations.

Full of classical lore, fascinating war/action sequences, this true gem of modern chronicling of ancient history serves up a far better dose of humanity for it's characters than does Tides of War. Xeones, in relating his tale, fleshes out those who greatly influenced his life, to the degree that the reader feels the layers of complexity to each character, from start to finish.

Don't get me wrong, I loved both books, but this one had a lot more 'heart' to it, and therefore captured my attention more acutely.

Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: A book for keeps,
Review: Great. (Just to be laconic...)


PS; For those without a sense of humor/history let's add:
Could'nt put it down. Get it. (The rest of reviewers has already said it all). One of the Top Ten ever Historical Novels. Enjoy.
The build up of the plot and the battle itself are masterfully crafted, hoplite combat was a really HOMERIC experience, and you can actually FEEL the blood&sweat&tears of CLOSE COMBAT (no shooting wnen you see the whites of their eyes nonsense there!, or to be really politically incorrect everybody understood what the meaning of "taking care of the wounded" was at that time... An heroic/gutsy/nasty/brutal period of warfare (does the term "evolution" really applies to warfare???... well, I guess technically speaking this is probably too true... but not on the MAIN level...).
A VERY GOOD ACOUNT OF AN HISTORICAL BATTLE IS A REALLY RARE PIECE OF NARRATIVE. SO BETTER READ IT.

Rating:
Summary: An all-time favorite
Review: This book took me about 50 pages to get into. I think it's the language used that held me up slightly. But once I got into it I barely put it down. The book tells the true story of 300 Spartans warriors who gather a patchwork of Greek soldiers and hold off an army of nearly a million Persian soldiers.

The key to the story's quality is the excellent character development by Pressfield. As a reader, you really become involved with the characters and care about their fate. In addition, there are many lessons about leadership strewn throughout the story and the battle scenes place you right in the action. The result is a book that is nearly impossible to put down that leaves you sorry it's over.

A must read.

Rating:
Summary: The inside story of one of the greatest battles of all time
Review: Gates of Fire was a book on tape we listened to during our holiday road trip. This book wasn't read by the author, but by some actor who seems to do nothing else. He missed some pronunciations, but was quite good overall.

The Battle of Thermopylae, in which 300 Spartans and a few thousand other Greeks held off the largest army ever assembled--by some estimates, nearly 2 million--is one of the greatest stories of valor and heroism that exists. Now a monument at the side of the highway marks the spot, where few bother to stop. You can still climb the hillock on top of which the Greeks placed a simple carved plaque to commemorate the battle. It read, in Pressfield's awkward translation: "Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here, obedient to their laws, we lie."

In fact, the 300 were a suicide squad, sent to placate the Greeks while enabling the Spartans to ready the defense of the Pelopponese, the western part of Greece. They died to a man, save one soldier who suffered battle blindness and was later beaten and shunned for his cowardice by the Spartan women.

As far as historical fiction goes, Gates of Fire is much less fiction than most. Much is known about Thermopylae and the events leading up to and surrounding it. Pressfield makes what would otherwise be a history book much more readable by telling the story through the squire of one of the Spartan "knights," who is discovered barely alive and brought to Xerxes, the Great King of Persia.

Through Ziones, the squire, Pressfield relates the Spartan training tactics and regimen in great detail, discusses the specifics of armor and weaponry, and the brutality of battle. By the second day, he says, the sand in the narrow pass of Thermopylae was so full of blood the soldiers were fighting up to their knees in mud-bloody sand. When they weren't fighting on dead bodies, that is.

The Spartans and their allies inflicted enormous casualties on the gargantuan Persian army, but in the end, only halted its progress by three days. In that time, however, the Athenians were able to vacate their city and take refuge on Salamis and in their navy, which utterly destroyed the Persian fleet. This victory, in turn, led to a rout the following summer, when Xerxes's army, left behind to "mop up" under General Mardonius, was soundly defeated.

Essentially, Pressfield takes a well-known history lesson and turns it into a page-turning story. It takes a while for the action to build, but when it does, the reader will be drawn in and unable to stop turning the pages. Classicists may nitpick Pressfield's research, but the book really is quite accurate in its details.

I loved this book, but then, I knew Pressfield could hardly ruin a historical moment that always brings a tear to my eyes. Anyone who likes action stories, stories of courage and perseverance, military history, ancient Greece, or history will enjoy this book. Pretty much any guy, for sure, and many women. Only if you are looking for romance should you try something else (maybe Sappho's Leap, below, but don't expect to be too impressed). There is a romance subplot or two in Gates of Fire, but they serve mainly to shed some light on the lives of Greek--particularly Spartan--women.

Pick up this book!

Rating:
Summary: Gates of Fire
Review: Gates of Fire, wow, there are only a few words that can describe this incredible book. This book is extremely descriptive, funny, bold, and I just couldn't put it down. I really got drawn into this book and started to visualize what I would have been like to be a spartan soilder. Having to go through all the brutal and rigorous training they had to endure. All the sparing and fighting, plus all of the injuries they had to cope with just to keep up. Injuries where the normal person would just quit amd give up, but not a spartan soilder they just kept on fighting. A Spartan soilder would fight until he took his last breath. He would fight even if he had and 8 footer through his chest or his guts were hanging out. They were just not the normal everyday warriors.

Rating:
Summary: Insightful and interesting. Excellent historical fiction.
Review: This historical novel tells the famous story of how three hundred Spartan soldiers and a few allies and auxiliaries held a crucial mountain pass against a huge Persian army bent on conquering Greece. The novel puts this remarkable historic event from the ancient world into an interesting perspective for the 21st century reader.

The main thing that I got out of the novel is the reason for the extreme military nature of Sparta, and indeed many/most of the ancient Greek city states. Basically, every Greek city and citizen lived in constant danger of being subdued militarily by any of many military rivals. The consequences of such vanquishment were severe--the men killed, the women ravished, the children enslaved. Only constant military vigilance could prevent this, and I suppose Sparta represented this determination not to be defeated at its extreme. As the novel relates in gruesome detail, each Spartan boy underwent military training the harshness of which is difficult to overstate. US Marine boot camp is a holiday excursion in comparison. The entire society and its mores of duty, honor, and service represented a determination to preserve the independence and freedom of the Spartan city-state.

The fact that Greece bordered Asia, where the Persian empire repeatedly sought to overrun Greece added to the need for Sparta and other Greek states to remain militarized. The novel relates indirectly the truism of military technology since ancient times, which is that no Western army has ever been defeated other than by another Western-style army. The Persian King in this novel learns that although he has a huge army, very few of his soldiers are in the same class of skill and technology as the Greeks he seeks to conquer.

The novel cannot be called a quick and easy read, but once the reader gets into the story, it becomes hard to put down. The strong point of the novel and story in my opinion are the author's insights into the nature and motivations of the ancient world and the reason for Sparta's militarism. A novel that can convey all that is well worth reading. Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Welcome to Thermopylae
Review: Engrossing, fast paced, action packed, historical novel places the reader in the center of one of history's greatest battles. Very crisp reading, giving an insight into life in ancient Hellas, especially the area which has come to be known as Sparta. Pressfield has a talent for making the past come alive through individual characters we can empathize with, in spite of their distance in time and space. Really enjoyable, but you may want to go buy a hoplite spear on e-bay when you're done.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: Steven Pressfield's Gates of Fire was a superb book with minor flaws. One of my favorite things in Gates of Fire was learning about the Spartan culture. For example, I learned that boys were raised to be soldiers. The Spartan boys went through very rigorous training in which one of the things they were taught was to have total control over themselves. The purpose of this self-control was to resist fear. I could see myself among the Spartans. I also enjoyed many characters in this book. Leonidas, King of Sparta, was one of the noblest of these characters. He led 300 Spartans and 3 to 4 thousands Greek soldiers allied to Sparta. The Greeks kept the Persians at bay for seven days at Thermopylae. All seven days Leonidas put up with discomfort and fought on the Greek front lines. The Greeks at Thermopylae loved and revered the Spartan king. Leonidas was a truly impressive character.
There were some things about Gates of Fire I didn't like. For one, Pressfield had a character use the word "tomato." The Greeks had no idea what a tomato was or how it looked, because the tomato was native to South America, not Europe or Asia. Therefore the use of the word "tomato" was an anachronism. There was also a character in the book who wasn't totally believable. The character's name was Polynikes. At the start of the book Polynikes was an arrogant and more than a little sadistic Spartan. Polynikes punished Alexandros (a child at the time) mercilessly. By the end of the book, Polynikes had become a righteous Spartan who saved Alexandros (now a Spartan soldier) from the Persians. I believed that Polynikes would have saved Alexandros during combat, but the fact that Polynikes had transformed into a loving and respectful person seemed too good to be true.
Gates of Fire had its moments. Most of the time this book was a thrilling page-turner, but there were some unnecessarily repetitious passages describing the gore of battle. Despite the anachronism and the one unbelievable character, I thoroughly enjoyed Gates of Fire. I recommend this book to people who love the Greeks and their internecine wars. This version of the Battle of Thermopylae was an eye opener to me in terms of Sparta and her citizens. Read it, it's a great book!


Rating:
Summary: Spartan tale told in a spartan manner
Review: In contrast to his expansive 'Tides of War', Pressfield chose a spartan style in telling this Spartan tale of courage and sacrifice. While reading the book, I found the minimal characterization and description rather annoying, e.g. how did the protagonist actually feel when he saw his cousin all cleaned up and dressed up, other than that "I almost did not recognize her"? In the end, however, I ended up appreciating that the most powerful experience or emotion in one's life are often hidden and unexpressed. At the end of the book, what exactly went thru the cousin's mind at the cemetary are left completely to reader's imagination and, as a result, the stunning impact of this book continues long after reading is done. This has to be one of the most thought-provoking books I've read in my life. It's unfortunate, though, the lack of a sophisticated literary style will prevent it from becoming an immortal classic (e.g. Wharton's "Age of Innocence"). This book had a great potential to be truly extraordinary, but fell just short. It's still a very good book. Also recommended: Ambrose's "Band of Brothers".