Rating: 
Summary: An experience not to be forgotten
Review: Having read Gates of Fire and Tides of War, I was lead to this novel yearning for more brilliance from Pressfield. Yet, what I received, left me surprised... to say the least.
The book was a work of art, and it was my pleasure to partake in it. I became engrossed immediately, and was unable to separate myself from the story being told. Everything was written brilliantly, with nothing left to criticize. Upon finishing the book, I felt a profound sadness over the events that occured in the book. Absolutely Great Read.
Rating: 
Summary: Decent
Review: I agree with an earlier review that Last of the Amazons suffers in comparison to Pressfields opus, Gates of Fire. It's a shame that Pressfield set expectations so high, as his last book, Tides of War, was not even close. This one is a bit better than Tides of War.Pressfield shines when he describes battle and action. His war scenes are wonderful, not overly descriptive but not abstract either. It's a cliche but you do feel like you are there in a sense. The same goes for his adventure scenes. Pressfield also does a great job of research and imagination, as there is little real evidence of an Amazonian civilization. Pressfield handles the daunting task of inventing a new civilization and its structures well. However, I felt the description often became too detailed, as to muddle the impact of the main points. The faults are major. The narrative structure Pressfield uses is distracting to say the least. Resulting from that, the reader never really feels they have a grasp of the characters. The main characters just aren't examined the right way, in my opinion. This results in lost interest for any of the characters. The dialogue is awkward and stilted. It just lacks a personality. Improvement of Tides of War, but far below Gates of Fire.
Rating:
Summary: Legend beautifully told and characters wonderfully realized!
Review: I loved Gates of Fire but I think Pressfield has done and incredibly fine job and even better with The Last of the Amazons. Based in myth, these characters are terribly real, particularly the narrator 12 year old Bones, Selene (representing the Amazons) and Damon (representing the Athenians). The ending, with the great battle at the Acropolis, was one of the best (and bloodiest) battle scenes I've ever read. If you've visited the Acropolis, you can really understand the geography of this vicious battle. I had tears in my eyes as
I finished the book. Stick with it. Its's wonderful!
Rating: 
Summary: A good story, I enjoyed this book.
Review: I really, really enjoyed this book. A lot of people say it isn't as good as some of his others, or so it seems, so I'll definitely have to check those out, this being my first Pressfield novel. I won't bother to summarize it; plenty of other reviews do that, and I'm not good at it. At first, I found it hard to get into. I wasn't really sure where the story was going for a while - Bones' present? Her early life? I found the characters not too interesting to me during this first part, although after Selene runs away and Europa tells Bones she will follow, it really picked up. Some people said they couldn't get into the characters. Bones - wasn't too interested. Damon - I loved him at some parts, but others...I just hated Theseus. But Selene, Antiope, Eleuthera - these were some of my favorites. I loved them because to me, they represented the tragedy of the Amazons and their lifestyle (at least judging by this book, and one other I've read - so I claim to be no expert on their culture, as it actually was - my whole experience of them is through fiction). Antiope, recognizing the future of her people. Eleuthera, determined to preserve it. Selene, the only Amazon to be caught so thoroughly between two worlds. My favorite chapter was the Agony of Antiope. To me, it was the most tragic moment in the book. I got a very powerful image of Antiope in my mind, where a (I believe it was Stratonike's?) charge pushed her backwards, and she pulled herself back up to keep on fighting. On the other hand, there were plenty of characters I didn't care about. Bones I felt almost no emotion towards until the end, where I felt a little bit of compassion for her. Damon's perspective was intersting, but largely uninteresting, although at some points, he peaked and was one of my favorite characters. His narrative though, when he was not directly involved with the Amazons, was a little boring, especially during the prolonged battle scenes. I actually enjoyed the battle scenes a lot for the most part, but when it was Damon..."I ran away from battle, almost got killed five times - hey, let me tell you about each one!" The gore was bland in his narratives about the great battle against Athens. Selene's narratives during this period I found to be much more interesting, since the Amazon's tactics kept me engaged. Selene's ending, Antiope's ending, and Eleuthera's were done very well, I thought. The way Bones ended up...I didn't like that, it seemed very unnecessary, although I won't spoil the book. Basically, I liked the Amazons (although they struck me as unrealistic at times - I mean, one day they'd kill small baby girls with the Scyths, another they'd invite them eagerly to join - around Athens, I think), and I liked Selene's narrative the most. Some of the characters were bland, but those whose struggle I came to appreciate, I really cared about by the end, more in an epic sense though, than in a human sense. It was an engaging read for me.
Rating:
Summary: A good story, I enjoyed this book.
Review: I really, really enjoyed this book. A lot of people say it isn't as good as some of his others, or so it seems, so I'll definitely have to check those out, this being my first Pressfield novel. I won't bother to summarize it; plenty of other reviews do that, and I'm not good at it. At first, I found it hard to get into. I wasn't really sure where the story was going for a while - Bones' present? Her early life? I found the characters not too interesting to me during this first part, although after Selene runs away and Europa tells Bones she will follow, it really picked up. Some people said they couldn't get into the characters. Bones - wasn't too interested. Damon - I loved him at some parts, but others...I just hated Theseus. But Selene, Antiope, Eleuthera - these were some of my favorites. I loved them because to me, they represented the tragedy of the Amazons and their lifestyle (at least judging by this book, and one other I've read - so I claim to be no expert on their culture, as it actually was - my whole experience of them is through fiction). Antiope, recognizing the future of her people. Eleuthera, determined to preserve it. Selene, the only Amazon to be caught so thoroughly between two worlds. My favorite chapter was the Agony of Antiope. To me, it was the most tragic moment in the book. I got a very powerful image of Antiope in my mind, where a (I believe it was Stratonike's?) charge pushed her backwards, and she pulled herself back up to keep on fighting. On the other hand, there were plenty of characters I didn't care about. Bones I felt almost no emotion towards until the end, where I felt a little bit of compassion for her. Damon's perspective was intersting, but largely uninteresting, although at some points, he peaked and was one of my favorite characters. His narrative though, when he was not directly involved with the Amazons, was a little boring, especially during the prolonged battle scenes. I actually enjoyed the battle scenes a lot for the most part, but when it was Damon..."I ran away from battle, almost got killed five times - hey, let me tell you about each one!" The gore was bland in his narratives about the great battle against Athens. Selene's narratives during this period I found to be much more interesting, since the Amazon's tactics kept me engaged. Selene's ending, Antiope's ending, and Eleuthera's were done very well, I thought. The way Bones ended up...I didn't like that, it seemed very unnecessary, although I won't spoil the book. Basically, I liked the Amazons (although they struck me as unrealistic at times - I mean, one day they'd kill small baby girls with the Scyths, another they'd invite them eagerly to join - around Athens, I think), and I liked Selene's narrative the most. Some of the characters were bland, but those whose struggle I came to appreciate, I really cared about by the end, more in an epic sense though, than in a human sense. It was an engaging read for me.
Rating: 
Summary: Should make a great Hollywood bimbo Amazon movie
Review: I was hoping for a novel that would try to put the Amzon myth into something that would appear to be realistic as a society, but to me it failed badly. It uses a lot of the old cliche stuff about Amazons, much of which comes from those awful Italian Amazon movies rather than myth. The book is jumbled, it flips about from chapter to chapter so you never really get the story to flow. The author spends a lot of time describing in great detail fairly unimportant aspects of Amazon life, yet we don't really get any detail on their politics or history as told by them. They are depicted as living apart from men, yet quite happily for alliegences with them. Why? As an example, I'd have liked to have known what an Amazon woman thinks the first time she mates, how she feels to carry a child and how she looks upon giving birth to a son and having to give him away. I can just see this book making a great Hollywood B movie (which I understand is in the offing?) starring a few blond bimbo actresses. The book tries to weave all of the Cliche Amazon myths into the story. The author even adds a bit at the end over the now infamous grave mounds in Russia. And as for the fight scenes, the Amazons appear almost invincible, yet end up getting wiped out. This would have been more believable if their leaders had been seen to make mistakes throughout the war with Athens. I was hoping for a something much more about the Amazon way of life, but it failed for me.
Rating:
Summary: WELL RESEARCHED, GRIPPING FICTION
Review: I'll admit - I was caught up in it and was impressed. Years ago I had read Kleinbaum's THE WAR AGAINST THE AMAZONS, which covered the various depictions of Amazons in the arts: literature and film particularly. In that book she listed all the novels that had been written up to that time and synopsized them. None of them sounded interesting to me because they didn't seem to have come close to even the original myths. This novel though is different. Pressfield did his research and in some ways his depiction of the Amazons is more humane, more centered, and less didactic than previous authors' depictions have been. He is telling an epic story based on classical legends and apparently also on recent archaeological evidence and not forwarding some agenda - women better than men, men better than women, the whole Amazon equals Lesbian blur. I appreciated that aspect of this novel. Pressfield really made an effort to imagine what the 'Amazonian' tribes might have been like.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing like it
Review: I've never read one of Steven Pressfield's books before. I happened to pick this one up by accident as I was waiting to pick up my friend. And from that moment, I could not put it down. You become attached to the characters ... and invested in the Amazon way of life, cheering for their successes, and feeling loss in their defeats. This is one of those books that you do not want to end - but maybe that's also because with the end of the novel comes the end of the Amazons. I am in withdraw now, desperately searching for another work to fill the void.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing like it
Review: I've never read one of Steven Pressfield's books before. I happened to pick this one up by accident as I was waiting to pick up my friend. And from that moment, I could not put it down. You become attached to the characters ... and invested in the Amazon way of life, cheering for their successes, and feeling loss in their defeats. This is one of those books that you do not want to end - but maybe that's also because with the end of the novel comes the end of the Amazons. I am in withdraw now, desperately searching for another work to fill the void.
Rating:
Summary: Selene Rocks
Review: Imagine being raised by a warrior woman who teaches and instills in you her values of life. This is the case with two young Athenians in Steven Pressfield's latest novel Last of the Amazons. Mother Bones, the narrator and her sister Europa's nanny was Selene an Amazon woman who had exchanged her freedom for that of her lover, Eleuthera during the Amazons' siege of Athens and subsequent defeat. Selene taught the sisters the lessons she felt were necessary. They were cuffed soundly for misbehavior and cowardice was not accepted. Selene was supported by their father who believed that girls should learn to ride and run to be an asset to society. When Selene learns of Eleuthera's illness she departs in dramatic fashion with Athenians giving chase to her across the Black Sea. This event set off a great odyssey to recapture Selene. During the journey we learn of events of the past which have led to this point. Steven Pressfield has a way of bringing life to ancient Greece. This latest novel infuses life and breath into ancient myths about the Amazon. They are present as ancient warriors who are both feared and admired. Pressfield's Amazons were tied to the earth and acted with great moral dignity. The Amazons are great riders who communicated silently with their horses. Putting it mildly Selene rocks. She is a great character, strong, an amazing fighter, with hints of femininity and vulnerability. Selene is fearless. She faces each challenge with bravery and dignity. She never backs down or shies away from meeting an enemy. During her life she has known freedom, servitude, love, hate, war and peace and faced each one with the dignity expected of a mythic character. Throughout the book the reader feels kinship and support for this valiant woman. The Last of the Amazons is an eminently readable book, which moves faster and more fluidly than Pressfield's previous book Tides of War. I had trouble putting it down and was delighted to find a feminine character of such strength and fortitude.
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