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The Falcon of Sparta

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The Falcon of Sparta

By: Conn Iggulden
Narrated by: Michael Fox
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About this listen

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of The Falcon of Sparta by Conn Iggulden.

In the Ancient World, one army was feared above all others. This is their story.

When Cyrus, brother to the Great King of Persia, attempts to overthrow his reckless sibling, he employs a Greek mercenary army of 10,000 soldiers. When this army becomes stranded as a result of the unexpected death of Cyrus and then witnesses the treacherous murder of its entire officer corps, despair overtakes them.

One man, Xenophon, rallies the Greeks. As he attempts to lead them to freedom across 1,500 miles of hostile territory seething with adversaries, 10,000 men set off on the long way home.

©2018 Conn Iggulden (P)2018 Penguin Audio Action & Adventure Ancient Historical Fiction Fiction Ancient History Ancient Greece King

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I was starting to think that I wasn't quite so in thrall to Mr Iggulden after my two previous attempts at his books. Dunstan was a strong but slightly less spectacular historical novel while Darien from the Empire of Salt trilogy wasn't something I thought would set the fantasy genre alight no matter how brave he'd been to try something so new.

The Falcon of Sparta though sees Iggulden doing what I think he does best. Taking an historical tale of already epic proportions and bringing it to life for us. Giving us heroes, epic battles and a grand, impossible journey engineered by a quite unlikely champion of Greece! The sheer scale of what they attempted given the terrain and distance they needed to cross is one of the truly great stories of the Ancient Greeks.

The structure of the book is a little different with the narrative being carried by almost a relay team of lead characters. Michael Fox is the man charged with putting the breath into Persians and Greeks alike. He does a very sound job and is engaging throughout though I wouldn't say his performance is quite of the very top standard. He's certainly much better than some of the choices Conn or his publisher have made in the past - check out the Emperor series for the proof.

If you've enjoyed some of Iggulden's earlier historical fiction and want some more then this is a very worthwhile purchase.

Conn's Falcon Has Him Flying High Again!

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Great book but ruined by the synopsis telling of major character death that didn’t occur until 3/4 way through book. What total idiots.
Great book though

HUGE SPOILER IN SYNOPSIS. DON’T READ IT

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It's a good story, well written. The characters are cardboard for the most part, especially the Spartans. The author repeats certain phrases regularly which can be jarring at times. The ending was disappointing. But overall, I enjoyed the book.

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Felt as if I was there with the Greeks, really enjoyed this thrilling story. Highly recommended!

Really great experience!

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Gutted to have finished it. I wish it was part of a series. Great Book.

Gutted to have finished it.

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It wasn't long after reading Xenophons Anabis that I found Iggulden had written a book about it. I've read Igguldens series on the Mongolian Empire and I loved that. When I finished reading Xenophons Anabis I was thinking to myself why isn't this more main stream? Why isn't there a movie or a series about this? The 300 Spartans at Thermopylae is a great story but Xenophons march of the 10,000 is gripping. Iggulden really made it into a more outstanding and thoroughly enjoyable listen. Even though I knew the story going into it the way Iggulden wrote gave me so much hope for Cyrus the Young, and I feel like Clearchus of Sparta was spot on as a character. Highly recommended this book. I'll be picking up the paperback sometime even after listening to it.

Outstanding work

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The book was superb but the narrator wasn't that great. I wouldn't be able to listen to whiole book of him again

loved the book but didnt like the narrator

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This book is full of surprises.Like Game of Thrones don’t get too attached to any characters you like. It’s a pity there is not a book two. Would highly recommend - good narration.

A great short story

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1. Conn Iggulden is a great writer. I've listened to many of his books and they are all wonderfully written stories which, in most cases, are made better by the narration.

2. The narration in this book is a huge disappointment and emphasises how important the role of the narrator is in an audio book.

3. The delivery is sometimes indistinct, often rushed and devoid of character and appropriate cadence. The range and delivery of the characters imagined voices are aimed at 2 main types, noblemen or gruff Yorkshireman and are all generally weak.

Even if the narrator is not as good as some others, there is no excuse for the lack of clarity of some words in an audio book.

A real shame. I couldnt wait to get to the end but not for the normal reasons when listening to an Iggulden book.

Epic story made dismal by bad narration

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I knew the history before listening to the book. The narrator immediately captured my attention and held it throughout the chapters. Knowing what would happen made it no less enjoyable as the tail grew in the telling and the dry history became flesh and blood. I shall certainly listen to it again but first I will return to the original and read Xenophon's own account again.

Great story magnificently told

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