I was so impressed
with book one in this series, the author's debut book, and had given
it such a glowing review that when it came to reading book two,
World on Fire, I had unfairly attached too much baggage to the book. It
was one of the reasons that it took me so long to actually read it,
when I should have been reading it soon after the release.
Book one in the
Spoils of Olympus series had its flaws. It was, after all and as
mentioned, a debut, and you have to forgive debuts their training
wheels....if the book shows enough promise despite them. And I
thought it had ample promise. Enough ample promise that I took it
personally that here was a American male author writing very well in
the historical fiction sub genre of Ancient History, and what is it
that I feel the United States is missing out on these days? American
male authors writing very well in the historical fiction sub genre of
Ancient History. The United Kingdom has plenty of successful authors
in this sub genre, but where are the Americans?
I digress...
Yes, there was ample
promise and in part it was that, and not the flaws, that made me drag
my heels before jumping into World on Fire.
Sometimes, authors
put everything they've got into their debut. The first book is often
something they have been sitting on for a long time, years even. They
write them, rewrite them, leave them, come back to them, rewrite
them. Burning the candle at both ends researching, obsessing,
worrying.
If they are lucky, a
good solid first book pops out from this maelstrom of literary
process and ritual.
Christian Kachel is
one of those lucky ones. His first book was an impressive debut, but
as for book two, could he do it again? Or ideally, do it better?
Book two is no longer
a debut. By book two you are an author, no longer a novice. Time to
be taken more seriously.
I was nervous. For
the book. For him.
I need not have been.
He did just fine.
World on Fire was a
more polished and readable offering from cover to cover than its
predecessor. Both in storyline and in writing quality. That isn't to
say that
By The Sword was poor writing. It was well written, but it
did fall down sometimes and it did need some fat sliced away from
long protracted scenes and flashbacks. World on Fire is more
professional in many ways. I really enjoyed where his head was at in
this book and I was practically glowing with relief as I read it.
I think the author
learned a lot about his writing after getting that debut out of the
way and out of his system. He is really starting to shine as an
historical fiction author and I am eager to see what is to come down
the track with book three in the works.
I think Christian
Kachel can stand proud, shoulder to shoulder with any of his
historical fiction peers - whatever the country, whoever the
publisher – that currently write in periods of Ancient history.
The book is
wonderfully readable. In saying that, the love story and emotion
driven elements were not written as well, but once I hit those scenes
and got over that hump, the book continued to be a terrific way to
while away my reading hours. His peers can make these same mistakes
with love story and relationship elements. He's not alone in that.
Some authors write from a different part of their mind when dealing
with love and emotion and many readers can sense the shift. But,
when he digs into the theatre of war and the espionage, he does it as
good, if not better, than so many of those peers.
You can tell a lot
from an author by his or her ability to create a battlefield in the
mind's eye of the reader. It is not easy, with all that goes on, to
weave it all into a nearly tangible experience.
I am not sure if this
following quote conveys my meaning, because it is pulled out of
context. When you are swallowed by a story, sometimes you need the
reading fug of crescendo and excitement attached. Ripped from its
context the fug is washed away.
Risking that
cleansing, here is a quote as example of how this author conveys his
battlefield vision.
“Antigonus took his usual place on the far right flank alongside
his son, Demetrius, and lined his sixty-five elephants in a single
rank in front of his entire army. This was an admission of our
phalanx's superiority due to the Silver Shields and the old veteran
hoped to bolster his phalangites with the presence of the
intimidating beasts. He placed light infantry in the gaps between
the animals to solidify this front rank. As Eumenes gave the
order for the horns to blow, our army lurched forward and the dust
cloud expanded to a point where I had to squint my eyes.....
…..As the armies neared, I could hear the terrible shrieks of
elephants engaging each other in the centre of our formation. Their
brutal encounters consisted of violently locking tusks and attempting
to gore one another while their mahouts rained down missiles. The
front ranks of our cavalry now engaged Antigonus' right flank. The dust had kicked
up to such a point that I could not see the front line of our
formation and knew we had reached the enemy only by the halt in our
advance.”
On that, I have to
wind up my review. All I can say to finish is, that if you like what
you read there, then read the book for yourself and let me know what
you thought. The author has recapped book one in this second book, so
I believe you can read World on Fire without reading By The Sword
first, but why would you want to?
Special shout out to
Americans....if you are an American or live in America, I definitely
recommend this book to you. Support your American male authors if
they write in Ancient History. Good quality ones are a rare flower
and should be encouraged to keep writing and keep writing well.
Maybe one day, the
more influential publishers will notice and you will start to see
more Ancient History historical fiction written by male authors on
the shelves of your local book stores and libraries.
*
5 stars out of 5
Note: I received this book from the author for review. The author understood that I value my integrity and would be completely honest. And so I was, as I always am.
- MM
