Poseidon's Spear

The Long War, Book 3

By: Christian Cameron

Narrated by: Peter Noble

Length: 19 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

An epic novel from the master of historical fiction, author of Alexander: God of War.

Arimnestos of Plataea is a man who has seen and done things that most men only dream about. Sold into slavery as a boy, he fought his way to freedom - and then to everlasting fame: standing alongside the Athenians at the Battle of Marathon where the Greeks crushed the invading Persians.

Sometimes, however, a man's greatest triumph is followed by his greatest sorrow. Returning to his farm, Arimnestos finds that his wife, Euphoria, has died in childbirth, and in an instant his laurels turn to dust. But the gods are not finished with Arimnestos yet. With nothing left to live for, he throws himself from a cliff into the sea, only to be pulled by strong arms from death's embrace. When he awakes, he finds himself chained to an oar in a Phoenician trireme.

And so begins an epic journey that will take Arimnestos and a motley crew of fellow galley slaves to the limits of their courage, and beyond the edge of the known world, in a quest for freedom, revenge - and a cargo so precious it's worth dying for.

©2019 Christian Cameron (P)2019 Orion Publishing Group

Critic reviews

"Brilliantly evoked." (Sunday Times)

Brilliant

Just brilliant. Delightful and captivating with a wonderful tale that continues be engrossing with enough historical accuracy to please an avid philhellene. The narrator is an ideal fit and brings the story to life.

All around A+

The things I love about this series; Peter noble is an exceptional narrator, a rich sprinkle of historical context, believable characters, and an exception story. I could not ask for more.

I’m going broke it is too good

Can’t get enough of this author. The story is familiar yet told better than most with great characters. These characters told from one point of view in an old story teller style. I can’t do it justice!!

This book is a wild ride

Christian is a genius and Peter Noble, in my view, is the BEST narrator, EVER!! I didn’t think there was a better series than Christian’s Tyrant series… this is its equal and perhaps better !!!

Another 5 stars for Cameron and Mr.Noble.

Another great book in the series. This author is really one to watch. Peter noble is one of the best voices on here. The story is really engaging and keeps you wanting to listen more. I bought the 4th book even before I finished the 3rd.

Excelente

Una serie de libros atrapante y muy bien narrada. Disfruté todo el libro sin perder interes.

Best in series (The Long War)

This book was more of a swash buckling adventure tale. It followed the many ups and downs of the main character, his loves his losses, and triumphant victories over the many obstacles in his path. I think it's the best in the series so far.

VERY GOOD!

I have to preface this by saying that the first in the series, Killer of Men, almost dissuaded me from continuing with this author since it seemed overly preoccupied with graphic but repetitive and eventually tedious descriptions of gory battle incidents. I mean how many times really do you have to read that 'the sword point pierced his throat and blood pumped in a torrent onto the sand' to satisfy some craving for the pretense of verisimilitude? Once every few hours might be enough, but once every thirty minutes was stretching the friendship.

So I was very hesitant to start this third in the series, my finger poised on the 'exchange this title' button (I skipped the second book, Marathon, because being about a famous battle I was sure it had to raise the blood and gore stakes even higher than the first). And I have been pleasantly surprised because it seems the author is actually capable of telling an inventive and not hackneyed tale set in the distant historical past of pre-Republican Rome and Greece. I am impressed and now feel encouraged to rank Cameron in the same general upper range of historical novelists with Cornwell, Colleen McCullough, GMF, Graves and the all-time champion Patrick O'Brian.

Although at times Cameron drops into heavy padding and goofy repetition to labor a point, such as 'we rowed and rowed and rowed and rowed and rowed and...(OK I get it!) and some plot devices still have their 2 for 1 sales tags in place, mostly what he gives us is a very fast moving tale that satisfies and doesn't disappoint while staying interesting and somewhat unpredictable enough to keep the listener reaching forward to the next chapter.

I have already purchased the next in the series, so I definitely recommend the author. The first novel can be more easily enjoyed if you preset the skip forward option to 90 secs.

Excellent as always

Once again, superb book written and performed by the masters. Looking forward to the next.

The twist

I usually disapprove of an author of historical fiction weaving some sorta eisogesis into the tale. I prefer to evaluate a character(s) in their time and culture, which, obviously, would differ drastically from my own time and place in the world's story. I can't stand it when someone tries to overlay current ethos upon those who were there.
I wasn't there in that moment, in that culture, knowing only what they knew, boots on ground.
Cameron does insinuate his biases, but neatly so.
I appreciate that it's neither subtle nor blatant.
Just a "there it is, let the chips fall where they may"