Killer of Men

The Long War, Book 1

By: Christian Cameron

Narrated by: Peter Noble

Length: 19 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's Summary

In the epic clash of Greece and Persia, a hero is forged - a monumental novel from the author of the Tyrant series.  

Arimnestos is a farm boy when war breaks out between the citizens of his native Plataea and their overbearing neighbours, Thebes. Standing in the battle line for the first time, alongside his father and brother, he shares in a famous and unlikely victory. But after being knocked unconscious in the melee, he awakes not a hero but a slave.  

Betrayed by his jealous and cowardly cousin, the freedom he fought for has now vanished, and he becomes the property of a rich citizen. So begins an epic journey out of slavery that takes the young Arimnestos through a world poised on the brink of an epic confrontation, as the emerging civilisation of the Greeks starts to flex its muscles against the established empire of the Persians.   

As he tries to make his fortune and revenge himself on the man who disinherited him, Arimnestos discovers that he has a talent that pays well in this new, violent world - for like his hero, Achilles, he is 'a killer of men'.

©2019 Christian Cameron (P)2019 Orion Publishing Group

Absolutely fantastic

I love historical fiction, but I've been spoiled by the likes of George MacDonald Fraser, Bernard Cornwell, Gary Jennings, and the like. Long books with fascinating characters, intriguing historical detail, unbelievable worldbuilding, plots and schemes and wars so thick and fast you can't bear to stop reading (or listening) even for an instant.

I have tried many other authors and series, but am consistently disappointed. I thought I had found all the good historical novels that are out there.

I was wrong. This book is a work of staggering skill and talent; all I said above, about Cornwell and Fraser, applies here. The tale rings true and never slackens in its relentless, addictive, interesting action and character and detail. 5 stars for sure.

Mixing adventure and philosophy

I felt this book started a bit slow, however, about 1/4 of the way through it really picked up. After that, it was a constant treat to listen.

The story is one of struggle, growth, mastery and wisdom. As the protagonist suffers and deals with his injustice, he processes his rage, first through fury and ultimately through submission to law. It is a good story with excellent themes and I will certainly but the second work and continue.

Equal to Saxon Tales

Have now finished all 6 in the series and loved it. Like discovering another Uhtred-like protagonist. Mature, compelling, and well-researched writing. Excellent narration. A broad, epic story full of heroes from history. Having little background in the geography of ancient Greece, I had to refer many many times to maps found online to orient myself to events of the story.

Greek Uhtred

If you're a fan of Bernard Cornwell's series' as well as a fan of Hellenic history then this is the series for you. In a similar fashion as Cornwell, the main character's story parallels the major event and figures of the era, in this case the beginning of the Persian Wars and the Ionian revolt. A must for any fan of historical fiction. The narrator is iffy at first but ultimately fits the mold perfectly.

Slow Start But Action Packed

It took a while to get used to the first person narrative but the story line and narrator were excellent. Lots of action just like the title suggests.

wow

I can't believe how hooked I was on this fantastic book. do yourself a favor. give this a listen

enthralling

I was glued to every word. straight on to the next next book. great narrator.

Not Terrible

Strange, overdone narration by Noble. Every sentence trails off for DRAMA. To be fair to Noble, the book is written with a strange, overdone voice so he’s somewhat just reflecting that and the silly trick Cameron employs of the writing being a transcript of an old man talking to a young girl. Unfortunately, the young girl is us, so we get, for example, to experience being called "honey" by Noble a few hundred times seemingly right through the fourth wall. Probably even more annoying for female listeners, but plenty irritating as a male listener. The plot is easily predicted before every turn. Much of it dwells on the cookie-cutter adolescent behavior of the main character. Of course, every adolescent boy since their invention is as predictable and boring, but that’s why good tales skip over adolescence, slightly reminisce about it sure, but not dwell in depth on every teenage "romance". In between the pathetic tales of boyhood relationships , there are some brief lapses into history, battle, and other adult tales with actual depth and interesting perspective. Enjoyable but liberal use of fast forward recommended.

Unexpectantly Brilliant - Giant Historical Fiction

As a Giant fan of Bernard, Willbur, Simon etc. I was expecting this to be half decent, maybe a bit slow to start taking head of the other reviews. But he NAILED war and battle the adrenaline feeling alike surprised me as one of the best action writers. Of course it starts slow but is well worth it by chapter 5 onward. Give it a shot <3

yep

one of the best books I have heard so far. great story. great delivery. just all around great

Killer of a Book!

An old man tells the story of his incredible life to the young, I've been here before, most recently with Angus Donald's most excellent Robin Hood series and I have to say this is right up there. This time, it's a venerable Arimnestos, once a young farm boy who becomes a very young warrior only to find himself enslaved. What unfolds is an incredibly vivid tale of war, destruction, forbidden love and one man's journey within a truly epic ancient conflict. I found the slavery part particularly engaging as it took a quite unexpected direction compared to the norm for novels of this type.

Like a lot of old men, the old Arimnestos is guilty of a bit of repetition and possibly Cameron was let down a little by his editors as the brief sequences where we come out of the story and back to the storyteller and his young listeners are a tad grating as he says the same thing time after time. This might annoy some but really it's more a wrinkle on an old, handsome face than some massive, hair-sprouting mole sprouting from an ugly story's nose.

Peter Noble gives a genuinely fabulous performance. He has a beautifully posh rasp that suits the elder Arimnestos as a story-teller, a throaty growl for the warriors as he gets into the action scenes and wonderfully he is able to chisel it all instantaneously to a mirror-like smoothness when he switches to a young female character. He brings real life to the tale and is never phased by the tricky place and character names.

This is obviously going to be a seriously epic series with battles on land and sea, betrayals, politics and tragic loves. If Cameron can keep up this level of intensity then it's going to be a bit of a classic!

pure brilliance

I love historical fiction, started with I claudius in late70s ish, since forced retirement in 2003 I've read all of bernard cornwell Simon scarrow and many many more, I read this on release and now revisit on Audible.
The detail in Christian Camerons' work, the almost minute by minute of a characters' life, is the closest of any work to being them, the empathy touches the soul with real joy despair love hate tiredness adrenaline grief and every emotion, how can it be improved? By the raw performance worthy of an oscar in the superb narration of Peter Noble.
Ah and this isn't even my favourite novel of the narrator. Thankyou Christian

pleasantly enjoyable

i think i will definitely be looking at other books narrated by peter noble.he read /acted this book in every way right.
think ancient Greece and we think gods goddesses and demi gods.
we've all heard of spartans,Athens theebs and crectians .
but this is an aging man telling his story from a boy of a bronze smithy and his journey to manhood,threw wars,slavery love ,greatness and not so greatness .
i want to know what comes next so time to download second book

Outstanding narration

For a book written in the first person the narration is spectacular and compliments this epic tale perfectly.

Highly recommend and so glad there is there is plenty more books to this series!

superb book

brilliant book, great coming of age book. will be listening to the second . gripping

Brought Ancient Greece Alive

Absolutely loved this book, I'm an ancient history buff and I've read a lot about Athens and Sparta so to have the main character come from Plataea was genius. The story was fast paced and detailed and held my attention from beginning to end. Off to download the next in the series.

I changed my mind

I didn't like the format of the narration at first but about a third of the way though I released I was gripped ans really like it by then.
geart story .. the end

The best historical fiction author

A great series, superb writing, thrilling story, evocative setting, bone-crunching action. The narrator was absolutely fantastic.

wow

truly,what a masterpiece.Cameron is a master of his art and no one brings history alive like he does,epic!

Best historical fiction series ever

If you're thinking about buying, just go for it. I've blitzed through all 6 books now and it was so very very enjoyable. Thanks to Ben Kane who pointed me towards Christian Cameron in his prologue of Eagles at War. CC is indeed, the best writer of historical fiction out there.

The series is an Odyssey (Homer would be proud) and has everything you could wish for. It's certainly not just battle after battle. It's also meticulously researched (particularly the sea-faring parts) and a lot of fun.

Oh an the narration is superb! A truly good narrator is like gold dust and Peter Noble is wonderful. He also reads all 6 of the books, so there's no changing of narrators with can ruin a series like this.

I won't review the other books, because if you listen to this one, no doubt you'll listen to the other 5. They're all masterly. I hope they'll be more.