Review: The Falcon of Sparta by by Conn Iggulden

Title: The Falcon of Sparta
Author: Conn Iggulden
Publication: May 30th 2019 by Penguin 
Genre: Historical Fiction
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Rating: 4/5★

Conn Iggulden, the bestselling author of the Emperor, Conqueror and The Wars of the Roses series' returns to the Ancient World with a ferociously bloody epic . . .

In the Ancient World, one army was feared above all others.

401 BC. The Persian king Artaxerxes rules an empire stretching from the Aegean to northern India.

As many as fifty million people are his subjects.

His rule is absolute.

Though the sons of Sparta are eager to play the game of thrones . . .

Yet battles can be won - or lost - with a single blow. Princes fall. And when the dust of civil war settles, the Spartans are left stranded in the heart of an enemy's empire, without support, without food and without water.

Far from home, surrounded by foes, it falls to the young soldier Xenophon to lead the survivors against Artaxerxes' legendary Persian warriors.

Based on one of history's most epic stories of adventure The Falcon of Sparta masterfully depicts the ferocity, heroism, and savage bloodshed that was the Ancient World.

The Falcon of Sparta was my very first book by Conn Iggulden. And I already know it certainly won't be my last. I highly enjoyed reading this book. I was actually kind of surprised by how much I liked it and how I was thoroughly hooked by the story and characters. So yeah I need to get my hands on his other books now too. I can't wait to read them all!

The book was set mostly in the Persian empire (also in Greece for a bit) and started in 401 BC. I'm not as familiar with ancient Greek and Persian history as I am with other cultures like ancient Egypt and ancient Rome for example but this story was simply epic. It was based off of a real historical event, which is something I love in historical fiction novels.

Another thing I really liked about this book was how the story never went how I thought it was going to go. There were a lot of very unexpected twists so there was never a dull or predictable moment. If you plan on reading this book I wouldn't get too attached to any of the characters. Also, I was crazy about the battle scenes. They were so well-written and just glued my eyes to the page to the point where I couldn't read fast enough. It was so good!

These kind of books are really my thing. I love the action of the ancient battles and to get to know the characters that lived such a long time ago, even if they're not based off on real people from the past (although I'd prefer that) it usually is a great experience for me. So if anyone has any recommendations for books like that set in the ancient world then feel free to let me know. 

About the author:
Conn Iggulden is one of the most successful authors of historical fiction writing today. He has written three previous bestselling historical series, including Wars of the Roses. Dunstan is a stand-alone novel set in the red-blooded world of tenth-century England.