Review by JodiBrozio -- The Fox by M. N. J. Butler
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Review by JodiBrozio -- The Fox by M. N. J. Butler
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Fox" by M. N. J. Butler.]
I rate The Fox by M. N. J. Butler 2 out of 4 stars. I had a difficult time following the story because, frequently, parentheses and quotation marks were missing at the beginning or end of the phrases. I could not tell who was talking. I also think several words were missed during the author’s spell-check because other words made more sense in their place. Even with correcting the errors, there were far too many characters with similar names for me to keep them, and their relationships with one another, straight.
Think of everything you ever learned about Sparta and the Greeks. You probably know Spartans were raised to be warriors. In this book, Sparta has two kings born to either the Agiad or the Eurypontid lines. This story is written as an autobiography of Prince Leotychides who is cheated out of becoming a king. His cousin, Prince Agespolis, is to become the other king.
Prince Leotychides is a bastard child and instead of being raised in the palace he is sent to be raised in the military flocks. His biological father is a sea commander named Alkibiades. He follows in his father’s footsteps and becomes a great general. Leotychides is also a great boxer and competes in the Olympic Games where he wins an award, and makes some lifelong friends. He marries Kleonike and they have children that follow in his own footsteps. Throughout many books of war in this story, Leotychides introduces us to all of his closest friends and teaches us more about Sparta.
What I liked most about this story was how nobody was ostracized for loving the wrong person. Men loved men, women loved women, and married couples shared their husbands or wives to generate better offspring. There is a positive focus on music, poetry, art, and dancing. There are wonderful references to the Gods that people worshipped. This will appeal to anyone who enjoys Greek tragedies.
What I disliked the most was the Spartan upbringing for boys. I think it would be difficult for a mother to send away her son at age seven to be trained for the rest of his life to be a Spartan soldier. I also think it would be lonely to have your husband away much of the time at war, where he might die at any given moment. When your sons grow up, they may go to war to die too. I don’t like the custom of having to pay a fine if you are unmarried after a certain age. I don’t like how your parents get to choose who you marry in the first place. I would not have liked to be a Spartan woman! This may not appeal to some religious people who don’t accept multiple Gods, but over all I can’t say that anyone should not read the story.
******
The Fox
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
I rate The Fox by M. N. J. Butler 2 out of 4 stars. I had a difficult time following the story because, frequently, parentheses and quotation marks were missing at the beginning or end of the phrases. I could not tell who was talking. I also think several words were missed during the author’s spell-check because other words made more sense in their place. Even with correcting the errors, there were far too many characters with similar names for me to keep them, and their relationships with one another, straight.
Think of everything you ever learned about Sparta and the Greeks. You probably know Spartans were raised to be warriors. In this book, Sparta has two kings born to either the Agiad or the Eurypontid lines. This story is written as an autobiography of Prince Leotychides who is cheated out of becoming a king. His cousin, Prince Agespolis, is to become the other king.
Prince Leotychides is a bastard child and instead of being raised in the palace he is sent to be raised in the military flocks. His biological father is a sea commander named Alkibiades. He follows in his father’s footsteps and becomes a great general. Leotychides is also a great boxer and competes in the Olympic Games where he wins an award, and makes some lifelong friends. He marries Kleonike and they have children that follow in his own footsteps. Throughout many books of war in this story, Leotychides introduces us to all of his closest friends and teaches us more about Sparta.
What I liked most about this story was how nobody was ostracized for loving the wrong person. Men loved men, women loved women, and married couples shared their husbands or wives to generate better offspring. There is a positive focus on music, poetry, art, and dancing. There are wonderful references to the Gods that people worshipped. This will appeal to anyone who enjoys Greek tragedies.
What I disliked the most was the Spartan upbringing for boys. I think it would be difficult for a mother to send away her son at age seven to be trained for the rest of his life to be a Spartan soldier. I also think it would be lonely to have your husband away much of the time at war, where he might die at any given moment. When your sons grow up, they may go to war to die too. I don’t like the custom of having to pay a fine if you are unmarried after a certain age. I don’t like how your parents get to choose who you marry in the first place. I would not have liked to be a Spartan woman! This may not appeal to some religious people who don’t accept multiple Gods, but over all I can’t say that anyone should not read the story.
******
The Fox
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: The Last City of America by Matthew Tysz
