Review of The Fox

[Yusnita A]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Fox" by M. N. J. Butler.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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The Fox by MNJ Butler is an extraordinary historical fiction novel. The author took me as if I had traveled back in time to Sparta, an ancient city in Greece. Leotychides is the main character who details his journey from a Spartan prince to a warrior. Leotychides was a prince born in the Eurypontids. He was three years old when he learned that he was the successor of the great Sparta. One day there was a rumor that the king was not his real father. The house elders thought he was not the real king's son so he was not accepted as heir to the throne. At the age of 7 he went with the herd to be trained as a fighter with the other children. His father died when he was a teenager. Suddenly he is dealing with politics that is more difficult than before. So what will he do next?

At the beginning of this book, the author lists the genealogy of the Spartan family and a glossary. This is very helpful for the reader in understanding the story of this novel. The glossary contains names and terms, some of which are relevant to the story and others from history. The content of this book is also very good and gives the reader a broad insight into Ancient Greek culture. The very realistic depiction of the story is one of the things I admire. The author's imagination and literary techniques really create an environment that feels very real. From all the chapters I've read, I think the author must have done a lot of research before writing this book. Although there are many Greek names and terms, the glossary at the beginning of the book helps to clarify them all.

The negative part of this book is that I feel there are too many characters that the author introduces on the first page of chapter number one. Although the author provides a detailed glossary it is still very difficult to remember throughout the book. But other than that I have no other problems.

Despite the difficulties that have kept me reviewing the glossary in this book, I didn't find anything else I didn't like about this book. Apart from that this book was professionally edited as I couldn't find any grammatical errors in it. So I would rate this book 4 out of 4 stars.

This book is very interesting and enlightening. I applaud MNJ Butler's abilities in this book The Fox. His literary technique and writing style makes the reader feel like he is experiencing everything Leotychides felt. I can clearly imagine the environment described in this book. I recommend this book to lovers of historical fiction and Greek History.

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The Fox
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