Review of The Fox
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Matt_4
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Review of The Fox
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Fox" by M. N. J. Butler.]
The Fox by M.N.J. Butler takes you back to Greek history through the eyes of Leotychides, the bastard son of King Agis.
Leotychides is the main protagonist. He is such an interesting character, a true Spartan, and very ambitious with stubborn pride. Being a bastard son made it difficult for him to take over the throne after his father’s death, who had already declared him not his son. However, Leotychides still believed he was still the true heir.
The story begins to unfold when the king dies while he was out looking after the flock at a young age. This is while he was going through intense training for making him a strong fighting machine. This sets the stage for a power struggle, politics, and battles. By the end of the book, you come to realize; his greatest strength was secretly one of his greatest weaknesses.
The book had great themes; however, the most predominant one was loyalty. I admired the Spartan's commitment and strong bonds that didn’t easily break. Additionally, they were all equal, and nothing, including their backgrounds, really mattered.
One of the best things that I loved about the book was the characters. I found myself plotting against some of them, while some I just loved to hate, and others I found intriguing. For example, I found the main antagonist, Agesilaus, to be very interesting and entertaining. He was ready to take shortcuts just to achieve his dreams and goals of being victorious. There's just so much I loved about this character that I can't put down in a single review.
The Fox was a great read. However, I wish the author would have limited the number of characters. This is because they were very similar, while some did not play significant roles in the book. Therefore, you end up feeling the pressure of memorizing the names only to discover later on in the chapters some never appear again.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars , mainly because the book was such an interesting read, and I also fell in love with the author's dynamic writing style. He immerses the reader in the Spartan's historical background with a bit of humor and wryness. However, I did not give it a perfect 4 star because some chapters felt a bit confusing. This is because of the page breaks and new characters that were not well developed to the reader.
In conclusion, I would recommend The Fox to readers interested in Ancient Greek politics and history buffs. However, I would not recommend this to readers who love die-hard history battles and military actions because it is mostly about Spartan politics.
******
The Fox
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
The Fox by M.N.J. Butler takes you back to Greek history through the eyes of Leotychides, the bastard son of King Agis.
Leotychides is the main protagonist. He is such an interesting character, a true Spartan, and very ambitious with stubborn pride. Being a bastard son made it difficult for him to take over the throne after his father’s death, who had already declared him not his son. However, Leotychides still believed he was still the true heir.
The story begins to unfold when the king dies while he was out looking after the flock at a young age. This is while he was going through intense training for making him a strong fighting machine. This sets the stage for a power struggle, politics, and battles. By the end of the book, you come to realize; his greatest strength was secretly one of his greatest weaknesses.
The book had great themes; however, the most predominant one was loyalty. I admired the Spartan's commitment and strong bonds that didn’t easily break. Additionally, they were all equal, and nothing, including their backgrounds, really mattered.
One of the best things that I loved about the book was the characters. I found myself plotting against some of them, while some I just loved to hate, and others I found intriguing. For example, I found the main antagonist, Agesilaus, to be very interesting and entertaining. He was ready to take shortcuts just to achieve his dreams and goals of being victorious. There's just so much I loved about this character that I can't put down in a single review.
The Fox was a great read. However, I wish the author would have limited the number of characters. This is because they were very similar, while some did not play significant roles in the book. Therefore, you end up feeling the pressure of memorizing the names only to discover later on in the chapters some never appear again.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars , mainly because the book was such an interesting read, and I also fell in love with the author's dynamic writing style. He immerses the reader in the Spartan's historical background with a bit of humor and wryness. However, I did not give it a perfect 4 star because some chapters felt a bit confusing. This is because of the page breaks and new characters that were not well developed to the reader.
In conclusion, I would recommend The Fox to readers interested in Ancient Greek politics and history buffs. However, I would not recommend this to readers who love die-hard history battles and military actions because it is mostly about Spartan politics.
******
The Fox
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: The Altitude Journals by David J Mauro
