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Last of the Amazons
TO THEM HONOUR AND LOYALTY WERE EVERYTHING...
1250 BC: Theseus, king of Athens and slayer of the Minotaur, set sail on a journey that brought him to the land of 'tal Kyrte', the 'Free People', a nation of fiercely proud and passionate warrior women whom the Greeks called 'Amazons'.
Lovers and fighters they owed allegiance to no man and distrusted the Greeks with their boastful talk of cities and civilization. When their illustrious war queen Antiope fell in love with Theseus and fled to Athens with the king and his followers, so denying her people, the Amazon tribes were outraged. Seeking revenge, they raised a vast army and marched on Athens.
History tells us they could not win, but for a brief and glorious moment, the Amazons held the Attic world in thrall before vanishing into the immortal realms of myth and legend.
400 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
243 people are currently reading
3,171 people want to read
About the author
Steven Pressfield
82books5,633followersI was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, in 1943 to a Navy father and mother.
I graduated from Duke University in 1965.
In January of 1966, when I was on the bus leaving Parris Island as a freshly-minted Marine, I looked back and thought there was at least one good thing about this departure. "No matter what happens to me for the rest of my life, no one can ever send me back to this freakin' place again."
Forty years later, to my surprise and gratification, I am far more closely bound to the young men of the Marine Corps and to all other dirt-eating, ground-pounding outfits than I could ever have imagined.
GATES OF FIRE is one reason. Dog-eared paperbacks of this tale of the ancient Spartans have circulated throughout platoons of U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan since the first days of the invasions. E-mails come in by hundreds. GATES OF FIRE is on the Commandant of the Marine Corps' Reading list. It is taught at West Point and Annapolis and at the Marine Corps Basic School at Quantico. TIDES OF WAR is on the curriculum of the Naval War College.
From 2nd Battalion/6th Marines, which calls itself "the Spartans," to ODA 316 of the Special Forces, whose forearms are tattooed with the lambda of Lakedaemon, today's young warriors find a bond to their ancient precursors in the historical narratives of these novels.
My struggles to earn a living as a writer (it took seventeen years to get the first paycheck) are detailed in my 2002 book, THE WAR OF ART.
I have worked as an advertising copywriter, schoolteacher, tractor-trailer driver, bartender, oilfield roustabout and attendant in a mental hospital. I have picked fruit in Washington state and written screenplays in Tinseltown.
With the publication of THE LEGEND OF BAGGER VANCE in 1995, I became a writer of books once and for all.
My writing philosophy is, not surprisingly, a kind of warrior code � internal rather than external � in which the enemy is identified as those forms of self-sabotage that I have labeled "Resistance" with a capital R (in THE WAR OF ART) and the technique for combatting these foes can be described as "turning pro."
I believe in previous lives.
I believe in the Muse.
I believe that books and music exist before they are written and that they are propelled into material being by their own imperative to be born, via the offices of those willing servants of discipline, imagination and inspiration, whom we call artists. My conception of the artist's role is a combination of reverence for the unknowable nature of "where it all comes from" and a no-nonsense, blue-collar demystification of the process by which this mystery is approached. In other words, a paradox.
There's a recurring character in my books named Telamon, a mercenary of ancient days. Telamon doesn't say much. He rarely gets hurt or wounded. And he never seems to age. His view of the profession of arms is a lot like my conception of art and the artist:
"It is one thing to study war, and another to live the warrior's life."
I graduated from Duke University in 1965.
In January of 1966, when I was on the bus leaving Parris Island as a freshly-minted Marine, I looked back and thought there was at least one good thing about this departure. "No matter what happens to me for the rest of my life, no one can ever send me back to this freakin' place again."
Forty years later, to my surprise and gratification, I am far more closely bound to the young men of the Marine Corps and to all other dirt-eating, ground-pounding outfits than I could ever have imagined.
GATES OF FIRE is one reason. Dog-eared paperbacks of this tale of the ancient Spartans have circulated throughout platoons of U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan since the first days of the invasions. E-mails come in by hundreds. GATES OF FIRE is on the Commandant of the Marine Corps' Reading list. It is taught at West Point and Annapolis and at the Marine Corps Basic School at Quantico. TIDES OF WAR is on the curriculum of the Naval War College.
From 2nd Battalion/6th Marines, which calls itself "the Spartans," to ODA 316 of the Special Forces, whose forearms are tattooed with the lambda of Lakedaemon, today's young warriors find a bond to their ancient precursors in the historical narratives of these novels.
My struggles to earn a living as a writer (it took seventeen years to get the first paycheck) are detailed in my 2002 book, THE WAR OF ART.
I have worked as an advertising copywriter, schoolteacher, tractor-trailer driver, bartender, oilfield roustabout and attendant in a mental hospital. I have picked fruit in Washington state and written screenplays in Tinseltown.
With the publication of THE LEGEND OF BAGGER VANCE in 1995, I became a writer of books once and for all.
My writing philosophy is, not surprisingly, a kind of warrior code � internal rather than external � in which the enemy is identified as those forms of self-sabotage that I have labeled "Resistance" with a capital R (in THE WAR OF ART) and the technique for combatting these foes can be described as "turning pro."
I believe in previous lives.
I believe in the Muse.
I believe that books and music exist before they are written and that they are propelled into material being by their own imperative to be born, via the offices of those willing servants of discipline, imagination and inspiration, whom we call artists. My conception of the artist's role is a combination of reverence for the unknowable nature of "where it all comes from" and a no-nonsense, blue-collar demystification of the process by which this mystery is approached. In other words, a paradox.
There's a recurring character in my books named Telamon, a mercenary of ancient days. Telamon doesn't say much. He rarely gets hurt or wounded. And he never seems to age. His view of the profession of arms is a lot like my conception of art and the artist:
"It is one thing to study war, and another to live the warrior's life."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 229 reviews
June 4, 2011
I beg the would be reader to notice that the majority of people who have given this book a one star rating did not finish it. My husband also took this book up and became so instantly frustrated with it that he didn't even make the hundred page mark. The reason is the writing style of this work (sorry Steven you know I love you but this is true) was absolutely atrocious. It was VERY choppy, especially at the start. He changes perspectives faster than the reader can get into the characters. However, with this in mind I must say the book is still amazing. What I would recommend would be a quick read of about the first half. Do a speed read so you know the characters and you get the idea of the plot. Then really indulge in the last half. The last half paints some entirely world wide heroic pictures of these amazon warriors. He unleashes them with serious force. The one on one combat scene between the queen of the amazons and Theseus is probably one of his best written battles that I have read, and the riding out and clashing of arms is epic in scope. The story involves sisters and is well thought out and complex. But damn Steven the perspective was so off on this one. A birds eye view or a single storyteller would have made this work amazing. Be warned, this book is bloody like his others, and frankly the choppiness may ruin it for you. If you can get past that you will have some very amazing images of warrior women running around in your head after reading this one. Choose to pick it up accepting this as it is or don't bother.
February 22, 2019
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book since Bronze Age Greece tends to get very little coverage outside of the Trojan War and some of its related heroes. From the title I didn’t even realize it was about Theseus, who, pretty much alone among non-Homeric Greek heroes (where’re our Seven Against Thebes novels? Or Jason? Or even Heracles, who shows up all the time on film?) has actually had an excellent appearance in Mary Renault’s
and . Fortunately, I’m a sucker for “truth behind the myth� stories, when done right. And this one does very right indeed.
The Amazons are clearly the highlight here. And that's a good thing since Amazons in fiction tend to be pretty mediocre. They serve as the prototype for generic warrior-women but also for liberated feminists. These ideals can be cool, but tend to produce bland caricatures since the goal in both cases is to produce inspiring rather than interesting characters, another way of saying that they’re prone to Mary Sue-isms. But these Amazons (or rather, the tal Kyrte) are utterly terrifying. Our introduction to them in combat plays out like a horror film as a terrified warband tries desperately to escape from a single Amazon warrior in a cave. They live for combat and brutally murder those who get in their way (men, women, and children). They take trophies from their kills as a matter of course. There’s little that is sexy about these Amazons, but much that is awesome.
They’re warrior women obviously (how could they be Amazons otherwise?) but this is only a small part of their culture. Their main characteristics are those of steppe nomads, of which a large number of elements have been merged. The Amazons hate civilization, they view even language as an unfortunate necessity. Actions are what matter, not words. The whole female exclusivity is treated much like the Theban promotion of homosexual bonds in the Sacred Band. Paired (or in this case tripartite) lovers will fight harder for their comrades. And the exclusively female nature of these elite warriors is justified by the recognition that the presence of family units would weaken the ties upon which their society relies: the regimented sisterhood and elevation of tribe above family. Martial bonds must trump marital ones. These Amazons are brave, fearsome, sometimes noble, and often terrifying and abhorrent. But above all they are believable.
The Athenians, on the other hand, are rather less impressive. They don’t feel very Greek and they feel even less Mycenaean. Athens is much like the Classical city: tens of thousands strong, one of the most important cities in Greece, and with all the democratic features in place already (including the Assembly on the Pnyx), despite the presence of a king. Theseus is far too noble. The romantic portrayal amuses me as the mythic Theseus is notorious for using and abandoning women. Ariadne saved him from the Labyrinth and helped him overthrow her father, yet as soon as she was of no further use he dumped her on an island and sailed off home to seize his throne. In at least one version of the tale, Theseus abandons Antiope as well, in favor of a better-connected bride, thus precipitating the Amazon invasion. Here he’s basically Pericles, a leader of free citizens and something of a romantic.
A big part of why this book succeeds is that it ties in the confrontation between the Amazons and Greeks into the broader conflict between settled (ie. civilized) peoples and the nomadic steppe tribes. The Amazons represent freedom, always a compelling goal for the Greeks. They are free from male domination, free from the control of rival kings, free from the constraints of jobs and cramped buildings and compromise. And they do not have to scar Mother Earth to live. Athens represents a different sort of freedom: the freedom to live lives free from the threat of death, the freedom to focus on skills other than war, the freedom to innovate... These views of freedom are incapable of coexisting. One must die, yet whichever is defeated the loss cannot be anything other than sad.
The central premise is, indeed, somewhat flawed. This was not the end of the steppe people. Aside from the not-too-distant future which would see the death of Cyrus the Great at the hands of the Scythians, we’ve got the conquests of Atilla the Hun and Genghis Khan (still the largest land-based empire in history) millennia in the future. But I can accept that for some of the regions (Thrace and northern Anatolia for example) the nomadic lifestyle was gradually dying out. It’s also rather too on-the-nose, as a everyone the great Amazon army passes seems to recognize that this broader conflict is inevitable. But I can’t deny that it’s a compelling idea. And the different viewpoints are very well established.
The story itself, alas, suffers from a certain level of confusion. If you read only the first three books you’d be forgiven for thinking that the story is about the quest to avenge the murder of a string of men by an Amazon hostage. You can think nothing else, for there’s not even a hint that there will be anything more to the story. But then you hit book four (of twelve) and suddenly we’re in flashback territory and hearing the account of Theseus� struggle with the Amazons and their invasion of Attika. And this consumes the majority of the story.
Don’t mistake me: I like this story better than the initial one. That story was far too limited and even a little undermotivated (send four whole ships on a voyage to modern Russia to avenge the death of a few farmhands?) while Theseus� story is a grand romance of adventure and revenge and an epic clash of cultures. But it shouldn’t take us until we’re a quarter of the way into the book to begin the main plot. I was also a little underwhelmed by the central love story. Theseus and Antiope seem to fall in love about as quickly as Romeo and Juliet, and given the strong wills demonstrated by both these characters it seems unlikely. At the least we’re given little justification for it, especially since it occurs before they even first talk to each other. And it doesn’t help that this romance is told entirely by outside viewers who never discuss the issue with either of the two lovers. As a result, what we see is as inexplicable and unmotivated as in the original myths. And the less said about the rather rambling and uninspired ending the better.
Still, while these are definitely faults they in no way subtract from the book’s real achievements. The combat scenes are utterly captivating. Often I’ve heard claims that a certain novel makes it feel as if you are truly there, but I’ve never seen it come to life as skillfully as this. We’re gifted with a great variety of such battles as well: from small melees in enclosed areas to steppe warfare to sieges to a battle on the plains beneath Athens. The look and feel of steppe life is vividly drawn here, as is the alien mentality of its inhabitants. And they all feel a part of the world in which Greece exists, not always a given when speaking of books depicting culture clashes. And best of all the conflict with the Amazons perfectly balances tragedy with a sense of necessity. It is sad to witness the end of a whole way of life, but at the same time the ideals of civilization are our ideals. That absolute freedom must be compromised to create true justice and peace among men is something we all accept but the Amazons never can. And so it is with sadness but determination that we must witness their passing.
The Amazons are clearly the highlight here. And that's a good thing since Amazons in fiction tend to be pretty mediocre. They serve as the prototype for generic warrior-women but also for liberated feminists. These ideals can be cool, but tend to produce bland caricatures since the goal in both cases is to produce inspiring rather than interesting characters, another way of saying that they’re prone to Mary Sue-isms. But these Amazons (or rather, the tal Kyrte) are utterly terrifying. Our introduction to them in combat plays out like a horror film as a terrified warband tries desperately to escape from a single Amazon warrior in a cave. They live for combat and brutally murder those who get in their way (men, women, and children). They take trophies from their kills as a matter of course. There’s little that is sexy about these Amazons, but much that is awesome.
They’re warrior women obviously (how could they be Amazons otherwise?) but this is only a small part of their culture. Their main characteristics are those of steppe nomads, of which a large number of elements have been merged. The Amazons hate civilization, they view even language as an unfortunate necessity. Actions are what matter, not words. The whole female exclusivity is treated much like the Theban promotion of homosexual bonds in the Sacred Band. Paired (or in this case tripartite) lovers will fight harder for their comrades. And the exclusively female nature of these elite warriors is justified by the recognition that the presence of family units would weaken the ties upon which their society relies: the regimented sisterhood and elevation of tribe above family. Martial bonds must trump marital ones. These Amazons are brave, fearsome, sometimes noble, and often terrifying and abhorrent. But above all they are believable.
The Athenians, on the other hand, are rather less impressive. They don’t feel very Greek and they feel even less Mycenaean. Athens is much like the Classical city: tens of thousands strong, one of the most important cities in Greece, and with all the democratic features in place already (including the Assembly on the Pnyx), despite the presence of a king. Theseus is far too noble. The romantic portrayal amuses me as the mythic Theseus is notorious for using and abandoning women. Ariadne saved him from the Labyrinth and helped him overthrow her father, yet as soon as she was of no further use he dumped her on an island and sailed off home to seize his throne. In at least one version of the tale, Theseus abandons Antiope as well, in favor of a better-connected bride, thus precipitating the Amazon invasion. Here he’s basically Pericles, a leader of free citizens and something of a romantic.
A big part of why this book succeeds is that it ties in the confrontation between the Amazons and Greeks into the broader conflict between settled (ie. civilized) peoples and the nomadic steppe tribes. The Amazons represent freedom, always a compelling goal for the Greeks. They are free from male domination, free from the control of rival kings, free from the constraints of jobs and cramped buildings and compromise. And they do not have to scar Mother Earth to live. Athens represents a different sort of freedom: the freedom to live lives free from the threat of death, the freedom to focus on skills other than war, the freedom to innovate... These views of freedom are incapable of coexisting. One must die, yet whichever is defeated the loss cannot be anything other than sad.
The central premise is, indeed, somewhat flawed. This was not the end of the steppe people. Aside from the not-too-distant future which would see the death of Cyrus the Great at the hands of the Scythians, we’ve got the conquests of Atilla the Hun and Genghis Khan (still the largest land-based empire in history) millennia in the future. But I can accept that for some of the regions (Thrace and northern Anatolia for example) the nomadic lifestyle was gradually dying out. It’s also rather too on-the-nose, as a everyone the great Amazon army passes seems to recognize that this broader conflict is inevitable. But I can’t deny that it’s a compelling idea. And the different viewpoints are very well established.
The story itself, alas, suffers from a certain level of confusion. If you read only the first three books you’d be forgiven for thinking that the story is about the quest to avenge the murder of a string of men by an Amazon hostage. You can think nothing else, for there’s not even a hint that there will be anything more to the story. But then you hit book four (of twelve) and suddenly we’re in flashback territory and hearing the account of Theseus� struggle with the Amazons and their invasion of Attika. And this consumes the majority of the story.
Don’t mistake me: I like this story better than the initial one. That story was far too limited and even a little undermotivated (send four whole ships on a voyage to modern Russia to avenge the death of a few farmhands?) while Theseus� story is a grand romance of adventure and revenge and an epic clash of cultures. But it shouldn’t take us until we’re a quarter of the way into the book to begin the main plot. I was also a little underwhelmed by the central love story. Theseus and Antiope seem to fall in love about as quickly as Romeo and Juliet, and given the strong wills demonstrated by both these characters it seems unlikely. At the least we’re given little justification for it, especially since it occurs before they even first talk to each other. And it doesn’t help that this romance is told entirely by outside viewers who never discuss the issue with either of the two lovers. As a result, what we see is as inexplicable and unmotivated as in the original myths. And the less said about the rather rambling and uninspired ending the better.
Still, while these are definitely faults they in no way subtract from the book’s real achievements. The combat scenes are utterly captivating. Often I’ve heard claims that a certain novel makes it feel as if you are truly there, but I’ve never seen it come to life as skillfully as this. We’re gifted with a great variety of such battles as well: from small melees in enclosed areas to steppe warfare to sieges to a battle on the plains beneath Athens. The look and feel of steppe life is vividly drawn here, as is the alien mentality of its inhabitants. And they all feel a part of the world in which Greece exists, not always a given when speaking of books depicting culture clashes. And best of all the conflict with the Amazons perfectly balances tragedy with a sense of necessity. It is sad to witness the end of a whole way of life, but at the same time the ideals of civilization are our ideals. That absolute freedom must be compromised to create true justice and peace among men is something we all accept but the Amazons never can. And so it is with sadness but determination that we must witness their passing.
December 24, 2021
Read this book in 2011, and its a wonderful standalone book about the warrior women called "Amazons".
This tale is set around the year 1250 BC, and it tells us the story of the legendary warrior women called the Amazons, and their achievements as ferocious fighters.
Is starts when King Theseus of Athens sets sail on a journey and will end up in the land of the "tal Kyrte", the Free People, whom the Greeks will call the Amazons.
There in the land of the "tal Kyrte" the Warrior Queen Antiope falls in love with King Theseus, and they will flee to the land of the Greeks.
What will happen is a Amazon nation in rage and that will unite to get their Queen Antiope back from the distrustful Greeks, and that will happen with warfare of a very high calibre.
All this is told in a very astounding fashion by the author, in which he has brought the Greek and Amazon world alive with lifelike and humanlike actions compared to that time of history, and where attention to military detail is second to none.
Very much recommended, for this is a thrilling legendary Amazon retelling, and that's why I like to call this book of heroic women: "Astounding Warrior Women"!
This tale is set around the year 1250 BC, and it tells us the story of the legendary warrior women called the Amazons, and their achievements as ferocious fighters.
Is starts when King Theseus of Athens sets sail on a journey and will end up in the land of the "tal Kyrte", the Free People, whom the Greeks will call the Amazons.
There in the land of the "tal Kyrte" the Warrior Queen Antiope falls in love with King Theseus, and they will flee to the land of the Greeks.
What will happen is a Amazon nation in rage and that will unite to get their Queen Antiope back from the distrustful Greeks, and that will happen with warfare of a very high calibre.
All this is told in a very astounding fashion by the author, in which he has brought the Greek and Amazon world alive with lifelike and humanlike actions compared to that time of history, and where attention to military detail is second to none.
Very much recommended, for this is a thrilling legendary Amazon retelling, and that's why I like to call this book of heroic women: "Astounding Warrior Women"!
February 26, 2018
Άγρια πολεμικό, μυρίζει αίμα, με λεπτομερή διήγηση της σύρραξης που έλαβε χώρα στην αρχαία Αθήνα μεταξύ των Αθηναίων και του λαού των Αμαζόνων και των συμμάχων τους με αφορμή την αρπαγή της Αντιόπης από το βασιλιά της Αθήνας. Έχει ιστορικές ανακρίβειες? Δεν ξέρω τόσα πολλά για την εποχή ώστε να μπορώ να το κρίνω, αλλά σίγουρα είναι ένα εκπόνημα μετά από πολύ μελέτη και σεβασμό. Γλαφυρότατο, ωμό και τρυφερό κατά σημεία ταυτόχρονα, πιστεύω ότι θα το πρότεινα σε οποιονδήποτε θα ήθελε να διαβάσει ένα ιστορικό μυθιστόρημα.
September 17, 2012
I can hardly put it down. Striking imagery; marvelous words; compelling, believable story. No, it isn't an easy read. It's a deliberate read. The writer went to great lengths to paint pictures of these warriors and the world they were in. I loved the way you had opportunity to "see" the story from so may points of view, from the Greeks to the Amazons.
October 19, 2012
Stars? Have the Milky Way.
This is about the city and the steppe. It’s a subject I read non-fiction on, avidly, and fiction when I can. So I was engaged; I was joining in the argument; I wanted to stand up and say ‘you left this out� when we have a great debate (for eight pages) between Theseus of Athens and the Amazon queen on the worth of civilization and of savagery - or the wild life, the free life, as self-defined by the savages. A few of the Greeks who travel with Theseus fall half in love with the wild and free and argue its case with half their hearts; Theseus does himself; and the Amazon queen too finds herself torn. Whether you think she’s a traitor when she abandons her people, is up to you. It’s not an easy question, in the terms stated here; Pressfield states it as almost an impossible question. There is real loss when we face the ‘last of the Amazons�, and the city’s most stalwart defenders feel a grief. This isn’t a one-sided book, and the great debate wasn’t one-sided.
I think I liked the first half most, where the battle-lines are drawn; the second half consists of the Great War of the steppe nations on Athens. I love to have half a book devoted to one seige � it works as a pressure-cooker - but give me the novel of ideas. Nb. that he explores savage/civil questions within a rivetting story, is what I most admire. (If these matters interest you, I kept wanting to quote at Theseus from Jack Weatherford’s Savages and Civilization.)
Women. His ‘free women�... I’d better describe them as first seen by a Greek. As a domestic dog looks a certain way and acts a certain way and yields in a certain way to a man, so does the race of domesticated women look and act and yield. These females, the ones before us now, were as wolves to such dogs. They were wild. That was the difference. As of another species, people think frequently. Set against this for contrast, the state of Greek women is slavery, as Pressfield makes no bones about. And is the city to blame, or agriculture? They are chief suspects. It’s hard to imagine a free woman. I think he manages bloody well. She’s as strong as a Native American found himself next to an import from Europe (habits of life).
In his creation of Amazon culture, I thought he draws on known cultures, widely, to put together a savage lifestyle that comes across as real and cogent. When he talks of the closeness, the identification of the Amazons with their horses, I was reminded of what I’ve read about reindeer herders. The torture practices he attributes to Scyths � the significance and psychology of these, I equated with a book I’ve just read, William T. Vollmann’s Fathers and Crows, about other ‘savages� in Canada. And I’m fairly sure he’s consulted Mongol history, for analogy. I sense a lot of groundwork, beneath his imagined culture.
But Scyths were hard done by. It’s as if he needed a villain, and Scyths drew the short straw; of the steppe peoples, Amazons hog the glory.
On the love bits. That Amazon friends are lovers is mentioned but not seen. The loves focused on are between Greeks and Amazons, with the conflict that entails. � This is fine, I’m just saying.
I like his writing. It’s more individual than I’d have expected in a bestseller (I have a prejudice against bestsellers; I expect the conventional, the safe). I’d swear he has words that aren’t words, and his grammar is his own; alliteration can lead him astray. He’ll make up a phrase never used before for a moment never seen before. But warrioresses? I can’t say that comfortably in my head. Maybe when we’re in a Greek’s head, because the concept is awkward to Greeks; but in an Amazon’s head, why would she? One stretch of battle-scene was a straight steal from Homer. True, the whole march on Athens was the Trojan War in reverse, as he brings out. But that’s a key scene, and for my emotions� sake, I might have liked a more distinctive telling - not Homer, even if Homer lends grandeur.
I need a gag; I could easily go on about this book.
This is about the city and the steppe. It’s a subject I read non-fiction on, avidly, and fiction when I can. So I was engaged; I was joining in the argument; I wanted to stand up and say ‘you left this out� when we have a great debate (for eight pages) between Theseus of Athens and the Amazon queen on the worth of civilization and of savagery - or the wild life, the free life, as self-defined by the savages. A few of the Greeks who travel with Theseus fall half in love with the wild and free and argue its case with half their hearts; Theseus does himself; and the Amazon queen too finds herself torn. Whether you think she’s a traitor when she abandons her people, is up to you. It’s not an easy question, in the terms stated here; Pressfield states it as almost an impossible question. There is real loss when we face the ‘last of the Amazons�, and the city’s most stalwart defenders feel a grief. This isn’t a one-sided book, and the great debate wasn’t one-sided.
I think I liked the first half most, where the battle-lines are drawn; the second half consists of the Great War of the steppe nations on Athens. I love to have half a book devoted to one seige � it works as a pressure-cooker - but give me the novel of ideas. Nb. that he explores savage/civil questions within a rivetting story, is what I most admire. (If these matters interest you, I kept wanting to quote at Theseus from Jack Weatherford’s Savages and Civilization.)
Women. His ‘free women�... I’d better describe them as first seen by a Greek. As a domestic dog looks a certain way and acts a certain way and yields in a certain way to a man, so does the race of domesticated women look and act and yield. These females, the ones before us now, were as wolves to such dogs. They were wild. That was the difference. As of another species, people think frequently. Set against this for contrast, the state of Greek women is slavery, as Pressfield makes no bones about. And is the city to blame, or agriculture? They are chief suspects. It’s hard to imagine a free woman. I think he manages bloody well. She’s as strong as a Native American found himself next to an import from Europe (habits of life).
In his creation of Amazon culture, I thought he draws on known cultures, widely, to put together a savage lifestyle that comes across as real and cogent. When he talks of the closeness, the identification of the Amazons with their horses, I was reminded of what I’ve read about reindeer herders. The torture practices he attributes to Scyths � the significance and psychology of these, I equated with a book I’ve just read, William T. Vollmann’s Fathers and Crows, about other ‘savages� in Canada. And I’m fairly sure he’s consulted Mongol history, for analogy. I sense a lot of groundwork, beneath his imagined culture.
But Scyths were hard done by. It’s as if he needed a villain, and Scyths drew the short straw; of the steppe peoples, Amazons hog the glory.
On the love bits. That Amazon friends are lovers is mentioned but not seen. The loves focused on are between Greeks and Amazons, with the conflict that entails. � This is fine, I’m just saying.
I like his writing. It’s more individual than I’d have expected in a bestseller (I have a prejudice against bestsellers; I expect the conventional, the safe). I’d swear he has words that aren’t words, and his grammar is his own; alliteration can lead him astray. He’ll make up a phrase never used before for a moment never seen before. But warrioresses? I can’t say that comfortably in my head. Maybe when we’re in a Greek’s head, because the concept is awkward to Greeks; but in an Amazon’s head, why would she? One stretch of battle-scene was a straight steal from Homer. True, the whole march on Athens was the Trojan War in reverse, as he brings out. But that’s a key scene, and for my emotions� sake, I might have liked a more distinctive telling - not Homer, even if Homer lends grandeur.
I need a gag; I could easily go on about this book.
April 15, 2019
ΤΑ ΒΙΒΛΙΑ ΤΕΤΟΙΑΣ ΚΑΤΗΓΟΡΙΑΣ ΠΑΝΤΑ ΜΟΥ ΑΡΕΣΑΝ. ΩΣ ΑΝΑΓΝΩΣΤΡΙΑ ΜΟΥ ΑΡΕΣΕΙ ΝΑ ΜΑΘΑΙΝΩ ΚΑΙΝΟΥΡΓΙΑ ΠΡΑΓΜΑΤΑ Κ ΠΑΡΑΛΛΗΛΑ ΝΑ ΑΝΑΚΑΛΥΠΤΩ ΜΥΣΤΙΚΑ ΤΟΥ ΠΑΡΕΛΘΟΝΤΟΣ. ΑΥΤΗ Η ΕΠΑΦΗ ΜΕ ΤΟΝ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΚΟ ΛΑΟ ΤΩΝ ΑΜΑΖΟΝΩΝ ΗΤΑΝ ΕΝΑ ΥΠΕΡΟΧΟ ΤΑΞΙΔΙ. ΜΕ ΤΑΞΙΔΕΨΕ ΣΕ ΠΑΛΙΕΣ ΕΠΟΧΕΣ ΣΤΙΣ ΟΠΟΙΕΣ ΟΙ ΑΜΑΖΟΝΕΣ ΑΠΟΤΕΛΟΥΣΑΝ ΕΝΑΝ ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΟ ΛΑΟ. ΑΠΟ ΜΙΚΡΕΣ ΑΝΑΤΡΕΦΟΝΤΑΝ ΓΙΑ ΝΑ ΓΙΝΟΥΝ ΟΙ ΚΑΛΥΤΕΡΕΣ ΠΟΛΕΜΙΣΤΡΙΕΣ ΩΣΤΕ ΝΑ ΑΝΤΙΜΕΤΩΠΙΖΟΥΝ ΚΑΘΕ ΕΧΘΡΟ.
ΣΤΟ ΠΑΡΟΝ ΒΙΒΛΙΟ ΕΜΦΑΝΙΖΟΝΤΑΙ ΓΝΩΣΤΕΣ ΑΜΑΖΟΝΕΣ ΟΠΩΣ ΟΙ ΙΠΠΟΛΥΤΗ, ΑΕΛΛΑ, ΑΝΤΙΟΠΗ, ΕΥΡΩΠΗ, ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΑ... ΟΛΕΣ ΗΤΑΝ ΓΝΩΣΤΕΣ ΓΙΑ ΤΗ ΔΥΝΑΜΗ ΤΟΥΣ. ΔΙΑΚΑΤΕΧΟΝΤΑΝ ΑΠΟ ΠΑΘΟΣ Κ ΕΜΠΑΙΝΑΝ ΣΤΟ ΠΕΔΙΟ ΤΗΣ ΜΑΧΗΣ ΜΕ ΑΥΤΑΠΑΡΝΗΣΗ.
ΣΥΜΦΩΝΑ ΜΕ ΤΟΝ ΠΛΟΥΤΑΡΧΟ ΕΝΑΣ ΣΤΡΑΤΟΣ ΑΠΟ ΑΜΑΖΟΝΕΣ ΚΑΙ ΣΚΥΘΕΣ- ΒΑΡΒΑΡΟΣ ΛΑΟΣ- ΕΠΙΤΕΘΗΚΕ ΣΤΗΝ ΑΘΗΝΑ ΚΑΤΑ ΤΗ ΔΙΑΡΚΕΙΑ ΤΗΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΑΣ ΤΟΥ ΘΗΣΕΑ. ΤΟ ΓΕΓΟΝΟΣ ΑΥΤΟ ΕΙΝΑΙ ΣΙΓΟΥΡΟ Κ ΕΠΙΒΕΒΑΙΩΝΕΤΑΙ ΑΠΟ ΤΑ ΟΝΟΜΑΤΑ ΤΩΝ ΤΟΠΟΘΕΣΙΩΝ ΠΟΥ ΕΧΟΥΝ ΔΙΑΤΗΡΗΘΕΙ ΜΕΧΡΙ ΣΗΜΕΡΑ Κ ΑΠΟ ΤΟΥΣ ΤΑΦΟΥΣ Κ ΤΑ ΜΝΗΜΕΙΑ ΕΚΕΙΝΩΝ ΠΟΥ ΕΠΕΣΑΝ ΣΤΗ ΜΑΧΗ.
ΣΤΟ ΠΑΡΟΝ ΒΙΒΛΙΟ ΕΜΦΑΝΙΖΟΝΤΑΙ ΓΝΩΣΤΕΣ ΑΜΑΖΟΝΕΣ ΟΠΩΣ ΟΙ ΙΠΠΟΛΥΤΗ, ΑΕΛΛΑ, ΑΝΤΙΟΠΗ, ΕΥΡΩΠΗ, ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΑ... ΟΛΕΣ ΗΤΑΝ ΓΝΩΣΤΕΣ ΓΙΑ ΤΗ ΔΥΝΑΜΗ ΤΟΥΣ. ΔΙΑΚΑΤΕΧΟΝΤΑΝ ΑΠΟ ΠΑΘΟΣ Κ ΕΜΠΑΙΝΑΝ ΣΤΟ ΠΕΔΙΟ ΤΗΣ ΜΑΧΗΣ ΜΕ ΑΥΤΑΠΑΡΝΗΣΗ.
ΣΥΜΦΩΝΑ ΜΕ ΤΟΝ ΠΛΟΥΤΑΡΧΟ ΕΝΑΣ ΣΤΡΑΤΟΣ ΑΠΟ ΑΜΑΖΟΝΕΣ ΚΑΙ ΣΚΥΘΕΣ- ΒΑΡΒΑΡΟΣ ΛΑΟΣ- ΕΠΙΤΕΘΗΚΕ ΣΤΗΝ ΑΘΗΝΑ ΚΑΤΑ ΤΗ ΔΙΑΡΚΕΙΑ ΤΗΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΑΣ ΤΟΥ ΘΗΣΕΑ. ΤΟ ΓΕΓΟΝΟΣ ΑΥΤΟ ΕΙΝΑΙ ΣΙΓΟΥΡΟ Κ ΕΠΙΒΕΒΑΙΩΝΕΤΑΙ ΑΠΟ ΤΑ ΟΝΟΜΑΤΑ ΤΩΝ ΤΟΠΟΘΕΣΙΩΝ ΠΟΥ ΕΧΟΥΝ ΔΙΑΤΗΡΗΘΕΙ ΜΕΧΡΙ ΣΗΜΕΡΑ Κ ΑΠΟ ΤΟΥΣ ΤΑΦΟΥΣ Κ ΤΑ ΜΝΗΜΕΙΑ ΕΚΕΙΝΩΝ ΠΟΥ ΕΠΕΣΑΝ ΣΤΗ ΜΑΧΗ.
May 6, 2018
Another great book by Steven Pressfield. My one complaint was that at times it was a little confusing because of the multiple POV's. This was easily overshadowed by the brilliant, visceral battle sequences with a nice surprise at the end.
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November 30, 2024
I read Pressfield’s Gates of Fire maybe 25 years ago and thought it was great. And then Tides of War and The Virtues of War were both pretty good. I bought this book shortly after completing those and it has been collecting dust for about twenty years.
Pressfield again utilizes a rather convoluted storytelling style with multiple perspectives and nested timelines, but overall he delivers a solid action-packed tale. One of the things I enjoyed about his other books was that I felt I learned some interesting history about ancient Greece and the technology of war in that era. In contrast, this time I felt I was mostly learning some snippets of mythology which have been stretched and altered enough that I’m unable to tell how much is truly canon—or if there is even such a thing for Greek mythology.
Pressfield again utilizes a rather convoluted storytelling style with multiple perspectives and nested timelines, but overall he delivers a solid action-packed tale. One of the things I enjoyed about his other books was that I felt I learned some interesting history about ancient Greece and the technology of war in that era. In contrast, this time I felt I was mostly learning some snippets of mythology which have been stretched and altered enough that I’m unable to tell how much is truly canon—or if there is even such a thing for Greek mythology.
July 15, 2016
Τελευταία υπάρχει μία τάση στην τέχνη εκλογίκευσης των μύθων. Πολλά έργα έχουν παραχθεί που επιχειρούν να δείξουν τι μπορεί να συνέβη στην πραγματικότητα και να έχει φτάσει στις μέρες μας ως μύθος. Το βιβλίο αυτό όμως ακολουθεί μία διαφορετική προσέγγιση. Ο συγγραφέας αντί να προσπαθήσει να απομυθοποιήσει τα πράγματα παίρνει τον μύθο ως δεδομένο και προσπαθεί να τον δραματοποιήσει και να τον επεκτείνει, αφήνοντας τη φαντασία σου ελεύθερη σαν πολεμικό άλογο.Έχοντας έτοιμη αυτή τη βάση ο δεν έχει τίποτα άλλο να κάνει από το να χρησιμοποιήσει την εκπληκτική αφηγηματική του δεινότητα και να δημιουργήσει μία συναρπαστική και βαθύτατα συγκινητική ιστορία. Φυσικά το αποτέλεσμα είναι κάτι περισσότερο από μία ιστορία πολέμου και έρωτα καθώς όπως είναι γνωστό ένας μύθος δεν έχει καμία αξία αν δεν έχει κάποιο βαθύτερο νόημα, κάτι να μας πει για να μας βάλει σε σκέψεις.
April 30, 2016
Δεν είχα ξαναδιαβάσει Πρέσφιλντ. Λυπάμαι πολύ γι' αυτό... ο τύπος είναι καταπληκτικός.
Οι τελευταίες αμαζόνες είναι ιστορικό μυθιστόρημα με όλη της σημασία της λέξης "ιστορικό". Ολες του οι περιγραφές είναι γεμάτες πλήρεις αναφορές, δοσμένες με τρόπο τέτοιο που δεν σου επιτρέπουν να έχεις ουδεμία αμφιβολία για τα όσα διαβάζεις.
Οι σχεδόν 500 σελίδες κύλησαν νερό, χωρίς να κουράζει, χωρίς επαναλήψεις, με όλες τις συναισθηματικές αλλαγές ενός μεγάλου έργου.
Τα 5 αστέρια της αξιολόγησης τα κέρδισε επάξια !!
Οι τελευταίες αμαζόνες είναι ιστορικό μυθιστόρημα με όλη της σημασία της λέξης "ιστορικό". Ολες του οι περιγραφές είναι γεμάτες πλήρεις αναφορές, δοσμένες με τρόπο τέτοιο που δεν σου επιτρέπουν να έχεις ουδεμία αμφιβολία για τα όσα διαβάζεις.
Οι σχεδόν 500 σελίδες κύλησαν νερό, χωρίς να κουράζει, χωρίς επαναλήψεις, με όλες τις συναισθηματικές αλλαγές ενός μεγάλου έργου.
Τα 5 αστέρια της αξιολόγησης τα κέρδισε επάξια !!
February 5, 2019
Intriguing
First of the all, I did enjoy the idea of this setting and story plot. Even I do agree with many reviews about how choppy the beginning was...as the story progress. It turned out to be a badass. Even if the majority focus on the war itself. I would love to see some more about Selene’s stay in Athens. In the end, I was sad to see this went out with such silence and falling into shadows.
First of the all, I did enjoy the idea of this setting and story plot. Even I do agree with many reviews about how choppy the beginning was...as the story progress. It turned out to be a badass. Even if the majority focus on the war itself. I would love to see some more about Selene’s stay in Athens. In the end, I was sad to see this went out with such silence and falling into shadows.
March 24, 2021
This is the only Pressfield book I have read that I simply did not enjoy. He seemed to be trying to write in the style of the Iliad and the Odyssey or other Greek classics, and it simply dragged. As usual, his historical representations are brilliant. It’s just pretty boring.
February 24, 2011
Having heard good reports previously of Steven Pressfield's writing, I have to say that my overwhelming feeling here was disappointment. So many different aspects were poorly judged and spoiled the book for me to enjoy it terribly much. Firstly, the form of narration was far too convoluted and knotty. The book reads as a story within a story within a story - Bones as a grandmother telling the story of her adventures as a child, and during her adventures her uncle Damon recounts his own adventures as a young man and it's these which make up the main focus of most of the book. Not only is this incredibly convoluted, but you already know how the main story, Damon's tale, is going to end because of the situation and circumstances already described by Bones as she takes you into the story. This takes away all the tension from what should be the exciting climax of the book - the height of the siege of Athens.
It is also problematic because the book skips between narrators constantly, the four narrators being Bones, Damon, Selene and Elias. And this highlights another problem. The characters all feel very flat and one-dimensional, with little depth or fleshing out to them, and very little understanding of their deep motivations and reasons, their personalities. So when you shift between narrator there is virtually no change in tone or style, making it difficult for the reader to place where we are and what's meant to be happening - this is spelt out for us in each chapter, and that's the only way you can keep track of what's going on.
Pressfield takes a good stab at imagining the culture of a people about which there is very little if any definitive evidence, and may indeed be only myth and legend. However, this quickly becomes overcomplicated too and thus far too confusing. For example, the idea that Amazon warriors become organised into groups of three bond-sisters, called a "trikona", is an interesting one, although there's no evidence for it. However, Pressfield then goes further and has it that each Amazon is a concurrent member of three different "trikonae". The relationships within these three different groups are highly complex and regulated. It's simply just one example of many concepts that Pressfield comes up with that are confusing, lengthy, difficult to understand and not fully explained. Instead of being concise, clear, defined and precise, Pressfield only succeeds in confusing matters. Apart from the fact that his suggestions of Amazon culture have no basis in historical fact, their exact purpose within Amazon society in the novel is not clear either and it is a sign of poor writing to include elements in the story or indeed a society that basically have no apparent reason for having arisen or being in place.
The use of modernisms is immensely annoying throughout and constantly ruins the setting of the story. Anachronisms include Pressfield's imposition of modern sensibilities on his tale, writing Theseus as the pioneering leader of an Athenian democracy, a system which would not become established in Athens for another seven or eight centuries, instead of the autocratic king that he was in Greek mythology. Further, Pressfield is inconsistent in his naming practises throughout. Some characters are named by their actual Hellenistic name, for example, Damon, Selene, Theseus, and Antiope, but other characters are named by the translation of the meaning of their name, for example Bones, Ant, and Grey-Eyes.
I found the premise that Eleuthera could just lie about Antiope being kidnapped, when there were hundreds of witnesses who could clearly see she was in love with Theseus and had fled of her own will, and the entire Amazon nation just accept that, ridiculous. Also it just didn't feel plausible that all these other nations would throw their lot in with the Amazon cause, that Eleuthera would even be able to convince them to do so - not in a time of brutality and personal agenda. What would be in it for these allied nations? They'd probably consider it far easier just to march into the totally abandoned Amazon homeland whilst the Amazons moved their entire population to besiege Athens, and take the spoils from added territory bordering their own. Furthermore, besieging Athens is also not a realistic proposition for the Amazons either. They know that it is a walled city, that it can hold out for months. They have no siege technology whatsoever and no knowledge whatsoever of waging a siege, relying on an army of fast cavalry on the steppes of their homeland. Having swept through hostile territory without removing the enemies at their back, they would be cut off from the supplies needed to feed such a massive cavalry army. Simply put, this would have been military insanity. As a historian specialising in this period, I didn't buy it one bit.
Leaving aside the fact for the moment that the entire venture of the Amazons besieging Athens is completely ridiculous and unfeasible, the siege takes up the vast majority of the book and drags on for ages. The success of the Amazons' style of fighting throughout the siege makes no sense, and the scene where Antiope rides out and not only cuts down about 50 people but all of those the prime warriors of the enemy, without suffering exhaustion or crippling or fatal injury, is just unbelievable. The Amazons are written as overpoweringly better warriors than the Athenians, and they cut down so many that by the time the Amazons are beaten back, I just couldn't quite believe that the Athenians had enough fighters left to convincingly win the conflict!
Overall, the book is beset by confused narration, total lack of characterisation, overly complex postulations, confusing and repetitive scenes which don't make sense, and use of modernisms and inconsistency over names. The dialogue is also stilted and clichéd. Admittedly it could definitely be worse. Pressfield's command of language and grammar is more competent that some authors I've had the misfortune to read, however he needlessly complicates his language and doesn't understand how to effectively employ sophisticated language and grammar patterns, creating the effect of writing that is confusing, pompous, or painfully laughable; at times all three at once! At least Pressfield doesn't resort to stock characterisations of evil bad guys or include incidences of magic in what is supposed to be plausibly history. For those reasons, "Last of the Amazons" lifts itself above truly atrocious examples of literature, but Pressfield has missed the mark here.
It is also problematic because the book skips between narrators constantly, the four narrators being Bones, Damon, Selene and Elias. And this highlights another problem. The characters all feel very flat and one-dimensional, with little depth or fleshing out to them, and very little understanding of their deep motivations and reasons, their personalities. So when you shift between narrator there is virtually no change in tone or style, making it difficult for the reader to place where we are and what's meant to be happening - this is spelt out for us in each chapter, and that's the only way you can keep track of what's going on.
Pressfield takes a good stab at imagining the culture of a people about which there is very little if any definitive evidence, and may indeed be only myth and legend. However, this quickly becomes overcomplicated too and thus far too confusing. For example, the idea that Amazon warriors become organised into groups of three bond-sisters, called a "trikona", is an interesting one, although there's no evidence for it. However, Pressfield then goes further and has it that each Amazon is a concurrent member of three different "trikonae". The relationships within these three different groups are highly complex and regulated. It's simply just one example of many concepts that Pressfield comes up with that are confusing, lengthy, difficult to understand and not fully explained. Instead of being concise, clear, defined and precise, Pressfield only succeeds in confusing matters. Apart from the fact that his suggestions of Amazon culture have no basis in historical fact, their exact purpose within Amazon society in the novel is not clear either and it is a sign of poor writing to include elements in the story or indeed a society that basically have no apparent reason for having arisen or being in place.
The use of modernisms is immensely annoying throughout and constantly ruins the setting of the story. Anachronisms include Pressfield's imposition of modern sensibilities on his tale, writing Theseus as the pioneering leader of an Athenian democracy, a system which would not become established in Athens for another seven or eight centuries, instead of the autocratic king that he was in Greek mythology. Further, Pressfield is inconsistent in his naming practises throughout. Some characters are named by their actual Hellenistic name, for example, Damon, Selene, Theseus, and Antiope, but other characters are named by the translation of the meaning of their name, for example Bones, Ant, and Grey-Eyes.
I found the premise that Eleuthera could just lie about Antiope being kidnapped, when there were hundreds of witnesses who could clearly see she was in love with Theseus and had fled of her own will, and the entire Amazon nation just accept that, ridiculous. Also it just didn't feel plausible that all these other nations would throw their lot in with the Amazon cause, that Eleuthera would even be able to convince them to do so - not in a time of brutality and personal agenda. What would be in it for these allied nations? They'd probably consider it far easier just to march into the totally abandoned Amazon homeland whilst the Amazons moved their entire population to besiege Athens, and take the spoils from added territory bordering their own. Furthermore, besieging Athens is also not a realistic proposition for the Amazons either. They know that it is a walled city, that it can hold out for months. They have no siege technology whatsoever and no knowledge whatsoever of waging a siege, relying on an army of fast cavalry on the steppes of their homeland. Having swept through hostile territory without removing the enemies at their back, they would be cut off from the supplies needed to feed such a massive cavalry army. Simply put, this would have been military insanity. As a historian specialising in this period, I didn't buy it one bit.
Leaving aside the fact for the moment that the entire venture of the Amazons besieging Athens is completely ridiculous and unfeasible, the siege takes up the vast majority of the book and drags on for ages. The success of the Amazons' style of fighting throughout the siege makes no sense, and the scene where Antiope rides out and not only cuts down about 50 people but all of those the prime warriors of the enemy, without suffering exhaustion or crippling or fatal injury, is just unbelievable. The Amazons are written as overpoweringly better warriors than the Athenians, and they cut down so many that by the time the Amazons are beaten back, I just couldn't quite believe that the Athenians had enough fighters left to convincingly win the conflict!
Overall, the book is beset by confused narration, total lack of characterisation, overly complex postulations, confusing and repetitive scenes which don't make sense, and use of modernisms and inconsistency over names. The dialogue is also stilted and clichéd. Admittedly it could definitely be worse. Pressfield's command of language and grammar is more competent that some authors I've had the misfortune to read, however he needlessly complicates his language and doesn't understand how to effectively employ sophisticated language and grammar patterns, creating the effect of writing that is confusing, pompous, or painfully laughable; at times all three at once! At least Pressfield doesn't resort to stock characterisations of evil bad guys or include incidences of magic in what is supposed to be plausibly history. For those reasons, "Last of the Amazons" lifts itself above truly atrocious examples of literature, but Pressfield has missed the mark here.
Read
September 15, 2022Gates of Fire, Steven Pressfield's retelling of the Spartan resistance to the 480 B.C. Persian invasion of Greece, was an ecstatic reading experience. I didn't think it could be topped. Then I got ahold of Tides of War, a novelization of the life of the great philosopher/warrior of Periclean Athens, Alcibiades. It was even better; quite simply one of the best historical novels I'll ever read. However, to my surprise and disappointment, I found Pressfield's next two novels set in ancient Greece--Last of the Amazons, a reinterpretation of the myth of Theseus and Antiope, and The Virtues of War, about Alexander the Great--to be rather subpar. It felt like maybe he'd exhausted his inspiration with the first two and wrote the others out of inertia or habit. I haven't picked up any of his fiction since.
October 24, 2012
Marvelous, shaking story of brave women that defied all the rules of the ancient world. Spartans in a female form, training there entire life and dedicating it to friendship and love, tied with each other for life. Strong enough to match any man, living in a different world with only one rule: to live freely. An epic novel that portraits every days life, battles and relationships of the mysterious people - Amazon women.
July 28, 2022
The Steven Pressfield Novel Tides of War is my all time favourite work of fiction. His two other books I have read (Gates of Fire and Virtues of War) do not fall far short of this mark. Needless to say I had high hopes for Last of the Amazons. It did not disappoint.
Greek tradition held that during the Bronze Age, in the time where heroes traversed the Mediterranean, a tribe of warrior-women lived north of the Black Sea. One of the several myths they make appearances in says that the Queen of the Amazons went with Theseus to Athens, prompting a war to try to retrieve her. Pressfield brings this story to life. The meeting of Athens, the cultural hub of Greece, and the Amazons, a people proudly 'free' from the trappings of civilization sets the stage for a brilliant tale of a way of life dying out with the changing of the world. By interweaving the story of the war itself with events set a bit over a decade after the reader gets to see the Amazon nation at the height of it's glory marching on Athens and then the remnants of it after their defeat and collapse. The classic themes of the 'death of the wild west' are played out in full and to perfection.
Even if the plot had been less interesting the book would still have kept me hooked simply because Steven Pressfield's prose is unmatched. More than any other author he is able to speak with the voice of Homer and bring the reader into the world of the ancient Greeks.
The main complaints I have seen say that the perspective shifts are confusing. They aren't very bad. There are only 3 characters that narrate and it is easy to follow along with the overall plot.
Greek tradition held that during the Bronze Age, in the time where heroes traversed the Mediterranean, a tribe of warrior-women lived north of the Black Sea. One of the several myths they make appearances in says that the Queen of the Amazons went with Theseus to Athens, prompting a war to try to retrieve her. Pressfield brings this story to life. The meeting of Athens, the cultural hub of Greece, and the Amazons, a people proudly 'free' from the trappings of civilization sets the stage for a brilliant tale of a way of life dying out with the changing of the world. By interweaving the story of the war itself with events set a bit over a decade after the reader gets to see the Amazon nation at the height of it's glory marching on Athens and then the remnants of it after their defeat and collapse. The classic themes of the 'death of the wild west' are played out in full and to perfection.
Even if the plot had been less interesting the book would still have kept me hooked simply because Steven Pressfield's prose is unmatched. More than any other author he is able to speak with the voice of Homer and bring the reader into the world of the ancient Greeks.
The main complaints I have seen say that the perspective shifts are confusing. They aren't very bad. There are only 3 characters that narrate and it is easy to follow along with the overall plot.
Read
October 16, 2024Could not finish it. Dropped at chapter 17. Very harsh book, lots of descriptions of traditions without anything happening. And when happening - it is just too bloody and too weird to continue reading. I would say at chapter 17 the story still hasn't started yet.
September 19, 2011
Judging by some of the reviews here on ŷ, this seems to be a love it or hate it type of book. I'm in the former camp - I found LAST OF THE AMAZONS to be a fabulous read. When I read Pressfield for the first time (GATES OF FIRE, of course), I doubted that I'd ever encounter a better retelling of a great piece of military history. I still stand by that - LAST OF THE AMAZONS isn't better than GATES, but it IS the novel's equal.
Previously to reading this, I knew nothing about Amazons or their history, other than a notion of larger-than-life warrior women. Pressfield brings to life their culture, their whole ethos, like no other. Afterwards, I looked at the historical facts surrounding the Amazons, and discovered that historians know very little. To discover that all of this came from Pressfield's imagination means that he has the same unrivalled, grandiose, world-building skill as someone like Tolkien.
Life and death play a big part in the story, and slaughter is seemingly a way of life. Once again, much of the text is taken up with a huge battle, this time the siege of Athens. The described warfare doesn't disappoint, and was among the finest accounts I've ever read. This is definitely a heavy read, with lots of unfamiliar terminology and peoples, but once I got into it I was hooked and shedding tears come the ending. You really get the measure of the Amazonian society and their singular heroism and courage. An absolutely outstanding book.
Previously to reading this, I knew nothing about Amazons or their history, other than a notion of larger-than-life warrior women. Pressfield brings to life their culture, their whole ethos, like no other. Afterwards, I looked at the historical facts surrounding the Amazons, and discovered that historians know very little. To discover that all of this came from Pressfield's imagination means that he has the same unrivalled, grandiose, world-building skill as someone like Tolkien.
Life and death play a big part in the story, and slaughter is seemingly a way of life. Once again, much of the text is taken up with a huge battle, this time the siege of Athens. The described warfare doesn't disappoint, and was among the finest accounts I've ever read. This is definitely a heavy read, with lots of unfamiliar terminology and peoples, but once I got into it I was hooked and shedding tears come the ending. You really get the measure of the Amazonian society and their singular heroism and courage. An absolutely outstanding book.
October 11, 2007
As Steven Pressfield points out, there are few ancient references to the mythical Amazons, the mythical warrior women of the ancient world. Since Schliemann's discovery of Troy, however, many scholars have come to believe that real history lies behind myth.
Presented through the eyes of several invented characters, Pressfield brings to life Theseus, the nearly mythical father of Athens, and his love affair with Antiope, war queen of the Amazons.
Pressfield's guesses as to what the Amazon culture must have been like to have been able to exist and to thrive in a world of warrior men are convincing. Answering questions as to how it was that the tribes consisted entirely of women, how new generations were propogated, the organization of the tribes, what happened to male babies, and how they managed to remain free of male dominance, Pressfield succeeds in presenting a consistent, fascinating, and sympathetic picture.
As no evidence exists to the contrary, Pressfield's version might as well be true. At the very least, the story is sufficiently plausible and entertaining so as to make at least one reader forget quite frequently that it is grounded in conjecture alone. For my part, I'll take convincing conjecture over an unimaginative historical account any day.
Presented through the eyes of several invented characters, Pressfield brings to life Theseus, the nearly mythical father of Athens, and his love affair with Antiope, war queen of the Amazons.
Pressfield's guesses as to what the Amazon culture must have been like to have been able to exist and to thrive in a world of warrior men are convincing. Answering questions as to how it was that the tribes consisted entirely of women, how new generations were propogated, the organization of the tribes, what happened to male babies, and how they managed to remain free of male dominance, Pressfield succeeds in presenting a consistent, fascinating, and sympathetic picture.
As no evidence exists to the contrary, Pressfield's version might as well be true. At the very least, the story is sufficiently plausible and entertaining so as to make at least one reader forget quite frequently that it is grounded in conjecture alone. For my part, I'll take convincing conjecture over an unimaginative historical account any day.
March 18, 2014
Presfild ostaje dosledan sebi u spajanju mitologije i istorije.
Bitke su toliko dobro i detaljno opisane, da sam imala utisak da stojim na nekom Atinskom brdascetu i celu tu strku posmatram uzivo.
Bitke su toliko dobro i detaljno opisane, da sam imala utisak da stojim na nekom Atinskom brdascetu i celu tu strku posmatram uzivo.
October 22, 2020
Decades ago, Mary Renault, an amazing writer and historian of Ancient Greece, set her sights well before the classical world to that of the heroic, telling the late Bronze Age tale of Theseus in "The King Must Die" and "Bull From the Sea", arguably two of the finest historical fiction works ever written, certainly concerning that period.
Of course, Steve Pressfield is himself a monumental writer, whose "Gates of Fire" is considered a towering work of both the novelist's craft and the meticulous analysis of the battle of Thermopylae. So, if someone was going to revisit the great king of Athens and mythical father of its democracy, who better? Indeed, who better to tackle the mythical Amazons and Theseus's wild affair and disastrous marriage to their war-queen, Antiope?
As it turns out, lots of people. Lots and lots and lots of people.
There is so much that almost works in this book, woven in with so much crap it is hard to know where to start.
From a narrative point of view, the novel is a series of first person chronicles, in two separate timelines: the past, surrounding the Athenian voyage to Amazonia, Thesus's encounter with Antiope, their marriage and the Amazon sack of Athens; and the present, which involves a new expedition setting out after Selene an escaped Amazon captive, who is herself one of the viewpoint characters in the past timeline. Both of these are set in the framework of another third person narrative, "Bones", a young Greek girl tutored by the captive Selene, relaying these events to some future reader.
Did you get all that? It's three first person narrations, set inside a first person narration. Except sometimes those narrators include long reports from other people, which are in turn first person. It's a bold, complex choice, and it fails, miserably. The narrative voice of Bones differs only marginally from Selene, which differs almost not at all from Damon, and I periodically had to double-check at the start of a new chapter to see if the narrator had changed. This was a major drawback of the work -- the characters don't feel distinct.
That problem is made worse by the pseudo archaic language (common in historical fiction), combined with a reliance on passive-voice descriptive passages. We are TOLD about Athens, we are TOLD about the almost absurdly complex social relationships of the Amazons, but we are not SHOWN them. That is a failure of Creative Writing 101, and Pressfield knows better, but gets away with it because he is a major author, and this makes it all feel "Old Timey" or something. (If so, I'd rather read Herodotus.) Sadly, that is then made even more jarring when it is punctuated by modern dialogue like "That's the ticket!" and "It was smackbang clear" or "They were shitfaced and having fun." (no, really).
The first chapters of the novel drag, then are filled with some truly great and exciting moments, with some inspired prose. An example:
“The savages came out of nowhere, seizing three of our mates on the strand. Theseus ordered attack, but as soon as the ships entered the cove, small craft by the hundreds launched by the tree line, slinging darts and fire lances. These were Saii and Androphagi, Man-Eaters."
Cannibals, a chilling lake of tar (which is set on fire), a mounted duel between Antiope and a Scythian hero -- all exciting and interesting moments. And the entire third quarter of the book is just one prolonged siege. But it never overcomes the narration problem, and the real problem is that these characters have no soul -- Thesus is seen through others eyes, and mostly just as a foil to laud the brilliance of Antiope. Even this is not done effectively -- there is nothing *wrong* with Thesus, his bride is just better at everything. Bones as the Ur-narrator has no personality to speak of and Selene is a cypher to relay the character of Amazonia, yet oddly seems little different than her Greek-lover Damon. The faux historical chronicle style of the narration keeps the characters at arm's length, and although we are told this person loves that person nothing really suggests it.
In short, I cared nothing about anyone, and their deaths were just words on a page. The only exception was Antiope herself, who is clearly the star of Pressfield's tale, yet is only seen through other's eyes, is off-stage for at least half of the book, and dies well before its end.
So, there is the literary critique . But Pressfield is known for his depiction of Thermopylae and his meticulous recreation of Antiquity, so how does this fare as HISTORICAL fiction? Well, clearly the Bronze Age is not his expertise.
Firstly, to be fair, he must create the Amazon's whole-cloth, as he admits, so by default they are no more real than Robert E. Howard's Picts are the real pre-Celtic people of Scotland, or George RR Martin's Dothraki are Mongols...which is good because they feel no more real, either. Pressfield's Amazons are a mix of Scythian, Native American (I would guess Comanche or Apache) and 13th c CE Mongol, and this would have been pretty fun and interesting if the depiction had been consistent. But it's not. We learn the Amazon animist creation myth, but then are presented with the tal Kyrte, as they call themselves, as sky-worshipping monotheists who swear by God (as opposed to "the gods") and are contemptuous of the Greeks and their pantheon....right until we are taught all of the various rites they perform to Ares, Artemis and Zeus. And no, this isn't a Greek relating those rites to their own gods, this is an Amazon explain them to us. The world-building inconsistency is glaring and continuous.
There is also the problem that Pressfield's Amazons might as well be DC comics, because they are just as superhuman, in what is supposed to be historical fiction, not historical fantasy: Hurling 10 lb discuses in battle from horseback, using their fearsome, double-bladed axes one-handed with such strength they can cleave iron armour (more on that in a moment), performing mounted feats -- such as hanging one one handed while being dragged, and doing a vault by that arm back into the saddle -- that are better suited to Legolas in the film version of Lord of the Rings. It goes from impressive to ludicrous; no more realistic than the Persian army in Frank Miller's "300", but far less honest about what it is trying to portray.
Finally, this a war novel, and it fails miserably in depicting late Bronze Age warfare. Pressfield has already displayed a weird mishmash of mixing modern and archaic language, so perhaps he can be forgiven for describing the armies in terms of squads, corps, brigades and battalions -- utterly meaningless terms in the period. But what is astounding is how little understanding he has of warfare in the period. The Greeks fight in phalanxes straight of the Hellenic period, while the Amazons and their allied army of nomads have a level of siegecraft that would have made the Hittites -- the military superpower of the period -- boggle. Likewise, while it is true that iron weapons and armour were in use by the 14th century BCE, it was still rare -- again more commonly in the hands of the Hittites -- and bronze remained the preeminent material, not least because until one can make a reliable steel, the only advantage to iron is that it is more easily produced than an alloy requiring rare tin. This is need for tin and discovery for how to purify iron is a MAJOR economic, military and technological tale of the era, and Pressfield misses it entirely. Not only are the Greeks armed and armoured mostly in iron, so mysteriously enough, are the Amazons, Scyths, Getai, etc. Of course they are -- they can do EVERYTHING BETTER.
Honestly, by the point I got to the final 50 pages, which are probably the best in the novel, it no longer mattered. I was past caring.
This isn't a story about Theseus and Antiope in the waning days of the Bronze Age. It isn't even a story about the Bronze Age, in its trappings, it culture, anything. It is a fantasy novel in a parallel world that has elements of Greek civilization from across seven or eight centuries. And that might have been OK, if Pressfield had made me to do one thing to care one iota about most of the characters. I don't know how you make a tale of Theseus, Antiope and the Amazon siege of Athens boring, but somehow Last of the Amazons does.
I'd rather rewatch "Wonder Woman", whose Amazons were both far more likeable, and at least as believable.
Of course, Steve Pressfield is himself a monumental writer, whose "Gates of Fire" is considered a towering work of both the novelist's craft and the meticulous analysis of the battle of Thermopylae. So, if someone was going to revisit the great king of Athens and mythical father of its democracy, who better? Indeed, who better to tackle the mythical Amazons and Theseus's wild affair and disastrous marriage to their war-queen, Antiope?
As it turns out, lots of people. Lots and lots and lots of people.
There is so much that almost works in this book, woven in with so much crap it is hard to know where to start.
From a narrative point of view, the novel is a series of first person chronicles, in two separate timelines: the past, surrounding the Athenian voyage to Amazonia, Thesus's encounter with Antiope, their marriage and the Amazon sack of Athens; and the present, which involves a new expedition setting out after Selene an escaped Amazon captive, who is herself one of the viewpoint characters in the past timeline. Both of these are set in the framework of another third person narrative, "Bones", a young Greek girl tutored by the captive Selene, relaying these events to some future reader.
Did you get all that? It's three first person narrations, set inside a first person narration. Except sometimes those narrators include long reports from other people, which are in turn first person. It's a bold, complex choice, and it fails, miserably. The narrative voice of Bones differs only marginally from Selene, which differs almost not at all from Damon, and I periodically had to double-check at the start of a new chapter to see if the narrator had changed. This was a major drawback of the work -- the characters don't feel distinct.
That problem is made worse by the pseudo archaic language (common in historical fiction), combined with a reliance on passive-voice descriptive passages. We are TOLD about Athens, we are TOLD about the almost absurdly complex social relationships of the Amazons, but we are not SHOWN them. That is a failure of Creative Writing 101, and Pressfield knows better, but gets away with it because he is a major author, and this makes it all feel "Old Timey" or something. (If so, I'd rather read Herodotus.) Sadly, that is then made even more jarring when it is punctuated by modern dialogue like "That's the ticket!" and "It was smackbang clear" or "They were shitfaced and having fun." (no, really).
The first chapters of the novel drag, then are filled with some truly great and exciting moments, with some inspired prose. An example:
“The savages came out of nowhere, seizing three of our mates on the strand. Theseus ordered attack, but as soon as the ships entered the cove, small craft by the hundreds launched by the tree line, slinging darts and fire lances. These were Saii and Androphagi, Man-Eaters."
Cannibals, a chilling lake of tar (which is set on fire), a mounted duel between Antiope and a Scythian hero -- all exciting and interesting moments. And the entire third quarter of the book is just one prolonged siege. But it never overcomes the narration problem, and the real problem is that these characters have no soul -- Thesus is seen through others eyes, and mostly just as a foil to laud the brilliance of Antiope. Even this is not done effectively -- there is nothing *wrong* with Thesus, his bride is just better at everything. Bones as the Ur-narrator has no personality to speak of and Selene is a cypher to relay the character of Amazonia, yet oddly seems little different than her Greek-lover Damon. The faux historical chronicle style of the narration keeps the characters at arm's length, and although we are told this person loves that person nothing really suggests it.
In short, I cared nothing about anyone, and their deaths were just words on a page. The only exception was Antiope herself, who is clearly the star of Pressfield's tale, yet is only seen through other's eyes, is off-stage for at least half of the book, and dies well before its end.
So, there is the literary critique . But Pressfield is known for his depiction of Thermopylae and his meticulous recreation of Antiquity, so how does this fare as HISTORICAL fiction? Well, clearly the Bronze Age is not his expertise.
Firstly, to be fair, he must create the Amazon's whole-cloth, as he admits, so by default they are no more real than Robert E. Howard's Picts are the real pre-Celtic people of Scotland, or George RR Martin's Dothraki are Mongols...which is good because they feel no more real, either. Pressfield's Amazons are a mix of Scythian, Native American (I would guess Comanche or Apache) and 13th c CE Mongol, and this would have been pretty fun and interesting if the depiction had been consistent. But it's not. We learn the Amazon animist creation myth, but then are presented with the tal Kyrte, as they call themselves, as sky-worshipping monotheists who swear by God (as opposed to "the gods") and are contemptuous of the Greeks and their pantheon....right until we are taught all of the various rites they perform to Ares, Artemis and Zeus. And no, this isn't a Greek relating those rites to their own gods, this is an Amazon explain them to us. The world-building inconsistency is glaring and continuous.
There is also the problem that Pressfield's Amazons might as well be DC comics, because they are just as superhuman, in what is supposed to be historical fiction, not historical fantasy: Hurling 10 lb discuses in battle from horseback, using their fearsome, double-bladed axes one-handed with such strength they can cleave iron armour (more on that in a moment), performing mounted feats -- such as hanging one one handed while being dragged, and doing a vault by that arm back into the saddle -- that are better suited to Legolas in the film version of Lord of the Rings. It goes from impressive to ludicrous; no more realistic than the Persian army in Frank Miller's "300", but far less honest about what it is trying to portray.
Finally, this a war novel, and it fails miserably in depicting late Bronze Age warfare. Pressfield has already displayed a weird mishmash of mixing modern and archaic language, so perhaps he can be forgiven for describing the armies in terms of squads, corps, brigades and battalions -- utterly meaningless terms in the period. But what is astounding is how little understanding he has of warfare in the period. The Greeks fight in phalanxes straight of the Hellenic period, while the Amazons and their allied army of nomads have a level of siegecraft that would have made the Hittites -- the military superpower of the period -- boggle. Likewise, while it is true that iron weapons and armour were in use by the 14th century BCE, it was still rare -- again more commonly in the hands of the Hittites -- and bronze remained the preeminent material, not least because until one can make a reliable steel, the only advantage to iron is that it is more easily produced than an alloy requiring rare tin. This is need for tin and discovery for how to purify iron is a MAJOR economic, military and technological tale of the era, and Pressfield misses it entirely. Not only are the Greeks armed and armoured mostly in iron, so mysteriously enough, are the Amazons, Scyths, Getai, etc. Of course they are -- they can do EVERYTHING BETTER.
Honestly, by the point I got to the final 50 pages, which are probably the best in the novel, it no longer mattered. I was past caring.
This isn't a story about Theseus and Antiope in the waning days of the Bronze Age. It isn't even a story about the Bronze Age, in its trappings, it culture, anything. It is a fantasy novel in a parallel world that has elements of Greek civilization from across seven or eight centuries. And that might have been OK, if Pressfield had made me to do one thing to care one iota about most of the characters. I don't know how you make a tale of Theseus, Antiope and the Amazon siege of Athens boring, but somehow Last of the Amazons does.
I'd rather rewatch "Wonder Woman", whose Amazons were both far more likeable, and at least as believable.
February 17, 2018
Another solid book by Speven Pressfield, though this is far from my favorite, it still has merrit and was a fun read. In it we get a story told from multiple view points and multiple time periods, while the technique can be effective, here I found it overly complicated and I thought it took away from the flow of the story. What we have here, in essence, is a clash between complete freedom in a beautiful, if savage, race of warrior plainswomen, who do not farm, nor build, but hunt and do battle, and whatever else they so desire, and Athens; the city progress and organization; yet a group of people who have given up much freedom and wildness in exchange for stability and order. When the groups meet Sparks fly and idiologies careen off one another, but there are a few from each side who are intrigued by what the other offers, and therin lies our prime conflict. The queen of the Amazon's is enamored by the magnetism of King Theseus, and he, in awe of her indomitable strength (of mind, body and character). While we see interesting themes at play, such as the ones already listed as well as the change from a civilization of honor towards one if practically, and questions of ownership vs enslavement to ones possessions, all mixed into an exciting story, rife with chases, battles, oration, intrigue, betrayal and honor.
The characters were interesting, but honestly, I found myself least interested with each character when it was his or her turn to give narration; when they were being described, they had depth, but being inside each of there heads, added little.
Not his best work, but if you have read everything else of his (and some of them more than once) and are looking for more, fresh Pressfield, it is worth checking out.
The characters were interesting, but honestly, I found myself least interested with each character when it was his or her turn to give narration; when they were being described, they had depth, but being inside each of there heads, added little.
Not his best work, but if you have read everything else of his (and some of them more than once) and are looking for more, fresh Pressfield, it is worth checking out.
May 28, 2018
Having read two previous books by Pressfield, I wanted to give this story a try. As opposed to his previous novels about Alexander and Thermopylae , this book is about the age of heroes and entirely fictional. It deals with King Theseus defeating the Amazons in ancient Greece, including an aging Hercules.
The premise sounded moderately interesting, but the story is told from at least four different narrators perspective, each one telling their story, interweaving between each other in a series of nested flashbacks. As an author I can attest that this is very difficult to do, let alone do well and Pressfield is sadly not up to the task. Making matters worse is that the voice of each narrator is basically identical, despite being radically different people which makes it even more difficult to tell who is telling what story or even really care what they have to say.
Pressfield's books are more about an idea or principle he's fleshing out in the form of a story, which can work well, and I highly recommend the previous books I mentioned above, but this one didn't work out.
The premise sounded moderately interesting, but the story is told from at least four different narrators perspective, each one telling their story, interweaving between each other in a series of nested flashbacks. As an author I can attest that this is very difficult to do, let alone do well and Pressfield is sadly not up to the task. Making matters worse is that the voice of each narrator is basically identical, despite being radically different people which makes it even more difficult to tell who is telling what story or even really care what they have to say.
Pressfield's books are more about an idea or principle he's fleshing out in the form of a story, which can work well, and I highly recommend the previous books I mentioned above, but this one didn't work out.
June 2, 2018
Το πρώτο βιβλίο του Πρέσφιλντ που με απογοητεύει. Βαρετό και αδιάφορο σε σημείο να το παρατήσω.
October 29, 2011
The core of this novel is about change and how it came about. Change in this book's context refers to the make over of civilization from a life lived in the openness of the plains to a life lived within walled cities. During the timeline of this book, there is conflict between the free living Amazons and the nation state of Athens taking its baby steps in the direction of democracy.
The plot line in this book is one ripe for any author to sink their teeth into. Historical certainty is not one cloak that covers the shoulders of the king Theseus or of the race of the Amazons. Their lives and all that transpired therein have their roots more firmly lodged in mythology than in history. This makes room for retelling in any way that an author deems fit. Contained here is the story of the battle between the Amazons & Athenians. One that heralded the end of days for a race and signaled the beginning for another. This being said, I did not much favor this book. One prominent reason for that being the fact that it is filled with tirades. At the drop of a hat an Amazon or an Athenian would begin to extol the virtues of their civilizations unlike no other. After the first three, I skipped pages for the others & just as I expected I did not loose even a thread of the plot's flow. There is a lack of tension here, which for a war novel can spell doom. It is exactly as one of the soldiers in the novel remarks It will not be the siege that kills us, it will be the boredom.
Steven Pressfield is an author whose works I favor tremendously. The singular reason for this is his grip on depicting battle scenes. I have gushed words upon words for his take on Thermopylae & on the campaigns of Alexander.It is no different here, the battle scenes are just as lively. The stars I give in the review are just for these. There is but a lack of urgency in the total nature of this tale that defeated the whole purpose of the novel.
The plot line in this book is one ripe for any author to sink their teeth into. Historical certainty is not one cloak that covers the shoulders of the king Theseus or of the race of the Amazons. Their lives and all that transpired therein have their roots more firmly lodged in mythology than in history. This makes room for retelling in any way that an author deems fit. Contained here is the story of the battle between the Amazons & Athenians. One that heralded the end of days for a race and signaled the beginning for another. This being said, I did not much favor this book. One prominent reason for that being the fact that it is filled with tirades. At the drop of a hat an Amazon or an Athenian would begin to extol the virtues of their civilizations unlike no other. After the first three, I skipped pages for the others & just as I expected I did not loose even a thread of the plot's flow. There is a lack of tension here, which for a war novel can spell doom. It is exactly as one of the soldiers in the novel remarks It will not be the siege that kills us, it will be the boredom.
Steven Pressfield is an author whose works I favor tremendously. The singular reason for this is his grip on depicting battle scenes. I have gushed words upon words for his take on Thermopylae & on the campaigns of Alexander.It is no different here, the battle scenes are just as lively. The stars I give in the review are just for these. There is but a lack of urgency in the total nature of this tale that defeated the whole purpose of the novel.
November 24, 2011
The story-telling ability of Mr. Pressfield has triumphed once again. It was a bit slow at the start with pockets of intensity throughout. The most frustrating aspect of the book was the realization that you are separated by centuries from the extraordinary characters portrayed within the pages of this book.
To address the comments about the difficulty some have had with this book: if you can endure the first half, you will be rewarded b the second. Don't forget that he has to introduce you to an entire civilization and the customs it entails. The second half of this book is absolutely amazing.
To address the comments about the difficulty some have had with this book: if you can endure the first half, you will be rewarded b the second. Don't forget that he has to introduce you to an entire civilization and the customs it entails. The second half of this book is absolutely amazing.
September 16, 2013
Amazing how Pressfield created a whole culture!!! He must have taken elements from every steppe culture he read about and added a big dollop of imagination. The way he kept changing from narrator to narrator was very confusing, but I did enjoy the basic story. If you've never read any other Pressfield, this might be more enjoyable, but there is no comparison with !
February 6, 2017
I love Steven Pressfield's writing. His writing is rich in historical fact and speculation based on the best knowledge we have. He can bring the distant past into brilliant life in the best of his books.
"Gates of Fire" was an amazing book. And while enjoyed "Last of the Amazon's" it never soared like other books he has written. I found it interesting and well written and would recommend it but it is not his best work in my opinion. But still a good read!
"Gates of Fire" was an amazing book. And while enjoyed "Last of the Amazon's" it never soared like other books he has written. I found it interesting and well written and would recommend it but it is not his best work in my opinion. But still a good read!
July 23, 2018
I started “Last of the Amazons� with some hesitation. While I appreciate good writing in general, I much prefer the epic fantasy genre. Among my favorites are Robert Jordan’s “Wheel of Time� series, David Gemmell’s “Legend� (pretty much everything Gemmell wrote), and Glen Cook’s “The Black Company�. Recent Authors I enjoy are Scott Lynch, Brandon Sanderson, Joe Abercrombie, and Anthony Ryan. I’m not particularly fond of historical fiction and/or Greek mythology. However, with the book having been recommended by a friend, I wanted to give it a try and, therefore, set out into the story.
At first, I struggled to get into it mostly for the farm politics and references to other legendary stories of the distant past. Also, the multiple POVs was clumsy to me approaching it as a reader. That said, Bones� accounting of her first-hand experience at sea and her descriptions of her father and uncle started to pull me in. I began to realize throughout the first third of the book that Pressfield was doing something I had never seen executed so well before. The narrations and POVs of each character was a part of their arcs and was shaping them as characters. As I followed the narration of each of the characters, I knew them better as a result. That was a most astonishing experience and I will likely never forget it as characterization is what I enjoy most in any story.
It was this depth of characterization within the narrative in addition to the gritty detail ground into the story that truly captivated me and pulled me through the first half of the book. However, the Amazonian battles on the steppe and, most especially, the assault on Athens completely consumed me. I felt like I was present during the battle at Athens on both sides for which I broke for. I give this book 5 stars for that experience alone.
However, the book isn’t flawless. The dual storylines were fun and clever at times but ultimately pulled away from my favorite parts of the book. The Amazon lore and way of life was so vivid and immersive in the storyline from the past, wherein the present storyline felt slapped together and empty by comparison. In particular, Theseus� character in the past storyline was brilliant and incredibly engaging only to seem lackluster in the present version. Also, not all characters came across well-developed, I thought Bones� father Elias was shallow and could have been removed from the story with little impact. Similarly, Borges had little depth and seemed to be the stereotypical representation of evil.
However, the characters of Selene, Eleuthera, Antiope, Damon, Theseus and many others for most of the book were brilliantly human and completely engaging. These characters at the peak of their arcs drew me in so deep I could not put the book down.
Overall, I must say it was an incredible read. I highly recommend it and consider it one of my new favorites due to the gritty lifelike detail, well-written and engaging characters, and overall experience of the story.
At first, I struggled to get into it mostly for the farm politics and references to other legendary stories of the distant past. Also, the multiple POVs was clumsy to me approaching it as a reader. That said, Bones� accounting of her first-hand experience at sea and her descriptions of her father and uncle started to pull me in. I began to realize throughout the first third of the book that Pressfield was doing something I had never seen executed so well before. The narrations and POVs of each character was a part of their arcs and was shaping them as characters. As I followed the narration of each of the characters, I knew them better as a result. That was a most astonishing experience and I will likely never forget it as characterization is what I enjoy most in any story.
It was this depth of characterization within the narrative in addition to the gritty detail ground into the story that truly captivated me and pulled me through the first half of the book. However, the Amazonian battles on the steppe and, most especially, the assault on Athens completely consumed me. I felt like I was present during the battle at Athens on both sides for which I broke for. I give this book 5 stars for that experience alone.
However, the book isn’t flawless. The dual storylines were fun and clever at times but ultimately pulled away from my favorite parts of the book. The Amazon lore and way of life was so vivid and immersive in the storyline from the past, wherein the present storyline felt slapped together and empty by comparison. In particular, Theseus� character in the past storyline was brilliant and incredibly engaging only to seem lackluster in the present version. Also, not all characters came across well-developed, I thought Bones� father Elias was shallow and could have been removed from the story with little impact. Similarly, Borges had little depth and seemed to be the stereotypical representation of evil.
However, the characters of Selene, Eleuthera, Antiope, Damon, Theseus and many others for most of the book were brilliantly human and completely engaging. These characters at the peak of their arcs drew me in so deep I could not put the book down.
Overall, I must say it was an incredible read. I highly recommend it and consider it one of my new favorites due to the gritty lifelike detail, well-written and engaging characters, and overall experience of the story.
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