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25th out of 72 books
—
178 voters
The Ionia Sanction (The Athenian Mysteries #2)
by
Gary Corby (Goodreads Author)
"Corby has not only made Greek history accessible—he’s made it first-rate entertainment.” --Kelli Stanley, award-winning author of Nox Dormienda and City of Dragons
Athens, 460 B.C. Life's tough for Nicolaos, the only investigating agent in ancient Athens. His girlfriend's left him and his boss wants to fire him. But when an Athenian official is murdered, the brilliant stat...more
Athens, 460 B.C. Life's tough for Nicolaos, the only investigating agent in ancient Athens. His girlfriend's left him and his boss wants to fire him. But when an Athenian official is murdered, the brilliant stat...more
Hardcover, 352 pages
Published
November 8th 2011
by Minotaur Books
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The Ionia Sanction (Minotaur 2011) finds Nicolaos, the only investigating agent in ancient Athens, examining the supposed suicide of Thorion, the proxenos (agent) for Ephesus, a Greek city within the Persian empire. Thorion sent a note to Pericles admitting to betraying Athens and promising news of a threat. But the scroll Thorion received before his death is missing, probably stolen by Araxes, his last visitor and probable murderer. Nicolaos comes up with a brilliant plan for capturing Araxes a...more
Nov 22, 2011
Dorothy
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Lovers of historical mysteries and writing about ancient Greece
Shelves:
historical-mysteries
Thorion, the proxenos (agent) for Ephesus (a Hellenic city in the Persian Empire) in fifth-century Athens, is dead. Very dead. His body is hanging from the ceiling of his office in his Athens home, where he is found by Pericles. Pericles had received a note from Thorion which seemed to say that he had committed treason against Athens. But it soon becomes apparent that all is not as it seems at the death scene.
Pericles calls in the investigator Nicolaos, whom he had used once before, to look into...more
Pericles calls in the investigator Nicolaos, whom he had used once before, to look into...more
Gary Corby's done it again in this second installment of Nicolaus' career as an Ancient Greek private investigator. Pericles, ruler of Athens, charges Nico with finding the murderer of Thorion, the proxenos for Athens, only the first murder Nico will encounter this time around.
A wily ride ensues as Nico careens down the Long Walls of Piraeus and travels to Ephesus where he is reunited with Diotima, priestess to Artemis. Unfortunately, Nico is lugging a rather young, very pretty slave named Asia,...more
A wily ride ensues as Nico careens down the Long Walls of Piraeus and travels to Ephesus where he is reunited with Diotima, priestess to Artemis. Unfortunately, Nico is lugging a rather young, very pretty slave named Asia,...more
Nicolaus is a young man working for Pericles of Athens in the mid-Fifth Century BC. His father wants him to join the family sculpture business, but Nicolaus has no artistic ability, so he becomes a confidential agent. Adding to his plight is that his younger brother is Socrates, possibly the most annoying little brother in history.
However, in this novel, Nicolaus sets out for the cities of Ephesus and Magnesia in Ionia to return a kidnap victim, or so he thinks. Enough plot twists to make for a...more
However, in this novel, Nicolaus sets out for the cities of Ephesus and Magnesia in Ionia to return a kidnap victim, or so he thinks. Enough plot twists to make for a...more
Gary Corby is great. The book flows very well and is extremely informative. Corby's books are a great way to learn about the life, rituals, practices, names and beliefs of Ancient Greece in a fun way. His protagonist, Nico, is also very likable, identifiable, and is written with very believable strengths and flaws.
The romance portion of this book was especially well done. I'm also still thinking about the particular method of Persian death sentence I learned about in this book. Yikes!
The only r...more
The romance portion of this book was especially well done. I'm also still thinking about the particular method of Persian death sentence I learned about in this book. Yikes!
The only r...more
"The Ionia Sanction" is the second book in Gary Corby's "Athenian Mysteries" series, featuring the intrepid young investigator, Nicolaos and his elusive love, Diotima, set in Athens in 460 BC. This book begins where the previous one, The Pericles Commission, left off, as Nicolaos is Pericles' hand picked investigator. And there's a death, traitorous acts, trips across the sea and, of course, murder and love all around. This was another fine effort by Corby.
Soon after a leading man in the city is...more
Soon after a leading man in the city is...more
Nice bit of historical fluff that only really has two major stumbles: it uses every relationship cliche when it comes to the hero and his girl and it's not Lindsey Davis.
The setting, the mystery and most of the cast are interesting, but the author falls back on too many cliches of fictional relationships and you can see them coming a mile away and they feel very forced.
He also uses alot of mystery cliches, but with the place and time being so different, that wasn't a problem.
Unfortunately, there...more
The setting, the mystery and most of the cast are interesting, but the author falls back on too many cliches of fictional relationships and you can see them coming a mile away and they feel very forced.
He also uses alot of mystery cliches, but with the place and time being so different, that wasn't a problem.
Unfortunately, there...more
All roads seem to lead to Ephesus! This is the third classical era book I've read this year that was set in/around Ephesus. Not as interesting as Corby's first book about Nico but it was OK. I did not like the overly graphic description of the favored Persian form of execution (later taken up by Vlad) which continues to creep me out days after finishing the book. Maybe a little too heavy on the political stuff but still kept me reading. Loved the author notes describing the real events & pe...more
This book is a delightful combination of mystery, romance, and historical novel. The historical setting is developed well enough for the reader to envision the characters there, but not so heavy as to lose the reader's interest. The author gave me lots of hooks with which to pull up my long-past Ancient History high school studies, all the while drawing me into the intrigue and the romance between Nicholaos and Diotima.
Added bonus for the detail-minded is the pronunciation guide to the Greek nam...more
Added bonus for the detail-minded is the pronunciation guide to the Greek nam...more
I won this ARC in a blog contest and was so excited when I received it! I haven't read Corby's first book, but I sure will after finishing this. It's definitely a unique tale - how many stories out there combine Greek history with mystery and humor? Nicolaos is a great protagonist, and I loved the repartee between him and his feisty priestess love interest. The writing style reminded me of Rick Riordan's work - light, fun, irreverent, sarcastic. My only beef was the constant back-and-forth dialo...more
Nicolaos, the only private investigator in ancient Athens, has a problem. The Ephesian ambassador is dead, and Nicolaos let the murderer get away.
Pericles, the ruler of Athens, sends the embarrassed Nicolaos to Ephesus, a Greek enclave in the Persian Empire, to hunt for the killer and do a little spying on Themistocles, a traitor to Athens. Nico is more than eager to go since the luscious Diotima, the woman he loves, is currently serving as priestess at the temple of Artemis there.
The character...more
Pericles, the ruler of Athens, sends the embarrassed Nicolaos to Ephesus, a Greek enclave in the Persian Empire, to hunt for the killer and do a little spying on Themistocles, a traitor to Athens. Nico is more than eager to go since the luscious Diotima, the woman he loves, is currently serving as priestess at the temple of Artemis there.
The character...more
I received an advance uncorrected proof of The Ionia Sanction by Gary Corby through Goodreads. Picking up the book, I was a little hesitant and thought it may be a hit or miss. I didn't really care for the cover. But, OMG!!! I was hooked from the start, and keep in mind I VERY RARELY give a 5 stars as I did to this book. (FYI I have NOT read the first book....yet.)
The tone Corby uses for Nico, the main character and narrator, makes for a most enjoyable, fun read. I never laugh out loud, but foun...more
The tone Corby uses for Nico, the main character and narrator, makes for a most enjoyable, fun read. I never laugh out loud, but foun...more
Having read #1 in the series "The Pericles Commission", #2 "The Ionia Sanction" peaked my interest in the continuing saga of the twenty-ish Nicolaos. His sculptor father Sophroniscus has granted him a two-year opportunity for establishing his investigator career. Nico realizes his overconfidence with regard to catching murderers and walks a thin line with Athens' head-of-government Pericles.
A kidnapped girl and a murdered consulate at first seem unrelated, but all roads lead across the Aegean S...more
A kidnapped girl and a murdered consulate at first seem unrelated, but all roads lead across the Aegean S...more
Three types of people will thoroughly enjoy this novel. First, the mystery buff will love the detailed and intricate mystery. Second, the flat-foot buff will bend his/her fondness to a story that follows the actions of an ancient private dick. And finally, the history aficionado will peruse this tale for both the accuracies and the inaccuracies. One quickly learns that no one is beyond suspicion as Nico traces the clues and chases the bad guys. Nico finds himself ensnared with a second job when...more
Not quite as good as its predecessor, but close. A bit too tawdry for me, both in terms of torture and sex. (The sex part being especially distracting for being anachronistic in a book that otherwise seems to be very faithful to history.) Still entertaining, though, and I will still follow the series.
This is a great, fun, fast read. I think I liked it better than the first one, and I really liked that one, too.
The parallels of Athens politics and the Bush/Obama administrations are...well, if not subtle, at least quite amusing in their obviousness. And throughout, the book is very funny.
Corby has created a loveable main character whose hubris is the source of much laughter, but you can't help rooting for him in all his naievete. And he's got a good woman to keep him on the straight and narro...more
The parallels of Athens politics and the Bush/Obama administrations are...well, if not subtle, at least quite amusing in their obviousness. And throughout, the book is very funny.
Corby has created a loveable main character whose hubris is the source of much laughter, but you can't help rooting for him in all his naievete. And he's got a good woman to keep him on the straight and narro...more
The people of Athens were fickle in their choice of leaders, as Themistocles learned. Exiled from Athens, he went to the king of Persia and got himself installed as the governor of western Turkey - a very worrisome development for Athens and the rest of the Greek world.
So in this book our hero, Nicholas, is commissioned to investigate the murder of a trade delegate representing Magnesia (the area overseen by Themistocles), and soon uncovers theft, smuggling, and a murder plot. He also finds hims...more
So in this book our hero, Nicholas, is commissioned to investigate the murder of a trade delegate representing Magnesia (the area overseen by Themistocles), and soon uncovers theft, smuggling, and a murder plot. He also finds hims...more
Very good history and mystery combined with some humor thrown in.
several - "Ok, now how is the author going to get out of this one" situations - Gary Corby does a great job of resolving problems realistically.
several - "Ok, now how is the author going to get out of this one" situations - Gary Corby does a great job of resolving problems realistically.
This is the second in a mystery series set in the world of ancient Greece. The "detective" is Nicolaos, the older brother of 12-year old Socrates. He has helped Pericles before with a mystery and is now asked to solve another murder. In order to do this, he travels to Ionia, a Greek colony on the western edge of modern Turkey. He takes a young female slave with him. She claims to be the daughter of an important man, and indeed, her father is Themistocles, an exiled Greek general, who is ruling o...more
A mystery set in ancient Greece but with a fun twist. Imagine what ancient Greece was like for an average gumshoe trying to crack his first big case. Cute little caper
While not quite as fun as the first book in this series this series remains entertaining. Think Sam Spade in Ancient Greece and you get the general tone of the book. Nicolaos, the sleuth in training once again becomes involved in a murder case. He is tasked by Pericles to investigate the death of Thorion. Nico has to leave Athens to investigate which raises the stakes. The stakes are higher, and the political intrigue gets even more complicated. Certain elements seem just a bit off, but Nico rem...more
Interesting exploration of ancient Greece. Fun. Likeable protagonists.
Fun mystery series set in Ancient Rome. Light reading, but cute.
A very fun look at ancient Greece with a mystery thrown in.
Great series! I love the historical notes at the end!
good and funny mystery set in 450 BC greece
All the other good reviews say it well enough so I won't give yet another recap. I'll just say that although I've never been fond of Ancient Greece I find this series filled with good depictions of life in the time period with likeable witty characters... although I can't wait to find out how hero is going to explain things when he gets home.
This second book in the series is more violent, a touch darker than I remember the first one being. The setting is so unique for a mystery, and I enjoyed the blend of history and speculation. One of piece of the mystery was solved in a way that felt like a cop-out, but the rest was satisfactory overall.
Great little book. You must read The Pericles Commission first or you won't understand who the characters are. I enjoyed it and learned a bit more about Ancient Greece.
This was a fun book to read. There was a good mix of humor and adventure making for an enjoyable read. I especially enjoyed the use of the time period and setting for the story and hope to see more of the same in the future.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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| The World's Liter...: Ionia Sanction, sequel to Pericles Commission | 3 | 13 | Aug 05, 2012 01:30pm |
I'm the author of the Athenian Mysteries.
Nicolaos, the ambitious son of a minor sculptor, walks the mean streets of Classical Athens as an agent for the promising young politician Pericles.
Murder and mayhem don't faze Nico; what's really on his mind is how to get closer (much closer) to Diotima, the intelligent and annoyingly virgin priestess of Artemis, and how to shake off his irritating 12 yea...more
More about Gary Corby...
Nicolaos, the ambitious son of a minor sculptor, walks the mean streets of Classical Athens as an agent for the promising young politician Pericles.
Murder and mayhem don't faze Nico; what's really on his mind is how to get closer (much closer) to Diotima, the intelligent and annoyingly virgin priestess of Artemis, and how to shake off his irritating 12 yea...more
