What do you think?
Rate this book
Cyrus the Great #1
Dawn of the Greatest Persian: The Childhood of Cyrus the Great
One of the greatest men of ancient history is born into duplicity in this fictional novel. Cyrus the Great of Persia (Pars) triumphs by surviving his childhood. His grandfather, the Great King who ruled the Median Empire, is willing to forsake his own family for personal survival. His priest magi cannot interpret his frightful dreams to his satisfaction. He forces a marriage on his only daughter. Then he conspires to kill her baby. Military disobedience puts the infant into the hands of thieves. Corrupt government officials jeopardize his natural parents and his country. After years of separation from his natural parents he is reunited through bizarre family support. Enemies of his family continue to endanger his parents. Lies, hate and revenge surround the child. His father teaches Cyrus his family's history. The boy accepts generations of honor as his standard. This is a story of people losing control, committing crimes, and harboring hate. National conflict spit royal families against each other. Love and honor win. After 2500 years nothing is fundamentally different in the story of mankind.
416 pages, Paperback
First published July 17, 2003
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
November 9, 2022
This was a strangely written book! I thoroughly enjoyed it and felt it painted an effectively vivid picture of this early period in Persian history.
I have just spent almost four years now, reading everything I can about the Classical Greek period and am now expanding my horizons to the most important empire in the Greek world. I read Gore Vidal’s Creation, set much later but also focused on the Persian world.
My point being that I’m not a scholar and have no other books with which to hold this one up against.
I appreciated all the details about life, both royal and otherwise, in Media and Pars. The political situations with Lydia and Babylon were also fleshed out so a picture of the larger stage was provided. The differences between Pars and Media in terms of the peoples character through kingship style and religion was fascinating.
The main characters in the book were, for the most part, very one-sided….either downright evil like Zav or impossibly good like Cyrus and Cambyses. Astayges was the most nuanced character…his devolvement into drunken selfish insanity was a good example of the effects of power.
I found the writing style of this book rather bizarre. It was choppy and simplified in a way that one does not encounter! The sentences were largely without clauses…basic and straightforward. I almost concluded that English was not this writers first language. However!!!! This odd style actually contributed enormously to the sense of great antiquity, of cultural foreignness. The staccato rhythms of the marching sentences lent the air that this story had been translated from some long dead language.
I still can’t decide if this was merely unskilled writing or a marvelously effective technique!
Nor do I care, because I’m ordering the next book right now! Quite thrilled that there are 3 more books in this series!
I have just spent almost four years now, reading everything I can about the Classical Greek period and am now expanding my horizons to the most important empire in the Greek world. I read Gore Vidal’s Creation, set much later but also focused on the Persian world.
My point being that I’m not a scholar and have no other books with which to hold this one up against.
I appreciated all the details about life, both royal and otherwise, in Media and Pars. The political situations with Lydia and Babylon were also fleshed out so a picture of the larger stage was provided. The differences between Pars and Media in terms of the peoples character through kingship style and religion was fascinating.
The main characters in the book were, for the most part, very one-sided….either downright evil like Zav or impossibly good like Cyrus and Cambyses. Astayges was the most nuanced character…his devolvement into drunken selfish insanity was a good example of the effects of power.
I found the writing style of this book rather bizarre. It was choppy and simplified in a way that one does not encounter! The sentences were largely without clauses…basic and straightforward. I almost concluded that English was not this writers first language. However!!!! This odd style actually contributed enormously to the sense of great antiquity, of cultural foreignness. The staccato rhythms of the marching sentences lent the air that this story had been translated from some long dead language.
I still can’t decide if this was merely unskilled writing or a marvelously effective technique!
Nor do I care, because I’m ordering the next book right now! Quite thrilled that there are 3 more books in this series!
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review