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Fortress of the Sun: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Corinth
It's 243 B.C. and Greece is ready for a revolution.
Eighty years have passed since the death of Alexander the Great, the man who first cowed free Hellas into submission. His successors have only tightened their grip in the interim, the present king no exception. Spartan rebellions, opportunistic usurpers, foreign invaders – for five decades, King Antigonus has seen them all and crushed them all. He stands alone astride Greece; he fears no one.
Aratus of Sicyon plans to change that. Burning with a passion for freedom and hatred for the King, he takes aim at Macedon when no one else would dare; takes aim at its crown jewel in the south, the linchpin of its control, the symbol of its domination—Corinth.
Outfunded, outmanned, and outarmed, Aratus embarks on one of the most audacious campaigns in ancient history, one destined to change Greece forever.
Eighty years have passed since the death of Alexander the Great, the man who first cowed free Hellas into submission. His successors have only tightened their grip in the interim, the present king no exception. Spartan rebellions, opportunistic usurpers, foreign invaders – for five decades, King Antigonus has seen them all and crushed them all. He stands alone astride Greece; he fears no one.
Aratus of Sicyon plans to change that. Burning with a passion for freedom and hatred for the King, he takes aim at Macedon when no one else would dare; takes aim at its crown jewel in the south, the linchpin of its control, the symbol of its domination—Corinth.
Outfunded, outmanned, and outarmed, Aratus embarks on one of the most audacious campaigns in ancient history, one destined to change Greece forever.
321 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 26, 2018
88 people are currently reading
82 people want to read
About the author
E.M. Thomas
3 books140 followersI am the author of two novels - an epic fantasy (The Bulls of War) and a historical fiction set in Ancient Greece (Fortress of the Sun). The former is the first in the series entitled Chronicles of the Andervold Thrones; the latter is intended to stand alone, yet fits into a continuum of late third century Greek novels to come.
I was born and raised on the East Coast of the United States but I'm a world traveler at heart. I caught the writing bug early on and have a passion for all good fiction, but especially that of the fantasy and historical variety (seeing a pattern yet?). To the latter point, I easily digest as much non-fiction as I do its counterpart, primarily with respect to Ancient Rome and Greece. My interest (*cough* obsession *cough*) in Greco-Roman history certainly informs my writings to date, regardless of the genre.
One of my favorite moments since I started writing was drafting a chapter of my forthcoming book about the great battle of Corinth - while sitting amidst the ruins of ancient Corinth.
I was born and raised on the East Coast of the United States but I'm a world traveler at heart. I caught the writing bug early on and have a passion for all good fiction, but especially that of the fantasy and historical variety (seeing a pattern yet?). To the latter point, I easily digest as much non-fiction as I do its counterpart, primarily with respect to Ancient Rome and Greece. My interest (*cough* obsession *cough*) in Greco-Roman history certainly informs my writings to date, regardless of the genre.
One of my favorite moments since I started writing was drafting a chapter of my forthcoming book about the great battle of Corinth - while sitting amidst the ruins of ancient Corinth.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 21, 2019
I am immensely excited to see a book on Aratus, one of the most impressive yet little-known Greeks. Leader of Democratic Sicyon and influential member and often general of the Achaean League, Aratus led the league to war against the Antigonid kings of Macedonia and won more often than he lost. But since this took place after the “Classical” era in Greek history he’s reduced to little more than a footnote. Alexander the Great conquered Greece and the Near East and then died leaving the Romans to pick up the pieces. That’s all most people know. Well we’re about a century after Alexander and Greece is still struggling for its freedom. Alexander’s vast empire has been fractured into three rival dynastic kingdoms. By banding together several of the smaller Greek city-states have managed to hold off Macedonian domination to rule themselves. And Aratus was their most effective leader.
I applaud this book for choosing such a great topic, but I have mixed feelings on its execution. What this book should feel like is a thriller. They’re on a secret mission to seize the Acrocorinth from the Macedonian garrison with the aid of traitors within. It should be filled with treachery and danger. Who can you trust? Are the traitors real? Is it a trap? Can you take the citadel with so few men? There should be crooked people all around you and we should be clear of nobody’s motives (except Aratus) until the final assault. What the book is is a more basic action/adventure swords-and-sandals tale. Aratus is direct, soldierly, and honest. He recruits people easily and tells most people his whole plan right away. There’s never any real feeling that these might not be reliable men. Well, apart from the Corinthian soldiers leading him to the gap in the walls, but they’re almost too untrustworthy. They have no motive but gold yet, strangely, there’s little sense that they might turn on Aratus and end it all.
The plot is simple enough and without any real surprises. Characters are not very strongly drawn, although the treacherous Syrian brothers are fun. The action scenes are mostly competent, although at times conflicts end too quickly and the sense of location is not always easy to understand. A map would have helped with this. I’ve been to Corinth so I know where the Acrocorinth is in relation to the city (it’s not within the city walls) but people unfamiliar with the location may struggle to visualize it. There were times when it wasn’t at all clear what was happening. It has very much the feel of a first novel.
While the book is an easy and sometimes entertaining read, it doesn’t feel particularly authentic. Everyone feels like Americans in chitons (no matter how many “aye”s and “bloody”s get thrown in there) and I have no feel for the culture (as opposed to politics) of this period. I realize that writing style for historical novels is a divisive issue. Personally, an informal and modern style of dialogue turns me off even more than an artificially archaic one. And abbreviations for foreign names (especially “Macks” for “Macedonians”) really bug me. But even without the overly modern, informal, and slangy mode of speech, the book just doesn’t present the content right. Everyone seems optimistic about life, relaxed, informal, generous, emotionally open, respectful of civilian control, honest, merciful, trusting… In short: they seem American.
It’s also a bit childish politically. When Aratus presents the case for seizing Corinth he doesn’t present it in terms of advantage or the ideal of Greek freedom, he introduces it as the request of a random man who approached him while he was enjoying the games. He doesn’t know this man’s real name, doesn’t know what position (if any) he holds in the government, doesn’t have a plan ready, and doesn’t really seem to have any thoughts of his own. Why would anyone vote for such a plan? Frankly, it wouldn’t work even in a story set in the modern day. It also bears no relation to Classical rhetoric. It’s the sort of justification proclaimed by a self-righteous clean-shaven man with a square jaw and a suspiciously-‘50s haircut.
That said, the book does display evidence of substantial research. Occasionally, historical detail could even be trimmed down. There was really no need to detail the initial battles between Alexander’s successors eighty years before the book is set. Or to outline the career of every dead king once a name’s introduced. It betrays a lack of faith in the reader. The absence of Classical hoplites was good to see, although I’m not certain how well he explains the difference between thureophoroi, thorakitai, and Macedonian formations. The book even uses Greek terms and concepts beyond what is necessary. Enough so that it seemed even more surprising that this book otherwise felt so little Greek.
I have to say that it I grew tired of this book by the mid-point. It was predictable every step of the way, and everything seemed just too easy, not to mention too pure and simple. The setting and goal are great, but that’s all that makes it stand out. It’s not an awful read, I don’t regret reading it, but I’m unlikely to return to it at a later date.
I applaud this book for choosing such a great topic, but I have mixed feelings on its execution. What this book should feel like is a thriller. They’re on a secret mission to seize the Acrocorinth from the Macedonian garrison with the aid of traitors within. It should be filled with treachery and danger. Who can you trust? Are the traitors real? Is it a trap? Can you take the citadel with so few men? There should be crooked people all around you and we should be clear of nobody’s motives (except Aratus) until the final assault. What the book is is a more basic action/adventure swords-and-sandals tale. Aratus is direct, soldierly, and honest. He recruits people easily and tells most people his whole plan right away. There’s never any real feeling that these might not be reliable men. Well, apart from the Corinthian soldiers leading him to the gap in the walls, but they’re almost too untrustworthy. They have no motive but gold yet, strangely, there’s little sense that they might turn on Aratus and end it all.
The plot is simple enough and without any real surprises. Characters are not very strongly drawn, although the treacherous Syrian brothers are fun. The action scenes are mostly competent, although at times conflicts end too quickly and the sense of location is not always easy to understand. A map would have helped with this. I’ve been to Corinth so I know where the Acrocorinth is in relation to the city (it’s not within the city walls) but people unfamiliar with the location may struggle to visualize it. There were times when it wasn’t at all clear what was happening. It has very much the feel of a first novel.
While the book is an easy and sometimes entertaining read, it doesn’t feel particularly authentic. Everyone feels like Americans in chitons (no matter how many “aye”s and “bloody”s get thrown in there) and I have no feel for the culture (as opposed to politics) of this period. I realize that writing style for historical novels is a divisive issue. Personally, an informal and modern style of dialogue turns me off even more than an artificially archaic one. And abbreviations for foreign names (especially “Macks” for “Macedonians”) really bug me. But even without the overly modern, informal, and slangy mode of speech, the book just doesn’t present the content right. Everyone seems optimistic about life, relaxed, informal, generous, emotionally open, respectful of civilian control, honest, merciful, trusting… In short: they seem American.
It’s also a bit childish politically. When Aratus presents the case for seizing Corinth he doesn’t present it in terms of advantage or the ideal of Greek freedom, he introduces it as the request of a random man who approached him while he was enjoying the games. He doesn’t know this man’s real name, doesn’t know what position (if any) he holds in the government, doesn’t have a plan ready, and doesn’t really seem to have any thoughts of his own. Why would anyone vote for such a plan? Frankly, it wouldn’t work even in a story set in the modern day. It also bears no relation to Classical rhetoric. It’s the sort of justification proclaimed by a self-righteous clean-shaven man with a square jaw and a suspiciously-‘50s haircut.
That said, the book does display evidence of substantial research. Occasionally, historical detail could even be trimmed down. There was really no need to detail the initial battles between Alexander’s successors eighty years before the book is set. Or to outline the career of every dead king once a name’s introduced. It betrays a lack of faith in the reader. The absence of Classical hoplites was good to see, although I’m not certain how well he explains the difference between thureophoroi, thorakitai, and Macedonian formations. The book even uses Greek terms and concepts beyond what is necessary. Enough so that it seemed even more surprising that this book otherwise felt so little Greek.
I have to say that it I grew tired of this book by the mid-point. It was predictable every step of the way, and everything seemed just too easy, not to mention too pure and simple. The setting and goal are great, but that’s all that makes it stand out. It’s not an awful read, I don’t regret reading it, but I’m unlikely to return to it at a later date.
June 17, 2019
What a battle... glad I wasn't there. This book brought an amazing war story to life. If ever there was an uphill battle, as told by E.M. Thomas, the Battle of Corinth was it. I wish I had spent some time googling up the factual references early in my read. Inevitably, I was hooked by the storytelling early in the book, when the protagonist's childhood trauma was shared. The life of a professional warrior was certainly gruesome, and what a weight to carry for the leader of the campaign. Add to that the political difficulties of convincing a large decision making body to endorse the effort makes for tough odds. During this read, I highlighted more sections than I usually do. I particularly liked the dialog between the characters, and some of that dialog serves as good advice throughout the ages, such as this quote: "more damage is done when good men do nothing than when bad men do anything." With this book, I was reading outside of my comfort zone. I appreciate the author for transporting me into this time and place for a couple of days.
December 23, 2018
If you like stodgy historical detail, you will be thrilled by the first third of Fortress of the Sun.
Fortunately for those of us who find stodgy, historical detail heavy plowing, the pace picks up about halfway through and zips along for the final third. I would allow a long weekend to get into it and military-minded preteens will be agog.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Fortunately for those of us who find stodgy, historical detail heavy plowing, the pace picks up about halfway through and zips along for the final third. I would allow a long weekend to get into it and military-minded preteens will be agog.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
April 24, 2020
Greece is ruled with an iron fist and some do not like it so a battle is coming. They will have a small force against a huge army but they are going to try or die in honour. The right is not going to be easy. Can they overcome all the forces against them? See if they can do the impossible
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
December 26, 2018
Interesting story based on ancient history. If you are interested in the period, history of Greece and surrounding countries, you will enjoy this book.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
December 30, 2018
The attention to detail was fantastic. The characters were well crafted, and the history was incredibly well researched. Utterly fascinating.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
December 11, 2020
Even if a bit slow at first, the tale gains momentum soon enough. Disappointments, frustrations both at home and with his companions, Aratus of Sikyon faces every imaginable obstacle in his struggle to gain freedom for his city. Well worth the read.
February 20, 2019
Fortress of the Sun was an Epic read! I love the details that the author describes to share the past and present. I could feel the emotions coming off of the page. The story unfolds of Aratus and the Achaean League as in Greek history. Aratus story unfolds through his past and present as he tries to gain support for war against Macedonia. If you like historical fiction then you will love "Fortress of the Sun"!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews