Noble Smith Sword of Apollo (2015) (The third book in the Warrior Trilogy series)

Noble Smith

Noble Smith is an award-winning playwright and documentary film executive producer as well as a 16-year veteran of the interactive entertainment industry as a narrative designer, having worked on projects for Vivendi, Machinima.com, Snowblind and Bungie Studios. He is the author of The Wisdom of the Shire, a guide to life for fans of J.R.R. Tolkien (translated into 8 languages), praised by Kirkus Reviews as a must-have for fans of Middle-earth. He is a contributor to the fantasy/sci-fi site Legendarium, and co-host of the D&D nostalgia blog http://www.dungeonsanddorkwads.com. He lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife and children. – See more at: http://www.thewarriortrilogy.com/about-the-author/#sthash.YHAdZ9iq.dpuf

Sword of Apollo (2015) (The third book in the Warrior Trilogy series)

A novel by Noble Smith

 

Nikias of Plataea has survived battle, shipwreck, and torture. But now the young warrior must face his greatest challenge: leading the people of his city-state on a desperate exodus to Athens while being hunted down by the largest Spartan expeditionary force in history.

From the burning forests of the legendary Mount Kithaeron, to the plague-ridden streets of Athens, to the dreaded Prison Pits of Syrakuse, Nikias has to use his fists, sword, and wits to defeat his enemies, and bring aid to a citadel cut off from the rest of the world by merciless invaders.

Award-winning author Noble Smith’s Sword of Apollo brings to a close the thrilling Warrior trilogy, set during the epic war that tore apart Ancient Greece

Review

Well Noble Smith has managed it again, book 3 in this Warrior series is just an excellent read. Since the very first book Sons of Zeus i have been hugely impressed with the pace and narrative of the books, coupled with some highly engaging characters. each and every book has flown past. The story has always been well set in its historical time frame but without feeling a need to delve into the history too deeply, relying on the adventure of the plot and the people to carry the reader. That said the weapons, the people and the locations are well researched to give the story that authentic edge.

In this third book the story continues, and for once its not all a punishing journey for Nikias, but the young man still has much to learn and experience. He will travel further from home, the reader can experience sea adventures, battle, disease and political shenanigans.  I only wish the story handed ended so suddenly. Despite being detailed as a trilogy this story is far from over, and book 4 may be more than a year away.

I recommend this series, its great fun, highly entertaining and extremely well written

(Parm)

Series

Warrior Trilogy
1. Sons of Zeus (2013)
2. Spartans at the Gates (2014)
3. Sword of Apollo (2015)
Love Death and Hate Your Foe (2014)

Novels

Stolen from Gypsies (2000)

Novellas

The One-Armed Warrior (2013)

Non fiction

The Wisdom of the Shire (2012)

Noble Smith: Spartans at the Gates (review)

Author Bio (Noble Smith)

Noble Smith is an award-winning playwright and documentary film executive producer as well as a 16-year veteran of the interactive entertainment industry as a narrative designer. He is the author of The Wisdom of the Shire, a guide to life for fans of J.R.R. Tolkien (translated into 8 languages), praised by Kirkus Reviews as a “must-have” for fans of Middle-earth. He lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife and children.

Book Description (Spartan at the gates)

The Peloponnesian War has begun. An army of merciless Spartan invaders have arrived at the gates of Plataea, bent on obliterating the city and its inhabitants. Plataea’s oldest allies, the Athenians, are spread too thin in their own campaigns to send help. Cut off and alone, the Plataeans dig in behind their high walls for the coming siege, while the ruthless Spartans gather outside.

On a rugged mountain road a young Plataean warrior named Nikias rides to Athens on an urgent quest. He carries with him a bag of ill-gotten gold, hoping to raise an army of mercenaries to help defend his city from the coming Spartan assault. But in the sprawling stronghold of Athens, Nikias encounters perils that prove to be more dangerous than those he has faced on the battlefield.
Noble Smith’s Spartans at the Gates is a thrilling action-adventure novel set during the war between the great powers of Ancient Greece.

Review:

I first discovered Noble last year when i stumbled across Sons of Zeus, The concept was the bit that intrigued me despite the cover being another unfortunate US cover (sorry guys, but US publishers have an amazing skill for awful covers, Spartans at the Gates isn’t really an improvement…sorry Noble). In the last five years plus I have developed a real passion for books set in ancient Greece, something driven mainly by the awesome writing of Christian Cameron. Couple that with Nobles setting of Plataea again a location at the heart of Christians writing and I was hooked in to read book one and give it a go. What i didn’t expect was excellent pace and plotting of the book and its characters. My review of Sons of Zeus is Here

When I know Spartan at the Gates was ready in advance copy I was front and centre begging the author for a copy. I hadn’t enjoyed a book this much in this time period since Christian Cameron’s works first hooked me in. (and that really is my highest compliment). The worry of a great first book is “can the author repeat it?”

In the case of Spartan the answer is yes with a tiny quibble. The fantastic setting is there, the descriptive is there, the research is impeccable, the characters are once again sublime. Noble imbues Nikias and all his family and friends with a real passion, the protagonists are all complex bad guys, giving an amazing keep you guessing plot, who will pop up where, what are the real motives? Introduce the multitude of whisperers (spies) from all sides and factions and you don’t know what will happen next.  This book has Nikias thrown from one set of issues and adversity to another, testing his stamina and metal to the limit, We also fill in more of the blanks on Chusor the mysterious Smith and will Nikias young friend Kolax finally find his father, and how many people will this whirling devil of a Scythian boy kill on his journey to find him. The whole book flew by, it was over before I felt I had really got to the meat of it, and I think that was my only regret with the read, it felt like a bridging book, moving pieces on the chess board and shifting them into position for the final book in the series, its done so well that on the Amazon scale I would still give this 5/5 stars, but on a personal note I felt that bridging and plot building too keenly in its ending, that could just be a great compliment that i never wanted it to end? but in a world of hefty tomes, i felt this could have benefitted from another 100 pages of meat.

So once again from Noble Smith a truly excellent read, crammed with great characters and story telling , an engaging and fast paced writing skill and style to rival the best of them (Bernard Cornwell, , Conn Iggulden, Christian Cameron, Giles Kristian, Anthony Riches, Ben Kane, Paul Collard, Michael Arnold, Angus Donald (hope I didn’t miss anyone 😉 etc..) and well worth the cover price, a book I heartily recommend.

(Parm)

 

Novels

Stolen from Gypsies (2000)
Sons of Zeus (2013)
Spartans at the Gates (2014)

Novellas

The One-Armed Warrior (2013)

Non fiction

The Wisdom of the Shire: A Short Guide to a Long and Happy Life (2012)