Christian Cameron was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1962. He grew up in Rockport, Massachusetts, Iowa City, Iowa, and Rochester, New York, where he attended McQuaid Jesuit High School and later graduated from the University of Rochester with a degree in history.
After the longest undergraduate degree on record (1980-87), he joined the United States Navy, where he served as an intelligence officer and as a backseater in S-3 Vikings in the First Gulf War, in Somalia, and elsewhere. After a dozen years of service, he became a full time writer in 2000. He lives in Toronto, Canada with his wife Sarah and their daughter Beatrice.
(The second book in the Tom Swan and the Siege of Belgrade series)
Fifteenth Century Europe. Tom Swan is not a professional soldier. He’s really a merchant and a scholar looking for remnants of Ancient Greece and Rome – temples, graves, pottery, fabulous animals, unicorn horns. But he also has a real talent for ending up in the midst of violence when he didn’t mean to. Having used his wits to escape execution, he begins a series of adventures that take him to street duels in Italy, meetings with remarkable men – from Leonardo Da Vinci to Vlad Dracula – and from the intrigues of the War of the Roses to the fall of Constantinople.
Review:
Once again Christian Cameron nails it with one of his tales. The latest Tom Swan story (8th over all and 2nd in the latest series) has all the usual depth and characterisation, but more than this it shows a true blending of his skill as a writer, his deep passion as a historian and re-enactor and finally it brings to the fore his skill, talent and depth of perception for events gained as an intelligence officer. Reading this story and how Tom Swan navigates the perilous paths of courtesy, pomp, ceremony, whilst hunting for the stolen ring of Alexander and skirting the dangerous advances of demoiselle Iso, all this would be a nightmare for the average man, but add in the touchy scholar and the homicidal and mercurial Wolf, lord of Rimini. I don’t think any of this blending would be possible without every aspect of the authors skill , past and passionate view of history.
Having been involved in many of his conversations in person, on email and in his Forum i have come to recognise truly how we can apply so many aspects from the past to present day, and vice versa. Wars are just new versions of old squabbles and long-standing feuds. a warriors skills have not changed that much, it’s the unskilled that changed (ie any one can fire a gun) , the intelligencer has changed little, if you enjoy these tales and his other books, please join the forum, you will find many other fascinating conversations, and like minded individuals with a deep love of history.
I personally think that this series works best as a serial of short stories, but wow do 96 pages fly past. and they leave you needing the next book. But its a hell of a return for 99p in entertainment.
As ever i can do nothing less than give this 5 stars, im always left in awe when i finish one of this authors books.
Highly recommend
(Parm)
1. Tyrant (2008)
2. Storm of Arrows (2009)
3. Funeral Games (2010)
4. King of the Bosporus (2011)
5. Destroyer of Cities (2013)
6. Force of Kings (2014)
1. Killer of Men (2010)
2. Marathon: Freedom or Death (2011)
3. Poseidon’s Spear (2012)
4. The Great King (2014)
1. Castillon (2012)
2. Venice (2012)
3. Constantinople (2012)
4. Rome (2013)
5. Rhodes (2013)
6. Chios (2013)
1. Part One (2013)
2. Part Two (2013)
3. Part Three (2013)
God of War (2012)
The Ill-Made Knight (2013)
The Long Sword (2014)
Salamis (2015)
parmenionbooks 