I am about half way through Steven Pressfield's Gates of Fire which I picked up very cheap in Los Angeles last month. Oddly, I hadn't read this before because I read a couple of reviews that indicated that it's structure (with a lot of flashbacks) made it a difficult read. There was an implication that it was literature and rather indegestible by the casual reader. This is patently nonsense, as I am discovering. It is a well written historical novel, a grade or two above Bernard Cornwell but not in the same league as Patrick O'Brian or even Allan Mallinson. For some reason the many discourses about courage and the nature of war remind me of Heinlen's Starship Troopers.
Whatever, after a rather slow start, I am now in the first day at Thermopylae and it is just tremedous at depicting the battle.
So, suitably inspired, I have got a nother trio of Artizan Spartans ready to go. I do wish they would issue the other packs, though, as I need a musician for my first unit.
I also picked up a copy of the new Osprey on Thermopylae today so need to have a look at that. The only comment I would make at present is the very garish nature of the art. Whether this is down to the original artwork or the printing I don't know. It just shows how much Angus McBride is sorely missed.
