3 out of 4 stars
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Throughout history, kingdoms have risen and fallen under governments, dynasties, and even single rulers. So what makes an empire successful? What gives it dominion over other lands? And what eventually leads to its inevitable demise? In The Fox, by MNJ Butler, the story of Sparta is told through the eyes and life of one of its kings. Written with incredible insight into the history and culture of the period, the book fully engages the reader into its atmosphere, letting you explore and engage in the time as if you are there.
The writer is a Spartan, Leotychides, now living in a foreign kingdom. By direction of the king there, he begins to tell the story of his homeland using his own history, starting from his life as a young child in his mother’s palace, and the intrigue that surrounded his lineage and past. The reader is then plunged into the world of the “flock”, in which Leotychides is raised with other young boys trained in the ways of a Spartan soldier. He follows the succession of the kingdom, narrating its various conflicts and political engagements.
While there is a substantial amount of history provided, the novel is anything but dry. He writes with humor and poise, including a few off handed remarks towards the scribe recording for him. In an endearing and almost conspiratorial manner, he gives pithy stereotypes of other kingdoms, as if the reader were a well-known friend. He writes as one imagines a person from that culture really would write, valuing the brevity of a statement, and presenting each truth in a way that is both eloquent and laconic. The reader comes to understand what values were esteemed in Spartan culture and Greek mythology, with recurring themes like loyalty to the society, egalitarianism, and the good of the whole above that of self.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. The story itself is absorbing. He articulates his relationship with his family, teachers, and friends in a way that is both gripping and accessible. What I enjoyed most was learning about the Spartan culture and values. You can see where the early foundations of American government began in their egalitarian principles of having a voting body and oligarchy rather than a single all-powerful monarch. They have a powerful reverence for discipline in all things, prioritizing physical prowess as well as the arts. I was inspired by how the protagonist refused to be dominated by vice and how the concept of self-sacrifice for the good of the whole was taken as a standard rather than the shining exception.
I did have some difficulty with the plethora of characters at play in the story. The author offered assistance by having a family tree and a glossary of names and terms at the beginning, which was certainly helpful. Counted up, however, there are over 100 characters names introduced, and that’s without the mythical gods and figures. For me, this was simply too many to keep track of.
I cannot give this book a full 4 stars because of the formatting errors and simple editorial mistakes. The layout of the paragraphs is cramped, and there are many page breaks are mistakenly placed. It may have just been the transcription of the electronic version, but there are scenes of the book that finish at the end of a page, but no warning is given that a new scene is beginning at the top of the next page, resulting in confusion. In addition, there are full blank pages with only a sentence or two at top when the next page is still a continuation of the same dialogue. The other large error is the missing quotation marks. This occurred throughout the book, where quotation marks were simply omitted where they should have been placed, or added where they were not meant to be.
Overall, this book was a really enjoyable read as both a novel and a learning tool for ancient Greek history.
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The Fox
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