Valerio Massimo Manfredi

[Lacedaemonian]

Bibliography:

Alexander series:-
Child of a Dream (2001)
Sands of Ammon (2001)
Ends of the Earth (2001)

The Spartan (2002)
Last Letters of Jacopo Ortis (2002)
The Last Legion (2003)
The Talisman of Troy (2004)
Tyrant (2005)
The Oracle (2005)
Empire of the Dragons (2006)
Tower of Solitude (2006)

[Lacedaemonian]

I own all of his published work except for Last Letters of Jacopo Ortis which is an anthology of translated Italian works (I think). His Alexander series is his true master piece and he probably will not write anything as good as this for the rest of his life. The story is told over three novels, and manages to cover Alexander the Great's life in huge detail whilst still flowing wonderfully. Of the other books that I have read I particularly enjoyed The Spartan which follows the life of a Helot boy and the downfall of Sparta.

[Culhwch]

I believe I own a couple of these, picked up in bargain bins, languishing unread on my shelves somewhere. Must dig them out, dust them off and give them a go. Will return with opinions post-haste.

[Rane Longfox]

I read some of "Spartan", and can honestly say it was one of my least favorite books ever. I found it dull and unappealing

[essy]

I am a big fan of VMM, although its quite true that his writing style may not appeal to many. I haven't read his two latest books - empire of the dragon and towers of solitude. lacedae.. any comments?

[jof]

Ive read The Last Legion and really enjoyed it. Ive also got the first Alexander book and cant get passed the first couple of pages. I just get totally...bored with it, i usually love historical fiction too and wanted to read something about Alexander so im not sure what went wrong :S.

[Memnoch]

Originally Posted by jof

Ive read The Last Legion and really enjoyed it. Ive also got the first Alexander book and cant get passed the first couple of pages. I just get totally...bored with it, i usually love historical fiction too and wanted to read something about Alexander so im not sure what went wrong :S.

I picked these up on holiday in Cyprus, as I had finished three books as I had took!! I felt the same as Jof, plus I had Gemmels vision of Parmenion and was disgruntled how he was described, lol. Once I got into the book though, I was truely in love, it was an awsome read. I have read Spartan and last Legion and thought they were excellent to but The Alexander Trilogy was something else. I thought what a great film it would make and low and behold, at the time it appeared two films were being produced, although one saw the light of day!! What a wasted opportunity the films if took from the books could have made a trilogy to rival the Rings, although the third book is a little sketchy to say the least due to a lack of historical evidence it was still brilliant.

[Parmenion]

the biggest problem with his books tends to be bad translation, have you read empire of the dragons?

[Memnoch]

No is it meant to be good Parm?

[Parmenion]

i read it an enjoyed it immensly, its a great story, and there is a reasonable amount of factual info in it...just ignore the ninjas!! {grin}

[Caesar]

i read the Last Legion and enjoyed it alot!(anyone else know they were making a film of it?) i just got Empire of Dragons, but i heard some bad stuff about it, can ya confirm its worth the read Parm?

[Parmenion]

its an amusing read, a nice concept, it does have some of the translation errors you get in husi books, it also has some very fanciful ninjas, but the overall concept is worth a read (get it from the library rather than buy it...or oxfam...i would not pay full price)

[Caesar]

haha too late, I already paid full price for it, oh well!

[Parmenion]

its still an amusing read, im sure you will enjoy it, and when you get to the ninjas, think crouching tiger!! LOL!!