Böcker av Stephen Bradford Marte

Euryanax is encamped with his father Dorieus' army in Italy. While sleeping outside the walls of Taras, they are attacked by indigenous tribesmen called Messapians. The Italians charge the camp on horseback, barking like dogs, throwing javelins and pelting the Spartan shieldwall with arrows and sling stones.The cavalry attack is only a feint meant to draw the Spartans' attention. While the army repels the invaders, a lone man sneaks into the tent of Dorieus' mistress, the beautiful hetaera Stesilaus and carries her off to the mysterious city of Sybaris.In the ancient world, Sybaris was synonymous with wealth, debauchery and impiety. The Sybarites are ruled by the tyrant Telys, who is intent on conquering all of southern Italy, including its neighboring city of Croton, home of the philosopher Pythagoras and his peaceful followers, the Cenobites.Will Dorieus' army become embroiled in the war between Sybaris and Croton, a struggle the Greeks considered akin to the Biblical tale of Sodom and Gomorrah? Or will the Spartans continue on to Sicily, where they intend on building a colony on Mount Eryx and resuming Dorieus' private war against the Persian Empire? Wander with Euryanax as his adventures lead him to the cities of Taras, Croton and Sybaris in Italy, and Heraklea, Motya and Selenius in Sicily. Then sail with him across the wine-dark sea to Attica, where Athens is attempting to overthrow its own tyrant, Hippias.Stand with Eury as he battles tyrants, mercenaries, barbarians and the powers of the East. Listen to the wisdom of Pythagoras, the schemes of the wily, lawyer Themistocles and the speeches of the future 'father of democracy, ' Cleisthenes. As you do, you'll watch Euryanax learn that becoming a Spartan King, means a lot more than leading soldiers to victory.

The Wandering King by author Stephen Marte is based on events described in The Histories by Herodotus. People may have heard the story about King Leonidas and the famous last stand of the 300 Spartans at the pass of Thermopylae, but Herodotus' best stories have never been told-till now.Though Leonidas is a character in The Wandering King, this is not his story. The novel is told from the perspective of Leonidas' nephew, Euryanax; a little known member of Sparta's royal family. The book begins, "I am called Euryanax. In the Dorian tongue, eury means 'wandering' and anax means 'king.' The Wandering King. From my name, comes my story."The first book in the series, Summer, Harvest," War, begins 25 years before the famous Battle of Marathon and the start of the Greco-Persian Wars. Euryanax's father Dorieus, a brother of Leonidas, was disappointed when his father, King Anaxandridas, died and the ephors selected his elder brother Cleomenes as the next King of Sparta. Dorieus left Greece with his wife Phile, son Euryanax, and a small expedition of Lacedaemonians to build a colony in Libya. Go to war with Euryanax as he takes part in the siege of the Phoenician stronghold at Oea (modern Tripoli). Adventure with him to the city of ships, merchants and pornai, Corinth. Sail alongside this little-known prince of Sparta as he fights Illyrian pirates in the Ionian Sea, competes in the Pythian Games, and journeys to the center of earth where he learns his fate from the Delphic Oracle.Exotic locales and peoples, action and adventure, romance and revenge, land battles and sea battles, tribal rituals and Olympic-style games; The Wandering King has all this and more.