In the epic clash of Greece and Persia, a hero is forged - a
monumental novel from the author of the Tyrant series.
Arimnestos is a farm boy when war breaks out between the citizens of his
native Plataea and their overbearing neighbours, Thebes. Standing in the
battle line for the first time, alongside his father and brother, he
shares in a famous and unlikely victory. But after being knocked
unconscious in the melee, he awakes not a hero, but a slave.
Betrayed by his jealous and cowardly cousin, the freedom he fought for
has now vanished, and he becomes the property of a rich citizen. So
begins an epic journey out of slavery that takes the young Arimnestos
through a world poised on the brink of an epic confrontation, as the
emerging civilization of the Greeks starts to flex its muscles against
the established empire of the Persians.
As he tries to make his fortune and revenge himself on the man who
disinherited him, Arimnestos discovers that he has a talent that pays
well in this new, violent world - for like his hero, Achilles, he is 'a
killer of men'.