Sons of Zeus

By: Noble Smith

Narrated by: Elijah Alexander

In 431 BC, ancient Greece experienced its own "Pearl Harbor" - a treacherous sneak attack that would mark the start of the bloody war between the democracy of Athens and the tyranny of Sparta. Caught between these superpowers, the independent city-state of Plataea became the arena where their battle for control of all of Greece would begin.

In Plataea, the young Greek warrior Nikias dreams of glory in the Olympic games as he trains for the pankration - the no-holds-barred ultimate fighting of the era - until an act of violence in defense of his beloved threatens to send him into exile. But before his trial can take place, a traitor opens the city gates to a surprise attack force.

Suddenly trapped inside their own fortress, the Plataeans are fighting for their lives. As Nikias seeks to discover the identity of the man who betrayed the city, he makes a daring escape, gathers an army, and leads this ragtag band into a suicidal battle at the gates of the citadel - a battle that will decide the fates of his family, his friends, and the woman he loves.

In the vein of Bernard Cornwell, Conn Iggulden, and Steven Pressfield, Sons of Zeus marks the beginning of a richly detailed new action-adventure series.

©2013 Noble Smith (P)2013 Blackstone

Good story

Good story. The narrator was great on some character voices but not so much on others such the character Myron. He sounded like he was from the mid west or an old cowboy. otherwise it was a good story. I also appreciated some of the historical accounts as it relates to the Greek city states etc. If you like history & drama I would certainly recommend the book although it was quite brutal at times.

Thoroughly enjoyed this story and narration!

What did you like best about this story?

i felt transported to another world, and completely taken in by this group of unlikely and reluctant heros. This is a gem of historical fiction and I would highly recommend.

Which character – as performed by Elijah Alexander – was your favorite?

I was actually impressed with the entire cast of characters, and the way in which the narrator skillfully brought each one to life. This writer and narrator are well matched in their style and passion for the content, and deliver a rich and totally immersive experience

a real piece of entertainment

I enjoyed tye narration . it made the story come to vibrant life. the author was new to me and he is definitely worth the risk. :)

voices need work

good book, well read , the southern voices don't fit. sounded like a southern gentleman.

This is a solid book- Narration isn’t the best ever but certainly better than most reviews say

Not a perfect story but I enjoyed it enough to continue the series. I’ve seen several gripes about the narrator but it’s actually not that bad (shows promise) and I would bet this guy will improve over with time. There is some weird genitalia obsession in the writing but that actually makes sense for Ancient Greece. Definitely worth your time

Good story, bad performance.

I'm enjoying the story but he performance is forced. Narrator seems to want to be a voice actor but can't pull it off. He makes terrible choices for voice characterizations that directly violate the narrative. This one would be better as text than audio.

Greek Adventure ala Sunday morning Disney cartoon

I do not usually write reviews for audiobooks, but this one compelled me. The story was great, with many dark turns and a compelling narrative and characters. Unfortunately, it was difficult to take seriously because of the narrator. He took what was a serious and exciting story and robbed it of any inflection or depth. If given a job reading for Disney children's books, Alexander would win an Oscar. However, his performance was sorely lacked for a serious adventure story. He gives different cartoon accents to each character no matter how small, meaning in a force of Theban soldiers, there were cartoon Scottish, cockney, Brooklyn, and even South Carolina aristocrat accents. The main character's friend is voiced in a studdering plaintive voice turning a strong warrior into a stammering, insecure village idiot. It seemed he was putting more effort into demonstrating his "range" of different accents than trying to convey the emotions depicted in the story.

the Irish accent was a bit tough to take

story was compelling with enough twists to keep it interesting. the narrator was just ok

The War Between Athens and Sparta!

The Pankration Championship. “The fight between The Bull and The Centaur. The flies attacked, believed to come from the Underworld.” A papyrus from the Exiled Scribe 431 B.C.… Yound Nickies lived for the Pankration. He wanted to get into the Hippodrome. Damos The Centaur versus The Bull of Platea. Nickies loved the Bull, he was his grandfather, Menasarkus. Menasarkus killed Damos for killing his son Aristo in an earlier war. Ten years later, Nickies trained with his grandfather, Menasarkus which means “the flesh that endures”. The Greek city of Platea was rich from its defeat of the Persian King Xerxes. Platea fielded a mighty army. Urimidus, magistrate of Platea wrote to Artaxerxes, son of Xerxes, becoming a Persian spy and traitor. Nickkies was soon to become a man in the Haircutting Ceremony and a citizen of Platea, gaining a set of armor and a shield. We’ll learn of his girlfriend Calisto. We follow Nickies through his teenage years to adulthood; his friends, training, encounters, his enemies, his courage, and his passion. There is much political intrigue, subterfuge, treachery, honor, and death. The invasion of Platea was about to begin. Four hundred Thebians, Platea's age-old enemies, entered the fortress city unchallenged. What of Spartan General Draco The Skull’s plans for a treaty with Platea, which required Platea to break their alliance with Athens? What of the traitor Artaxerxes had bought? I like Greek history, so the political interplay between Athens, Sparta, and the regional cities was quite interesting to me, as well as the armor, weapons, battles, and tactics. The narrator, Elijahah Alexander is very good and his skill with voices is excellent.

YA story with adult content and unskilled narrator

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Not worth the time. The story is artificial and adolescent. It would be good for young readers except for the ridiculously immature sex scenes, explicit in ways only a hormone fueled high school jock could appreciate or believe. Worse than this is the narrator who creates character distinction by falling back on unimaginative and misplaced accents. One of the ancient Greeks actually is given a buttery soft southern accent with diction and pacing reminiscent of Bing Crosby. And, like the Bingle, regardless of the situation his voice never changes, even in the midst of battle he speaks in laconic, ploddingly, cocktail party voice. It is just plain silly. Other characters have British accents, Midwestern, B-movie vampire, etc. Accents do not work to replace well thought out and presented character voices.

Has Sons of Zeus turned you off from other books in this genre?

Not the genre, but definitely the author and narrator.

How could the performance have been better?

The writer needed to write more maturely if he wanted to keep the rape and sexual torture scenes in (though they need to be better written to be believable) or remove the sex and tone down some of the brutality and pitch it to young readers--which is the level of the story. But mostly, it needed a different narrator.

Could you see Sons of Zeus being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

It might make a movie for children. Who knows what might be picked up for a movie--it would be completely rewritten in any case. No major actor would touch it in current state.

Any additional comments?

This is actually the first time an audible book has moved me to write a review--to bad the motivation is negative rather than positive. This is a pretty wretchedly conceived project.