A Novel of Ancient Greece
Written by Michael Curtis Ford
The cover boldly proclaims “In the ancient world, one army
was feared above all others…” With such a proud figure on the cover and such
loud proclamations, I gladly picked up The Ten Thousand. I was fortunate in
that the cover notes that this is a worthy successor to Steven Pressfield’s
Gates of Fire, which I also managed to snag. Each book bought for a mere $1 apace.
The Ten Thousand is not filled with battle upon battle.
Rather it is a well written novel of how Xenophon became a leader of the Ten
Thousand, Greek Mercenaries who in this case, lost their patron half way across
the world, and how Xenophon had to lead them back to safety.
The writing is highly descriptive without being overly
boring. Michael Curtis Ford brings even small characters to mind with a few
well placed bits, such as telling an old story that even modern readers should
be familiar with. There were several sequences I initially though he was
babbling, wasting pages, but they come back to fruition later on in the novel,
one of the earliest sequences I thought fascinating but wasteful, nearly at the
very end of the novel itself.
In short, if you want to read a historical novel of Ancient
Greece, a well written, well researched novel, one based on the book Anabasis,
then The Ten Thousand is a fantastic way to spend a few evenings.
For role players though, what can be gleaned?
1.
The environment must play a part in your
campaigns. The initial trek to met with destiny takes the Ten Thousand away
from their familiar coastal areas and through harsh desert terrain. Have you
ever wanted to actually use your desert sourced theme books? Do so. On the way
back from crushing defeat, the army moves through blinding, killing, snow. Want
to use those winter themed books? Do so. The world is small enough that ever
environment should play it’s role in your campaign.
2.
Start After a Loss: The book really picks up
pace after the army that the Ten Thousand are but a small part of, meets
disaster. That’s when the heroes of the book must come together and fight as
one. This can be done at any level but you have to be willing to start with loss.
The caravan is overrun. Waterdeep is destroyed. The Prime Material Plane is vaporized.
The city of Sigil falls into the Abyss. After opening with such a crushing
defeat, the players should be motivated to do what they do best!
3.
Historical Context Builds Culture: “Some three
hundred years earlier, Sardis, even than a great city, had been overwhelmed by
hordes of pale-skinned barbarians who had swept down from the north in endless
numbers like packs of ravenous wolves, devouring all its riches and mingling
their wild barbarian blood with that of the refined and delicate natives. It
was said that so many men and women were killed during the barbarians brutal
sweep through the city that when the carnage was over, thousands of children
were left wandering the streets, homeless and wailing. The offspring of royalty
mingled with those of the lowest cowherds, and the children’s identities were
obliterated through the effacement of their outward customs and manners as they
scrounged for scraps in the gutters. It was finally decided that no one could
determine their origins with certainty, for every child claimed to have been
sired by the king, and so they were simply lined up in the market like so much
chattel and auctioned to the highest bidder, as slaves of the barbarians or for
adoption by surviving Sardesian adults. Since that time, each baby has been
imprinted with a tiny, discreet tattoo shortly after birth, usually along the
hairline on the nape of the neck, depicting an identifiable family symbol such
as an animal or a letter.” A few sentences of background and you’ve got a
cultural bit that almost instantly identifies people from Sardis. Great stuff.
4.
Unique Characters: Description can be a boring
and tedious thing but making sure that the players remember the main
attractions of the event is important! “Clearchus was as terrifying an
individual as Proxenus had led us to believe, and worse. His face was so homely
and pockmarked as to be almost comical, but he had an evil, jagged scar running
halfway down the side of his temple, which he was constantly picking at,
keeping it inflamed, perhaps intentionally, for effect. His beard was so ragged
and lice-infested as to raise eyebrows even for a Spartan, and he never smiled –
in fact, he hardly talked except to cuss out his men, and could barely chew for
the rotten blackness of his teeth.”
If you’re looking for inspiration, The Ten
Thousand deals it out chapter after chapter.
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