I Read Books: The Ten Thousand
Paul Kearney’s fantasy novel riffs off the historical Ten Thousand, who were a company of Greek mercenaries involved in a Persian dynastic conflict. Here Rictus, survivor of the destruction of his city, joins the largest mercenary company ever formed amongst the Macht. They live in the north, amongst the mountains. Once they had a king and threatened the whole world, but now they are a group of squabbling city states. In the most overtly fantastical element, there are a number of black armour sets, that alter to fit their wearer, and are impenetrable. For reasons these are known as The Curse of God and those who wear them, usually fearsome warriors, Cursebearers.
Events follow the historical ones in general form. The brother of the Emperor, a satrap of the North West, rebels, forms an army, hires the mercenaries. The mercenaries, who fight in a tight phalanx like the Greeks, are able to win against lighter armed and disciplined enemies. Eventually the Emperor arrives with his full army and kills the brother. But the mercenaries form ranks and fight off the attack.
They attempt to negotiate a surrender but this goes badly and the mercenary commanders are killed. So they appoint new commanders and march out of there. The exhausted Emperor’s army is unable to pursue immediately and the Emperor has better things to do. The remnants of the Ten Thousand march for home, crossing mountains and rivers, fighting battles, accidently setting off a rebellion, etc.
There’s some character stuff too, and attempts to cross the divide between nations and races which will become important when Kearney iterates on this later in the trilogy.
Read This: For a gritty ancient Greek/Persian flavoured fantasy
Don’t Read This: If greatly detailed descriptions of a murder-machine phalanx will put you off.