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Tyrant Paperback – December 29, 2008

by Christian Cameron (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 628 ratings
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Ruler. Puppet Master. Killer.

Glory. Death. Well-born Athenian cavalry officer, Kineas, fought shoulder to shoulder with Alexander in his epic battles against the Persian hordes. But on his return from the east to his native city, he finds not glory but shame - and exile.

With nothing to his name but his military skills, Kineas agrees to lead a band of veterans to the city of Olbia, where the Tyrant is offering good money to train the city's elite cavalry. But soon Kineas and his men find they have stumbled into a deadly maze of intrigue and conspiracy as the Tyrant plots to use them as pawns in the increasingly complex power games between his own citizens, and the dread military might of Macedon.

Caught between his duty to the Tyrant, his loyalty to his men and a forbidden love affair with a charismatic Scythian noblewoman, Kineas must call on all his Athenian guile, his flair on the battlefield, and even - he is convinced - the intervention of the gods, to survive.

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  1. Book 1 of 6
    Tyrant
  2. Print length
    480 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Orion
  5. Publication date
    December 29, 2008
  6. Dimensions
    5.04 x 1.42 x 7.8 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    9780752883922
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0752883922
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

A terrific epic. Bring on volume two.―HUDDERSFIELD DAILY EXAMINER

About the Author

Christian Cameron is a writer, re-enactor and military historian. He is a veteran of the United States Navy, where he served as both an aviator and an intelligence officer. He is a co-author, with his father Ken Cameron, of the acclaimed Gordon Kent military thriller series, as well as WASHINGTON AND CAESAR, a novel of the American Revolution. He now lives in Toronto with his wife and daughter, where he writes full time.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0752883925
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Orion (December 29, 2008)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 480 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780752883922
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0752883922
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.04 x 1.42 x 7.8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 628 ratings

About the author

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Christian Cameron

Christian Cameron

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Christian Cameron (also Miles Cameron) is a military veteran and a life-long reenactor and history addict. He lives in Toronto, Canada with his wife and daughter and one cat. He writes three to five books a year, mostly about history. Christian can be found on his website at www.hippeis.com or as Miles Cameron at www.traitorson.com

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
628 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Fouch
5.0 out of 5 stars Very Enjoyable
Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2009
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I picked this book up on a recommendation from a friend and I'm glad I did. It's a very fast read, the kind of book you simply don't want to put down. The pacing is excellent, with time given to shape most characters and really given them life. I got about 100 pages into it before reading the authors bio at the front the book. It list him as a former naval intelligence officer. When I read that my first thought was that it made sense. There is a great attention to detail, historical detail, but also just how the cavalry men and soldiers work in the field. Little details that make the story more vivid and are often the catalyst for the interactions between the characters.

It's a very enjoyable read. I'm glad I bought this book and will be pleased to buy the sequel.
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Paul Bennett
4.0 out of 5 stars Tyrant by Cameron Christian
Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2013
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The book Tyrant by Cameron Christian transported me back to my first love in ancient history, The Greeks. This story takes place during the time of Alexander toward the end of his flaming career. The main character is Kineas, an Athenian who once fought under Alexander but who is now an exile from Athens and has become the leader of a mercenary band of warriors. Kineas is an interesting fellow, an Athenian noble brought up as a gentleman able to hold his own in symposium settings as well as the gymnastic. As the story progresses we watch the author allow his protagonist to grow as circumstances compel him to be more than he imagined.
Kineas has been hired by a tyrant, The Archon of Olbia to come and train his troops ostensibly to defend against the depredations of the horse warriors of the Steppes, The Sakje. Merely bandits in the eyes of Olbia, The Sakje are in reality a highly organized and civilized society. The main plot is concerned with the alliance formed between the Sakje and the Tyrant of Olbia as they are facing an invasion from one of Alexander's generals looking to garner some glory for himself.
The gamut of human emotion and experience are all explored by the author, from greed and avarice to the almost carefree spirit of warriors before a big battle. The ancillary characters are well done and provide Kineas with a well-rounded group of friends, followers and foes. Kineas also has a mystical element to his character as he is haunted by powerful dreams that shape his outlook and actions.
The action is bloody when necessary, the horsemanship is superb, the story is well told. My only real complaint is that it seems to take a while to get to the climactic battle scene with The Macedonians but when it happens, it is intense and satisfying. I look forward to the sequel. I rate this book at 4.1.
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Fredrik
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic historical novel
Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2011
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This is one of the best historical fiction novels I have read! The author apparently has a vast knowledge of the hellenistic world, and he puts it to good use. Rich personalities and philosophical discussions, references to the ancient classics all combine with great combat scenes to make this a fantastic book. The only minus is the lack of maps. A good historical atlas will solve that, but most readers will probably not have that handy.

The subsequent books in the series have maps, but they could have been more detailed.
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Dean F.
5.0 out of 5 stars I unexpectedly really liked this
Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2021
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This is not a classical fantasy. In fact, it's not really a fantasy- there are subtle supernatural elements, but it is more a form of historical fiction. Most importantly, it is set in an interesting time and place- the Greek colonies of the Black Sea coast during the time of Alexander the Great. The time period is one in which I had always been vaguely interested, but into which I had never really gotten around to delving. It is different, yet familiar. And the region simply bleeds history.

The story centers around a Greek mercenary captain and his compatriots (late of Alexander's army) who take a job building a cavalry force for the tyrant of one of the Euxine (the aforementioned Black Sea) city-states. There is a LOT of Greek culture in the book including things that might disturb some modern readers, such as the period's Greek acceptance of male homosexuality- and indeed worship of the ideal male form- as well the near-cloistering of women. But this all just made it the more interesting to me, because my (limited) understanding is that this is not inaccurate.

Of course, war happens, and politics happens. There is treason. Soldierly camaraderie is played up. Etc. I won't include spoilers. There is an obligatory romance, which is annoying- as they almost always are- and this one is particularly ridiculous as it involves a female Scythian war leader (though the Scythians did have female leaders) but there you have it. I can overlook such things, since the current publishing establishment seems to consider them essential for some reason.

At any rate, I just bought and downloaded the entire 6-book series, if that is any indication of how much I liked the first book.
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Benjamin Santiago-Gomez
5.0 out of 5 stars Very good, exiting and entertaining
Reviewed in Canada on October 25, 2016
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The story of one of Alexander the Great's officers who was dismissed from his army and exiled from his city. The officer ends up in a different city as a mercenary with old and new friends and he is required to fight a Macedonian army, making an alliance with the horse tribes of the Sakje, falls in love and becomes a great general in the process.
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SOMBARDIER ALEXANDRE
5.0 out of 5 stars Entre la Macédoine et les Scythes
Reviewed in France on June 2, 2012
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333 av JC. Kineas aristocrate athénien et mercenaire juste licencié de l'armée d'Alexandre le Grand accepte de former la cavalerie de la cité d'Olbia sise au bord de la Mer Noire (sur les côtes du Pont Euxin antique, le littoral Ukrainien actuel). Là avec ses compagnons, dont l'énigmatique exilé spartiate Philokles, il trouve une situation politique tendue opposant un archon versant dans la tyrannie et l'oligarchie locale. Il n'est cependant pas au bout de ses ennuis, puisqu'il doit faire face à la perspective d'une invasion macédonienne que seule une alliance avec les Scythes pourrait empêcher. C'est auprès de ce peuple de cavaliers que Kineas trouvera l'amour et l'occasion d'assumer son destin, enrayer pour la première fois l'expansion de la Macédoine Argéade...
Avec ce premier opus d'une série de six ouvrages, Christian Cameron vétéran de l'US Navy et du renseignement militaire, nous offre un roman historique nerveux et guerrier de belle facture. Amateur de reconstitution historique, l'auteur n'a pas son pareil pour nous faire partager le quotidien d'une unité de cavalerie mercenaire à l'époque d'Alexandre. Sa vision sans concession de la politique et des conflits n'est pas sans évoquer des thématiques tout à fait contemporaines mais fait mouche. L'intrigue est solide et le choc des cultures entre grecs sédentaires et Scythes semi nomades bien retranscrit. Evidemment le récit fait la part belle à l'action et les scènes de combat, réalistes et sanglantes, sont très réussies.
Au niveau des réserves, on pourra peut être trouver les débuts de la romance entre Kineas et sa Srayanka un peu forcés et certains éléments de la culture Scythique ( la religion notamment) parfois trop inspirés de peuples sibériens ultérieurs (admettons cependant que l'auteur doit composer avec le peu d'éléments que nous livrent les sources et les données archéologiques sur ce sujet.).
Il n'en reste pas moins que ces 450 et quelques pages m'auront efficacement transporté en plein 4e siècle avant JC dans une épopée virile et fascinante, agrémentée d'un soupçon de fantastique (faisant écho aux croyances antiques).
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Australia on July 19, 2015
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Great read! Buy it and get into it! Halfway through the 2nd book, getting even better!
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JPS
5.0 out of 5 stars Historical novel at its best
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 28, 2011
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Reviewing a book isn't always easy, especially when you are trying to remain objective while having either loved or hated a book. I bought and read this book three years ago and I loved it. I have just re-read kit and, for me, it is still one of the best ever.

Rather than the "usual" book (or series) about and around Alexander's the Great (see Pressfield, among many others), this is about some Greek cavalry who, when dismissed by the victorious young king, turn mercenary and serve a Tyrant in one of the Greek cities (Olbia) around the Black Sea.

The military research on the Greeks, Macedonians and Scythes is excellent. The praise, however, goes well beyond that because Christian has also taken care to make the characters come alive, even secondary ones, and taken the trouble to describe features of everyday life at the time (for instance, the athletic contests or the dinners). He has also attempted (and in my allegedly biaised view succeeded) to recreate the mentality among educated Greek elites - the Hippeis (whatever you might want to call them nobles, gentry etc...). I admit that some readers may have been put off by this and believed he was trying to be pedantic and showing off his knowledge. However, it seems that they did quote the Classics to each other during dinners. You may find this kind of behaviour pedantic and snobbish, but it is somewhat unfair to blame the author for it. In fact, this has happened through the Ages with all elites in all countries or regions in one form or another (think of the lords and ladies in the Middle Ages, the Aristocrats in the 18th century or the British gentleman in the next one, to limit oneself to Western Europe).

Some commentators also got a bit tired of the mystic pieces - the dreams of Kineas who seems to have some kind of foresight of the future and foresees what he believes to be his own death. Well, whatever personal opinions we may have have, Greeks and Macedonians, despite the wars, slaughters and brutality, were rather religious, superstitous and even mystic and professional soldiers (or even killers if you will) obviously do not necessarily have to be dumb brutes. For me, characters like Kineas, Philokles or Nikeas, and there are many others, illustrate that point.

Another strong point is that Christian has chosen a geographical region - the Western part of the Great Steppe - (from the Danube to the Caucasus) covering parts of modern Ukraine and Southern Russia within a period were we mainly know about the events that happened south of this region. This may give him a somewhat greater degree of liberty than being constrained by specific historical events.

Two final points:

I loved all of the battle scenes - and especially the cavalry fights - because they felt so real. No "blue-eyed hero" slaughtering half of the ennemies with the back of the hand. Rather, it's more like blood, sweat anf tears, with Kineas (and others) being wounded at almost each encounter. This seems to be quite realistic, in part because many leaders (with Alexander as the most obvious example) tended to lead from the front and in part also because, at the time, cavalry had no shields and little protection for legs and arms (nothing to do with the chainmail armour of our medieval knights, for instance). Each time there was close combat and a melee, they would suffer multiple cuts even if these were very often not fatal.

We do not know exactly what happened north of Macedon while Alexander was busy conquering and enlarging the Persian Empire, although we do know about one Zopryon, a Macedonian governor of Thrace, being defeated and killed in battleby Scythians. We also do know that both Alexander's father (Philip II King of Macedon) and one of the Persian Emperor's (Darius the Great, if I remember correctly) tried, and failed, to subdue the nomad tribes north of the Danube. Although the contemporary Greeco-Macedonian and Persian secondary sources are rather discreet (and they would be, of course!) on these episodes, it seems that both were defeated although managing to extricate at least part of their forces and pull back across the Danube. It is very possible that another attempt by the Macedonians to conquer the rich cities of the Pont Euxin could have happened again while Alexander was in Asia. As described in the book, it would have made perfect strategic and political sense (for instance to better control Athens who - quite literally - depended on the wheat from the north for it's daily bread.

Well worth five stars, in my view. I hope you will enjoy it at least as much as I did.
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K. Brandner
5.0 out of 5 stars Historienroman in Bestform
Reviewed in Germany on August 2, 2010
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Dieser exzellente Roman wurde bisher zu Unrecht von deutschsprachigen Rezensenten nicht beachtet. Das liegt einerseits daran, dass bis dato keine deutsche Übersetzung vorliegt, zum Anderen ist dieser historische Roman trotz - oder wegen - seiner Qualitäten nicht unbedingt bestsellertauglich. Die Erzählung führt in eine dem Gros der Leser eher unbekannte Welt: Die griechischen Kolonien der Schwarzmeerküste zur Zeit Alexander des Großen. Hierhin reist Kineas, ein athenischer Söldner, der jahrelang Alexander gedient hatte, bis der seine griechischen Söldner aus politischen Gründen sang- und klanglos entließ. Verbittert und perspektivlos nimmt er das Angebot Olbias, einer Stadt an der Krimküste, an, deren Reiterei auf Vordermann zu bringen. Mit einer kleinen, zusammengewürfelten Schar Getreuer zieht er unter vielen Gefahren nordwärts, um in Olbia inmitten eines Labyrinths stadtpolitischer Ränke und Intrigen zu landen, die für ihn und seine Gefährten immer gefährlicher werden. Zudem droht die Invasion einer mazedonischen Armee, deren Ziel es ist, die reichen griechischen Handelsstädte zu unterwerfen. Als neu ernannter Heerführer nimmt Kineas im Bund mit skythischen Reiterkriegern den Kampf mit dem schier übermächtigen Gegner auf, gequält durch Visionen seines eigenen Todes und gleichzeitig getrieben durch die Liebe zu einer skythischen Adeligen. Die Zutaten für den Historienmix - Reise ins Unbekannte, Krieg, Liebe - sind also durchaus konventionell angelegt, die Zeichnung der Charaktere, die Authentizität, mit der die Welt der Griechen am damaligen Rand der zivilisierten Welt entworfen wird, ragen jedoch aus dem Durchschnitt zeitgenössischer Historienromane deutlich heraus. Jeder einzelne Protagonist wirkt als glaubhafter Mensch seiner Zeit, eingebettet in eine Erzählstruktur, die sich zwar Zeit lässt, die Geschichte voranzutreiben, ohne aber langatmig zu wirken. Die zentrale Hauptfigur, Kineas, ist in ihrer Widersprüchlichkeit - talentierter Stratege, tödlicher Schwertkämfer und kulturbeflissener Schöngeist in einem - ein Archetyp des aus der Oberschicht stammenden Stadtbürgers des klassischen Griechenlands. Er wird aber nicht als stromlinienförmiger Superheld geschildert, sondern als sympathische Ansammlung von Unzulänglichkeiten: Zu klein und krummbeinig, um das griechische Schönheitsideal zu erfüllen, und gelegentlich zu naiv und begriffsstutzig, um die fein verästelten Intrigen einer griechischen Polis überblicken zu können. Auch sein Werben um die Gunst einer barbarischen Schönheit ist nicht immer souverän, gelegentlich sogar ausgesprochen tollpatschig. Summa summarum ein angenehm unspektakulärer, handwerklich gut ausgearbeiteter Historienroman, von denen es trotz eines riesigen Marktangebots leider nicht allzu viele gibt. Das Entwicklungspotential für die angekündigte Serie (5 Bände) ist auf jeden Fall vorhanden. Empfehlenswert!
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