#BlogTour-‘Clash Of Empires’ by Ben Kane

Hello and welcome to my latest blog tour entry, this time I am thrilled to be on board this Orion tour for the remarkable ‘Clash OF Empires’ by Ben Kane.

Available NOW in paperback, ‘Clash Of Empires’ explores a little known period of ancient history and launches an epic new series by Ben Kane

About the book…

THE MIGHT OF ROME
The great general Hannibal Barca is on the verge of defeat. Victory will crown Rome the most powerful empire in the world. While the ambitious senator Flamininus plots his path to power…

THE GLORY OF GREECE
Only unconquered Greece stands in the way of glory. King Philip V of Macedon’s mighty phalanx is an enemy Rome has long feared, and one that has never known defeat.

THE HEROES OF HISTORY
Demetrios has dreamed of fighting with the phalanx his whole life, but the young villager will soon learn that, in a clash of empires, you’re only ever one swing of the sword away from death – or entering legend.

CLASH OF EMPIRES is the gripping first novel in a new series from the master of historical fiction – for fans of Simon Scarrow, Harry Sidebottom, Conn Iggulden and Bernard Cornwell.

I was absolutely blown away by the scope and vision of this brilliant story-Ben Kane skilfully sets his chess pieces of Romans versus Macedonians on a international chessboard ,and alternates the storylines as he moves his characters into place for some truly epic fighting and political wrangling.

This is not clean or sanitised, this is the equivalent of a blood encrusted, sun-baked wound, not a clinically created surgical cut, and the mud, sweat and groans of the ancient people steep the pages in time and place. It would be easy to make this epic on such a scale that you lose the sense of what it means to the common or garden person in the street ,and in the characters of Demetrios and Flamininus, Ben Kane brings the reader on a personal journey which is meticulously researched and rendered. The reaction of soldiers to the appearance of elephants, mid battle,  is just one scene that sticks in my mind, one amongst many set pieces that accentuate this book rather than define it.

It is hard to remember that Rome at the time of the Republic was constantly looking to expand it’s territories, and as such had to take on one ‘Greek’ (there was no such thing as a cohesive Greece in this time period) city at a time in order to secure trade routes and supplies to feed their armies as they marched. I learned so much about fighting techniques, warcraft and the politics of Republican Rome-this is an informative read without every being dry or hectoring. It is begging to be made into a television series in my humble opinion!

I particularly enjoyed the Author’s Note at the end with suggested reading and additional historical information-I am a huge lover of classical history and am kicking myself for not reading more widely and keeping to the same old paths. Definitely resolved this book blogger to read more of Ben Kane’s books!

About the Author…

Ben Kane is a bestselling Roman author and former veterinarian. He was born in Kenya and grew up in Ireland (where his parents are from). He has traveled widely and is a lifelong student of military history in general, and Roman history in particular. He lives in North Somerset, England, with his family.

Twitter @BenKaneAuthor

Facebook – Ben Kane Books