Book Review: The Arcadian by Steven Pressfield


4.5/5 stars. Pressfield writes crisp, smooth prose that keeps the reader engaged and excited to continue the story. This historical fiction/fantasy is set in Spain in the 16th century and focuses around a Portuguese invasion that draws our main protagonists into the siege of a castle. We learn interesting backstories for our characters, and we witness the battle from several perspectives. This is my first experience with Pressfield, but his battle writing reminds me of Cornwell, Abercrombie, and Gwynne.

I greatly enjoyed the setting in Spain and the historicity of the Portuguese invasion as the background of this tale. Pressfield has created a believable series of events for our protagonists. One, a former soldier who is a traveling ‘iron man’ who moves from town to town sharpening tools and swords for the local communities. The second main character is a young farm girl who has strong feelings for a wild horse that she tries to protect, and which turns out to be the iron man’s former warhorse. There seems to be some deeper connection among the three of them, and others of our characters, that ties them together at a spiritual level. Such a wonderful story! Highly recommended!!

The audiobook is read by one of my favorite narrators, George Guidall, and he does an excellent job with this novel. He has a distinct, yet comforting, voice and I appreciate his ability with different voices. I highly recommend the audio for this story.

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