The Macedonian Hazard (Ring of Fire - Assiti Shards Book 3)

The truly deeply scary thing about this book and the previous one is that the Hellenistic world, despite crudities and violence, is actually more civilized, less clogged with superstition, more rational than the thirty years war era, almost two thousand historical years later, of the main series of ROF books. These historically older folks jump at the technology of early twenty-first century. They are immediately about trying to understand it, recreate it. No one seems to condemn it or assign it to supernatural forces. In fact it is as obvious as can be that the two thousand years or so from the death of Alexander to the start of the thirty years war were a dark, dark time of overwhelming stultifying superstition, stagnation and vast human misery.To the case of this particular book -- the two queens are easily the best characters Flint has created. They ooze with life and authenticity. Their motives and actions make complete sense. They are complex combinations of heroic and villainous. Just like real people. The captain of the cruise ship is also a far more realistic figure than, say Mike Stearns or his wife or any of the leading figures in the mainline ROF. world. As is true of almost all the ROF books this baby is a can't put it down page turner. The depth and scope of the research is truly extraordinary. Yeah, there is still all the ra ra nonsense about capitalism and the American way of life but it feels much more muted -- as if the Mediterranean culture had encompassed a fair amount of those values -- values lost and buried until 2200 years or so later.To sum up I loved this book and absolutely recommend it to almost anyone over the age of nine or ten. And dearly hope there is more in this series coming.

I very much enjoyed the first volume in this new sub-series of the ROF world. I liked this one even more. I rate "The Macedonian Hazard" right up there with the best in the long-running ROF series. The scholarship is impeccable, so far as I can tell anyhow. The authors have a whole flock of major and minor historical characters that have important roles to play in the story. They seemed true to life to me. We do know a good deal about the period from the ancient writers. Ptolomy, for example, seems properly cautious, as the historical general was. They work in even individual Greek soldiers in a way that neither glosses over the, to us, maniacal violence of the men and era nor makes them out to be anything but the product of the time and place. In fact, in one segment the authors have an interesting thought on a whole society with PTSD simply from the ordinary day-to-day stress of living in a time and place loaded with potentially deadly interactions. I thought that was very clever of them. Eric Flint has a way of building characters that keeps me coming back again and again with his ROF books. Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett have done the same in other books. I adore their take on ambitious teen girls in their exploration of and the creation of the Barbie girls. Highly recommended for fans of the ROF world and for those who like a good story.

Phillip, Alexander the Great's brother, and Alexander IV, inherit Alexander's empire. However, Alexander's generals disagree and rebel. The fight begins.

Thoroughly enjoyable; it's astonishing how many resources a cruise ship has.

Brings post-Alexander-the-Great world politics to life. Excellent gripping dreck. Have read many of the books in this series and enjoyed most of them.

I thoroughly enjoyed this. It ended all too soon. I read till three am and when it ended I wanted more.

This book has JUST enough redeeming qualities that I probably won’t return it for a refund in the week allowed, but it’s a pretty close call, and it would be even closer if I hadn’t purchased it with an Amazon gift card I got for Christmas.The battles are less grand and spectacular. Plenty of supporting characters from the first book who’s stories didn’t feel finished (like the rabbi and the reverend dealing with the Jewish community) aren’t even mentioned.Alexander’s mother is developed interestingly but at the same time feels like she’d work better as an an outright villain.The conclusion of the campaign go against Cassander is wrapped up nicely but the characters involved could have been different ones.Too much focus is given to a glassmaker and her indentured servant without effecting the plot much.A couple of the new generals and kings are interesting but not spectacular.I do really like the development of Phillip and Eurydice’s characters and relationship from the previous book.The novel ends with a definite sequel hook and if Eric Flint knows what he’s doing, he should probably try to wrap this series up in three books rather than trying for four or more.

An amazing second book in what is hopefully a long series. Love the characters.

There is a lot packed in this book. There are stories about the movers and shakers of the post Event world. There are tales about the little people and how their lives have been changed. And unlike main time line Ring of Fire books they are all packed together in one volume. This does mean that you get to see how the decisions of the former impact the latter,.However, you don't get much depth on either. So you want a long story that slowly develops this may not be a book for you. However if you like Ring of Fire stuff written by the Main Man himself, full of action, problem solving and changing history this book will be right up your alley.

This book is where it becomes more real. I enjoyed seeing how the ship people are intriguing with their allies. It’s one of the alternative time fiction books that I can see following. With the mix of real life people from history and fictional characters stuck in the past plus the ripple effects; it makes you wonder what will happen next. The writer is also careful not to limit the characters by making them all knowing or overly focusing on the elite. Great book and a good read.

Excellent sequel ! I can't say enough of the inventiveness and creativivity shown by this trio of writers. All of their different worlds are entertaining, packed chock full with great action and engrossing subplots. Not to mention the lovable and not so lovable characters.Again thank you for another great read.

This is an interesting take on a confusing piece of history with an alternate history. A good read this is the second book in an unfinished series.