“Reading this sequel to Lion of Macedon is like reading a compressed, accelerated Lord of the Rings crossed with the classic Star Trek episode, "Mirror, Mirror." Preternaturally precocious 4-year-old Alexander is kidnapped by Philippos, a demonic parallel-universe twin of King Philip of Macedon. Philip's strategos (chief general and strategist), Parmenion, and Philip's assassin, Attalus, form an uneasy alliance in order to retrieve Alexander. Passed (by the sorcerer Aristotle) through a portal to Makedones, a world geographically similar to but historically different from their own, they must first find Alexander and then make their way through hostile, enchanted territory inhabited by magical creatures to a rendezvous with Aristotle. But Philip of Macedon isn't the only person who has a twin in this parallel world, and as Parmenion discovers more about Makedones, he finds that the similarities rather than the differences are the most troubling.
There are two stories here. First, Alexander's mystic quest for redemption (carried out by the chosen few) and Parmenion and the Spartans' parallel last-ditch battle (fought with ordinary weapons); then, David Gemmell follows Alexander and Parmenion home. Although they have beaten a horrific demon in Makedones, they have yet to face the demons of Macedon: Alexander's life and soul are at stake in another battle against darkness.
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