- Paperback: 1 pages
- Publisher: Abacus (Feb 3 2004)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0349108269
- ISBN-13: 978-0349108261
- Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.8 x 2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 200 g
- Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #915,808 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
Ride on the historic charge across the Alps and into battle against the Romans in Ross Leckie's debut novel Hannibal, an exuberant account of the life, love, and inner torment of the great Carthaginian general sworn to bringing defeat to the Romans. The novel begins with a scarred and defeated Hannibal, who recounts how he came from the shores of North Africa to the heart of the Italian peninsula. Leckie's book brings Hannibal to life through a realistic psychological profile and a well-researched account of the ancient general's life and military exploits. Leckie excels at describing Hannibal's tactics and the brilliance of his strategy, while rounding out the story with insights into Hannibal's family and marital life. Strap on the battle armor and mount your pachyderms--charge!!!
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
"A battle is like lust. The frenzy passes. Consequence remains." So reflects the 65-year-old Hannibal as he recounts the trials of a battle commander's life in British writer's Leckie's first novel. Readers may already be somewhat acquainted with the warlord's record: how the Carthaginian was born and bred to become the leader of a great army, how he marched toward Rome in the company of thousands of mercenaries and elephants, crossing the Alps in a legendary winter of privation. Less familiar will be the portrait of Hannibal as a lover (of Similce, a Spanish woman whom he marries) or as an introspective man well-versed in the Greek philosophers. Published to fine reviews in England, Leckie's fictional memoir is written in a simple, visceral style that brings a raw immediacy to descriptions of ancient battle. The Oxford-trained author, who drew on many classical sources, is as authoritative about crucifixions and the torture of pregnant women as he is about the details of the great warrior's brilliant military strategies. Leckie seeks not to bury Hannibal in analysis but to portray him. He gives readers a taste of an outsized man whose obsession to conquer Rome made him as bloodthirsty as he was bold. This is a ripping good read whose lesson in ancient history is yet another reward.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most helpful customer reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
A screnplay based on Leckies book "Hannibal the Conqueror",
By Fuzzy Lizard (Georgia, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Hannibal: A Novel (Paperback)
They are now making a movie based on this trash, and of all people - Vin Diesel is playing Hannibal. Yes, Hannibal did a few amazing things but he was no Conqueror. The real hero and conqueror is Scipio Africanus, Who defeated Hannibal at Zama, and conquered all of Hannibals Generals in Spain. A better read than Leckie, is "Scipio Africanus, Greater than Napoleon", by Sir Basil Henry Liddel Hart. Scipio was one of the greatest Generals of the Ancient World. A movie about Scipio should be made.
1.0 out of 5 stars
A waste of paper,
By
This review is from: Hannibal: A Novel (Paperback)
Hannibal was among the greats of ancient military history, the equal of Caesar and surpassed only by Scipio and Alexander. It is a tragedy that a novel as poor as this bears his name.Ross Leckie's first mistake is to try and compress Hannibal's expansive career into a work of less than 300 pages. This novel is one part of a trilogy of historical fiction about the Punic Wars, but Hannibal alone is worthy of a trilogy. The attempt to deal with so much material in a single novel was pure folly. By compressing the history so ruthlessly, Leckie makes austere prose a detriment to his storytelling. Ordinarily I enjoy an austere writing style. There is almost no character development in the novel, with the singular exception of explaining Hannibal's hatred of Rome. However, this lone effort at character development is stillborn: we never actually feel any of Hannibal's hated, because it is never adequately described or conveyed. Hannibal himself is reduced to a one-dimensional character, which does the reader a great disservice. None of the supporting characters receive any development whatsoever: they are ciphers, used to advance what is essentially. This is what makes the novel so terribly dull - I could not find myself remotely interested in or caring for any of the characters. It is also painfully obvious that Leckie's research is lacking, and he probably plagiarized Mary Renault's "Fire From Heaven" for one of his chapters. I am thrilled with only one aspect of this novel: I bought it for only $1 at a used bookshop on a whim. It is atrocious historical fiction, and I only finished it so I could write this review in good conscience.
1.0 out of 5 stars
Please, Hannibal deserves better,
By A Customer
This review is from: Hannibal: A Novel (Paperback)
I'm sorry, but this is an awful book. I've never written such a thing in a review before, but I'm absolutely aghast that this thing ever got in to print. The story of Hannibal's war with Rome is one of the most engaging, dramatic stories in world history and it should make for wonderful fiction. Mr. Leckie, unforetunately, reduces Hannibal to a paper thin ogre of a man, and fills the novel with unpleasant extremes far outside what's required to tell the story. That's not to say that I shy away from violence. Just the opposite. I know how violent the times were. But Ross Leckie's writing is artless and that renders all else in doubt. Reading this novel is like chewing cardboard. It's like driving splinters up into your fingernails. Don't do it. Read the other negative reviews on this website and believe them! Await the day when Hannibal finds the storyteller to do his tale justice. When that happens, we might all be in for a great read.
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