This is my intro to this author and series. I've previously read all of LKH's books. In comparison to the AB series, this is quite tepid. Olympias never gets into serious trouble. Anita is almost always in danger of getting dead. The violence in the AB serious is much more viceral and real than Sizemore's. Love scenes were handled in an unimaginative, unerotic manner. The scenes of the slaves in action were especially boring. Read this book if only you absolutely have to have your fix in this genre and can't wait for the next offering from Hamilton.