Gates of Fire

What is the opposite of fear?

How do I live? What is worth dying for?
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I'm sure you've all at least heard of the movie "300" before, if not actually seen it - well, don't bother anyway, I couldn't get past the first 20 minutes without nodding off.  I would have been real pissed if I had seen those 20 minutes after reading Steven Pressfield's Gates of Fire.  Why is that?  Because unlike that sorry excuse for a movie, this book was frickin' awesome!  Know that I never read "war books" either - I picked this one up from the lunchtable only because I do find the concept fascinating - three hundred Spartans (and some other Greeks thrown in for good measure, it turns out) defending their country against thousands of wealthy, well-trained Persians, culminating in the epic Battle of Thermopylae.

As the back-story goes, Xeones happens to be the last man standing among three hundred Spartans (and a few hundred other Greeks), and is finally captured by the Persians when the Greeks succumb to defeat at the famous Battle of Thermopylae.  "His Majesty" Xerxes is so blown away by the ability of such a tiny amount of Greeks to hold their own against his vast Persian armies, that in hopes of discovering the Greeks' secret to success, he orders Xeo to recount the events leading up to and including the dread battle.  And the whole tale is truly a gift to the hearer, or reader in our case.  Do not go into this thinking it's a "war book" you're reading because yeah, it's about wars between the Greeks and Persians, but it's about more than that - the nature of fear, love of one's country, the role of men and women in wartime and the true meaning of valor.  So, what is the opposite of fear? I can't tell you that, but mind that there is no better example of it than this tale of the legendary three hundred Spartans. From the first page, the characters and story come right to vibrant life.  As Xeo's story unfolds, the battle scenes become more and more dramatic, and the relationships among the Greeks as individuals and as a single force to be reckoned with are moving and powerful, glorious and romantic as Greek tragedy should be.  I can't imagine any classic getting better than this, but I have yet to find that out for sure.  If anything, this kind of excitement will force you to look at what you've been reading lately and wonder when was the last time you read something that good.

So I'll leave you guys to it, while I mosey on over to the lunchroom and return Gates of Fire to its hot spot on the table.  I bet you when I return at five o'clock, it will be gone...

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