At age of fourteen, the boys separate. Marius joins the legions fighting in Greece and makes his fortune; Gaius remains with his uncle during a bitter civil war and learns invaluable political lessons.

Pilgrim's Perch: From the arena you fought Scourged Sister Delyth at, continue deeper into Pilgrim's Perch and you'll emerge outside on some wooden platforms. There'll be two ladders here, one going down to your left and another going up and to your right. Take the ladder upwards on the right and enter the cave ahead, where you'll find a door that requires the Pilgrim's Perch Key. Walk past it and exit the cave out the other end. As soon as you get to the end of the cave, enter the Umbral, and two bone slopes will be revealed to you - one going up and to the left, the other going down and to the right. Head down the slope on your right and jump down to the platform at the bottom to find the Hallowed Bow. It is difficult to find commentary on the sex/violence/language content of book if you are interested. I make an effort to give you the information so you can make an informed decision before reading. *Disclaimer* I do not take note or count the occurrences of adult language as I read. I am simply giving approximations.The quotes were also great, there are some good thoughts about many subjects. Specially those said by Odysseus. The things he said when people talked to him had so much depth in my opinion. This books starts off with Genghis completing his subjugation of the Mongol tribes under his banner before marching on his hated enemies, the Chin, and we end at the walls of Yanjing (Beijing) Our lives are spent sailing in the mist, hoping for a burst of sunlight that can make sense of who we are.” There are a total of 5 books under this series. The Gates of Romerelates the story of two young boys, Gaius and Marcus, as they grow to adulthood during the last years of the Roman Republic, a period of great political turmoil, chaos, and violence. The battles described in the volume, especially the final battle, can be described in one word, EPIC. In these early years, Genghis was able to use his force of 60,000 warriors and the Chinese belief that the Mongol Tribes were weak and disorganized, to its full advantage. In early battles, he used the vast size of his army to overwhelm any city in his path. The final battle in this volume takes place between Genghis` army and the army of Yenking (now modern day Beijing) and the surrounding cities. The author paints a vivid picture of the nearly insurmountable task of the taking the city. Not only was the city wall nearly impenetrable, the entrance to the city plane was through a narrow passage and between a mountain range. The efforts that Genghis army took to besiege the city and fight the army was extraordinary. If nothing else, read the book for the account of this battle alone.

Sure there were a few moments where the pacing of the book that felt a bit too slow, I will even admit that some POV and sections in the middle part of the book bored me a bit. However, the last 30% of the book and the overall quality of the writing truly outweigh the flaws. There were a lot of scenes that were done exceptionally like how the main character, Helikaon—based on Prince Aeneas—attained the name Helikaon, the Golden One, and the Lord of the Silver Bow. Plus, Gemmell’s way of building up momentum in the climax sequence and the execution of it was utterly engaging and heroic. Although there wasn’t a lot of character development except for Argurios, each character’s personality and feelings were still well fleshed out and the characters’ voice felt distinctive from each other. Even though there were more or less ten POV in this book, it was pretty easy to distinguish them from each other.Kokchu seemed oblivious to the tone. "I sent a slave to beg a moment with you, mother to khans. Perhaps he has not yet arrived. The whole camp is talking of your son's illness."

Genghis' general Subutai ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subutai) also has more role to play in this book, and the general will take on an important role in the sequel. Like an island in a raging sea, the Mongol horsemen moved across the face of the Chin army and no one could bring them down.” Another character of note introduced in this book is Kokchu, a shaman who smells of blood and is very self-serving. He gains Genghis' trust and starts to teach Temuge the ways of a Shaman. During the course of Temuge's lessons, he becomes addicted to Opium, which Kokchu provides for him. updated on June 19, 2011 for piss poor grammar mistakes (I'm sure there are more but I just found some today). From this day, you are no longer children. If you have to fight, even if it is a friend, put him down as fast and hard as you possibly can. Kill if you have to, or spare him—but beware putting any man in your debt. Of all things, that causes resentment. Any warrior who raises his fist to you must know he is gambling with his life and that he will lose. If you cannot win at first, take revenge if it is the last thing you do. You are traveling with men who respect only strength greater than theirs, men harder than themselves. Above everything else, they respect success. Remember it.”

Lord of The Silver Bow is book one in a reimagining of the Trojan War. It revolves around a man known by many names. Those familiar with the Trojan War know him as Aeneas, but in this book he's also known as Helikaon and The Golden One. The man himself is one fit for the era. Helikaon is strong, brave, and brutal. His brutality has earned him no friends among his enemies, but then who has friends among their enemies. And then we cranked Agility with this Bow because it scales really well with Agility but if you were using a different Bow like the quality one I mentioned earlier, which is the Udirangr Shaman Bow, you could split this between Strength and Agility to get better damage. Next, Endurance and Vitality are important. If you’re playing a predominantly Ranged Build, Vitality is not as important as with a Melee Build but you do get extra ammo from this Attribute so it’s worth putting points into. It also helps keep you alive.