Book Review: A Man at Arms by Stephen Pressfield

A Man at Arms by Stephen Pressfield

Laconic ex-legionnaire Telemachus is hired in AD 50s by the Romans in Jerusalem to hunt down a letter. A local radical has written to a Grecian town, espousing an alternate world view that threatens the Roman Empire. Telemachus is Greek but that doesn't factor into his decisions at all. He's convinced to search for the couriers through deserts and hideaways just for the money. The Romans are desperate enough to send cohorts as well in an attempt to guarantee that the letter never makes it to its destination. By the time Telemachus finds the couriers (a man and a child, for whom he does not ask names), he has a young and enthusiastic Jewish teen who wants to learn the art of war. Telemachus's journey is more than literal. The letter is known today as Saint Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians. Telemachus never sees the letter but its spirit slowly shifts him more and more from his Stoic worldview.

The story is very visceral. The combat scenes are realistically graphic, though one torture scene is unbelievable in that the victim survives. The dialogue and text vacillates between modern speech and ancient speech which I found occasionally distracting. The story has lots of details about weapons and locations, fitting in with Pressfield's military interest (he wrote Gates of Fire, which is great). The small group wanders through Israel, Egypt, and Greece, so a bit of the ancient world is seen, hardly the most glamorous parts. Telemachus's shift in philosophy is slow and deliberate and not entirely convincing. The book tries to blend a military action yarn (as if Telemachus is an ancient Jack Reacher) with a journey of faith. The mix didn't work for me.

Slightly recommended--this is the sort of book I should love but it never gelled together.