I loved the first chapter! We meet Themistocles as a child, when he goes to the school with his future rival, Aristides. Young Themistocles is already a resourceful fellow, though his prank to gain the admiration of the other children doesn’t work as he expects
Then the action jumps to year 490 BC, when the Persians are besieging Eretria. The scenes where Apollonia and her family flee from the invaders and the battle between the Eretrian hoplites and the Persian horsemen are thrilling, and at the same time very realistic because they are written with plenty of details.
Next the author narrates the early stages of the battle of Marathon. Themistocles is a man in his thirties, climbing in politics. He's convinced that Athens will only be great if she builds a fleet and rules the sea. But we meet some interesting characters in the Persian side as well: Artemisia, warrior princess of Halicarnassus, and the mysterious masked-man known as Patikara.
I hope the second part to be as good as the first one!