The
Queen of Sparta Blog Tour
About the
Author
T. S. Chaudhry was
born in Karachi, Pakistan. He earned a bachelor’s degree from
Cornell University, a master’s degree
from Harvard University, and a PhD from the University of Cambridge.
Formerly a Pakistani diplomat, Chaudhry currently works for the
United Nations on peace and security issues in Africa.
THE
QUEEN OF SPARTA
is Chaudhry’s first novel. He came up with the idea to write a
story about Queen Gorgo being the architect of the Greek resistance
against the Persian invasion while reading Herodotus for his A-Level
examination in England several decades ago. “As
a lover of history, or a ‘history-buff,’ I have always enjoyed
reading both fiction and nonfiction about this period.”
Chaudhry
is currently working on a “prequel” to THE
QUEEN OF SPARTA
based on events leading up to the Battle of Marathon,
called Fennel
Field.
For
More Information
About the
Book:
Title:
The Queen of SpartaAuthor:
T.S. ChaudhryPublisher:
Top Hat BooksPages:
383Genre:
Historical FictionFormat:
Paperback/Kindle
Author
T.S. Chaudhry offers a new spin on Spartan history in his novel, THE
QUEEN OF SPARTA. In the book, Queen Gorgo,
the wife of the courageous Spartan leader, Leonidas, surreptitiously
organizes the Greek resistance against the invasion of the mighty
Persian king, Xerxes, and his massive army. Although founded on the
writings of historian, Herodotus, Chaudhry’s revision of the 480
B.C. invasion challenges readers to imagine the brilliant and
politically savvy Queen Gorgo as the Spartan leader who wielded her
power with stealth and cunning to end the Persian occupation of
Greece.
Gorgo
devises a strategy using espionage and diplomacy, in addition to
Sparta’s military might, to defeat the Persians and drive them out
of Greece. During the last battle of the war, Prince Sherzada, a
Saka, is captured while fighting on the Persian side. He is
imprisoned by Gorgo, who has vowed to kill him. However, an
unexpected alliance blooms between Gorgo and Sherzada, based on
common perceptions and a shared dark secret. As allies, the queen and
prince face new dangers from within Sparta that threaten the safety
of Gorgo and her young son, the king.
As the
story progresses, Queen Gorgo must choose between confronting the
reactionary forces within Sparta directly or saving her life and the
life of her child.
THE
QUEEN OF SPARTA begins on the Banks of
Indus, and takes the reader through time and space to Greece,
Tuscany, Rome, and the Baltic coast of northern Europe and attempts
to link some of the main cultures of that time period. “In the
novel, I tried to present the conflict through the eyes of two
protagonists,” Chaudhry states. “The Greek viewpoint is presented
through Queen Gorgo, and the opposing one is represented by Prince
Sherzada, who becomes her prisoner. The whole story is also a
deliberate attempt to confuse ‘the possession’ of history
because, actually, history belongs to all of us.”
THE QUEEN OF
SPARTA informs the reader about the
politics of ancient Greece in the 5th
Century, B.C. and about Sparta, its people, and its culture; the book
also describes what made the Spartans great while sharing the flaws
and contradictions within their society. Chaudhry notes that “fiction
is art immitating life. That is how I see the relationship between
historical fiction and history. History has wonderful stories to
tell. And it gets more wonderful the further in the past you go where
evidence is sparse, but the realm of creativity is rich. I love to
find out how things happened the way they did. Ancient history
provides us with a rich variety of potential answers that are always
fun to explore.”
The author’s goal
in writing THE QUEEN OF SPARTA
was to share the message that “one must stand for one’s
principles, for what one believes to be right, even in the face of
overwhelming opposition.”
For More Information
Book
Excerpt:
The Agora
Sparta
Autumn, 480 BC
The man was trying to sit
very still. He was on horseback, in full armour, facing a throng of
mostly unarmed men and women. And yet he was trembling. He seemed too
afraid even to dismount his horse.
A man, in
front of the crowd, laughed. He was tall, with hair falling well
below his shoulder and an equally long moustache-less beard. “This
time they sent us a Greek. Why did the Persians send you and not one
of their own? Are they afraid we would stuff them down the well
again?”
Laughter
roared across the marketplace.
The
envoy, still shaking, cleared his throat and said, “I bring a
message from the Great King Xerxes to the King of Sparta.”
A small
voice shouted, “I am he!”
Looking
down, the envoy saw a small dark-haired boy of around eight years
looking up at him. He waited for someone to laugh at the boy’s
impertinence or even shout at him. But none did.
“I am
Pleistarchus, son of Leonidas,” said the boy.
The
messenger plucked enough courage to say, “Sparta has two kings. I
wish to speak with the older one.”
A young
woman had stepped forward. She was long-haired and beautiful.
Standing behind the boy, she placed her hands on his small shoulders.
“He is away,” she said. “You will have to deliver your message
to my son.”
“Go
on,” said the boy king, his tiny voice carrying authority.
“His
Majesty, King Xerxes, says: I have
destroyed your army at Thermopylae. My forces have occupied Athens.
And your turn will soon come. You are advised to submit without
further delay, for if I bring my army into your land, I shall destroy
your farms, slaughter your people, and raze your city to the ground.”
There was
silence.
The boy king turned around
and looked up at his mother. Her eyes blazed as she stared into the
eyes of the messenger. Herlips curled mischievously as she gave him
her response: “If!”
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