Orion and the Conqueror [Mass Market Paperback]

Ben Bova (Author)

Book Description

Series: Orion | Publication Date: June 15, 1995

John O'Ryan is Orion--more than human, less than a god, cast away on the seas of Time to do battle among the Creators for the future of mankind.

Now the eternal warrior finds himself separated from his great love, Anya, and marooned in Macedonia under the reign of Phillip--fighting alongside the young Alexander, and at the mercy of a Queen Olympias who is far more than she seems.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The intrigues of fourth-century-B.C. Macedonia and Greece are brought vividly to life in this sweeping historical fantasy. To avert the possibility that the strands of space-time might unravel, Orion, rebellious instrument of the Creators previously encountered in Orion in the Dying Time , is sent to the court of Philip II to ensure that his son Alexander succeeds in his territorial conquests. Orion comes to admire Philip but falls under the control of his wife (and Alexander's mother) Olympias, an embodiment of the Creator Hera. Olympias is determined to arrange the assassination of Philip so that Alexander may gain the throne before a rival heir can be born to the king's new wife. Orion fights in the battle at Chaeroneia, where Macedonia defeats Athens and Thebes, and is sent to Persia where he is forced to desert when he has an opportunity to meet with his great love Anya, a Creator fighting other battles in a different time. She urges him to obey Olympias to save the Creators' universe. Despite Orion's admiration for the Macedonian king and all his attempts to flee his doom, he is drawn into a final confrontation. Bova's adroit use of detail makes the time setting ring true; his depictions of historic personages as well as his fictional creations are psychologically sound. The sounds, the scents and the sensibility of the ancient world permeate this well-wrought adventure.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Orion, the eternal warrior, joins forces with Alexander the Great in this latest episode from veteran Bova's series about time, space, and mythic adventure.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Tor Science Fiction (June 15, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812523768
• ISBN-13: 978-0812523768
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,256,387 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars NIce idea. Thin soup, June 19, 2006

By 

A. G Primack "Master of Zen" (Hamilton, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Orion and the Conqueror (Mass Market Paperback)

Hey, I liked the concept, but the execution is spread out as if it were an epic but there isn't enough beef. The opening scene of battle between the mercenaries and Phillip of Macedon's troops runs well enough and acts as if Bova actually did some historical research. The episodes in Phillips castle seem to be good history, but it starts to drag and its as if Bova did not want to cut out the middle sections, but did not know where the plot was supposed to end up. The arguments with Demosthenes appear to be childish, and in the end they are. The repeated angst for Anya becomes tedious, and the ominous threats of the impending end of the world are silly with no context. The episodes with Hera are like a bad Harlequin in which one of the couple can't control themselves. This book is more about loyalty and its betrayal than anything else. You really have to read the rest of the series to put it in context, and it is another of those endless series in which the plot only advances by tiny steps in each book....so be prepared to find the rest of the story if you really want to know what is happening, (too bad Amazon dosen't list the books in a series so we can find them more easily) or enjoy this for the historical content, not the science nor the fantasy, of which there really isn't much.

4.0 out of 5 stars Orion is put back into the thick of world history, February 27, 2004

By 

Adam Missner (Roswell, GA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Orion and the Conqueror (Mass Market Paperback)

Orion and the Conqueror puts our hero Orion back into the thick of world history as a royal guard to Philip of Macendonia, the father of Alexander the Great. As Philip struggles to conquer/unite Greece, Alexander's mother, who is one of the Creators, struggles to ensure the ascension of Alexander to the throne. This is Orion at his best, fighting with swords and knives as he struggles with his personal loyalties versus the desires of the Creators. As Orion's powers develop, he continues to try to find the mystery behind the intentions of The Golden One. A quick fun read, Orion and the Conquerer is definitely worthwhile despite the one shortcoming of Orion's constant whining about finding Anya, the Creator he loves.

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not terribly impressive, August 30, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Orion and the Conqueror (Mass Market Paperback)

Well-known classicist Sir Kenneth Dover once described Hans Licht's absurd book on Greek sexuality as a "very bad book." One can't *quite* call Bova's book "very bad"--that honor has to go to David Gemmell's two forays into ancient Macedonia, LION OF MACEDON and THE DARK PRINCE--but this is far from a *good* book. For a man known to complain about bad science in novels, this reviewer finds it terribly ironic to see such bad and/or outdated history in this one. Bova might do well to take his own advice and stick to what he knows: science, not history.