The Tower [Import] [Paperback]

Valerio Massimo Manfredi (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Macmillan; Airside e. edition (2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1405090855
• ISBN-13: 978-1405090858
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,804,432 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Archaeological Thriller, October 7, 2006

By 

J. Chippindale (England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tower (Hardcover)

Few authors can be better equipped to write about the history of ancient Greece and Rome than Valerio Massimo Manfredi. Professor of archaeology at the university of Milan, he has carried out many excavations and expeditions in the Mediterranean region. He has produced many factual books on historical matters, mainly military and has still found the time to write several novels. This book is a real thriller.

2 thousand years ago a mysterious force hidden in an isolated tower in the Sahara desert, massacred a squad of Roman soldiers. There was only one survivor from the horrific attack, an Etruscan diviner Avile Vipanas. He later described the terrible being in the tower, and suggested ways in which the creature could be destroyed.

Just what is the malevolent being that slumbers in the remote tower? Who are the fierce desert dwelling Blemmyae seen by the ancient travellers. Do they exist or are they just figments of people's imaginations.

In an attempt to find the isolated tower and sole the mystery that has come down through 20 centuries, three men begin a journey into te hear of the Sahara. An archaeologist, a colonel from the Foreign legion and a priest. Why do these men from such different backgrounds feel the need to solve a mystery that has lived on for 2,000 years?

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not completely awful..., March 8, 2010

By 

Max Power "Maxi" (Perth, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tower (Paperback)

I just finished reading The Last Legion and, while it was far from great, it showed some promise.
So I thought I'd give this one a try.
Mistake.
This was quite the mishmash of ancient acheological adventure story, religious intrigue, science fiction and fantasy, all comglomerated in an unpleasant and unsatisfying soup.
None of the ideas are original but it could have been at least a passable adventure tale had it not bogged down in pointlessness and predictability.
My suggestion - avoid.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Average. This book was OK but I wouldn't read it twice., May 29, 2010

By 

fairy-whispers (Qld, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tower (Hardcover)

This book was OK but not brilliant. It as certainly an interesting premise and I had no trouble reading to the end but I wasn't as engaged as I had thought I would be. Perhaps someone else will enjoy it more than I did.