Review of The Fox

[Tarie07]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Fox" by M. N. J. Butler.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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The Fox by M. N. J. Butler is a memoir that looks into the Spartan history and culture through the life of Leotychides. It is written using the first-person narrative. Leotychides is supposed to be the prince of Sparta, but he grows up enstranged from his father King Agis. Instead of growing up in the palace like any normal heir to the throne would do, he goes to stay in the flock. Having no siblings, he is the only heir to the throne according to Spartan culture. However, when the king dies, Leotychides’ life goes from bad to worse. It turns out he is an illegitimate prince and his uncle Agisilaos is on a power-hungry trip. He wants the throne to himself and will stop at nothing to get it. Will Spartans accept a bastard for a king? Or will they prefer to be ruled by a tyrant?

I loved how Butler made use of the glossary of names and terms. The book was written in so many ancient terms I would not have been able to understand it without the glossary. The loyalty of Spartans amazed me. They were loyal not only to their state but to each other as well. Butler did thorough research and did not write a book based on fiction only, but with facts too.Leotychides’ character was just so real which made him that much more interesting. I was amazed at how he went from living in the palace as royalty wearing fine clothes, to being a nobody. He would walk barefooted and he experienced the gruesome side of life with fellow Spartans. This made him more suitable to lead Sparta, having walked in his people’s shoes. No matter how hard it got, he kept on fighting to fulfill the promise he made to King Agis; to protect Sparta and keep it united.

I was also amazed at how open-minded Spartans were about their sexuality. Most societies are still so brutal towards homosexuals. I thought all societies from ancient history regarded homosexuality as a taboo, but this Greece society proved me wrong. The fact that women were freely allowed to get an education was very admirable. According to my history knowledge society has always diminished women especially in the education sector and they were just valued for childbearing and household chores. This makes Spartans truly remarkable. I also loved how Leotychides’ character was closely related to the legend of the fox. Just like the boy in the legend endured being eaten alive under his coat by the fox he had stolen, so did Leotychides endure everything he was put through to take his rightful place. To top it all, The Fox is not just an entertainment book but it is very educational.

However, there were quite a few things I disliked about the book. Firstly there were some plots I thought were not particularly important. These contributed to the book becoming very lengthy. There were no page numbers. This made it difficult because if I scrolled up or down by mistake, there was no way of knowing where I had been reading. There were too many names to remember and some of the names were similar. For example, Androklidas and Antalkidas. I constantly had to refer to the glossary and I found that annoying.

The Fox was very professionally edited. I found no grammatical errors. The Spartan history was described to its finest detail. This is why despite all the dislikes, I rate the book 3 out of 4 stars.

If historical fiction is your genre and you do not mind a long read, I highly recommend this book. However, if you do not have the patience to constantly refer to a glossary just so you can grasp some concepts then this is not a book you should read. There is sexual content in the book, therefore it is suitable for young adults.

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The Fox
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[addicted reader]

I read The Fox by M. N. J. Butler sometime back. It was action-packed and interesting. I really enjoyed it. Thanks for your review.

[Tarie07]

I read The Fox by M. N. J. Butler sometime back. It was action-packed and interesting. I really enjoyed it. Thanks for your review.

It was indeed action-packed. Thanks for commenting.