The Ten Thousand

July 21, 2008
Kearney (This Forsaken Earth
) retells Xenophon’s Anabasis
with great attention to detail but little novelty. The Macht, a race of mercenaries, are hired to sail across the oceans and serve as a conquering army for Arkamenes, who is bent on stealing his brother Ashurnan’s throne and taking over the Ashur empire. When Ashurnan slays Arkamenes, the Macht are left stranded in the middle of the empire surrounded by hostile armies. Their quest to return home becomes the stuff of legend as they fight overwhelming odds to win their freedom. The story is simple enough to follow, but the characters themselves are forgettable: hard to identify with as men, easy to cheer for as a group. With no sense that the Macht will be anything other than victorious, the drama resides solely in how many named characters will die in the endless, indistinguishable battles. Kearney’s considerable talent fails to come through in this unremarkable bloodfest.