But Gemmell turns some surprising twists. Whatever the case, there is nothing in the historical record to suggest he was not a Macedonian, and much to suggest that he was. But Gemmell, in the end, inexplicably chose to ignore all three of his stated possibilities to make Parmenion a Spartan . Authors do sometimes effect changes in historical facts for dramatic purposes, but a change of this magnitude requires the author to then use that change in a correspondingly clever way, or at least to explain his reasons. Gemmell does neither.
Historical accuracy goes downhill from there.
Yet in bizarre juxtapositions, these are frequently set beside complete misunderstandings of the court. Other assorted details demonstrate further lack of understanding for or familiarity with ancient Greece or ancient Macedonia. At that point, the sheer weight of numbers makes them a major annoyance. Fellow fantasy author Judith Tarr used the ancient's view of magic quite well in her Lord of the Two Lands . But Gemmell's duology imposes a completely foreign type of magic on ancient Greece.