and "The action does not let up and Darman keeps us entertained as ever; this is a book that someone unfamiliar to Darman's work could pick up and enjoy whilst also catering to the serial reader who will enjoy the references to earlier books and story lines. and "British Army Rumour Service review, October 2018 and "The book's greatest strength is the complexity of the characters. None of the main characters is cast as purely vanilla 'nice' people. There is conflict within all of them that we learn more about as the story progresses. and "4 out of 4 stars (Online Book Club review, April 2018)Mark Antony has returned to Parthia to wage war against the king of kings. But Parthia has a new hero, a man born of slaves who carries an infamous name and who burns with rage against the world.The king of the wild Kingdom of Gordyene desires to arm his best soldiers with swords made from the magical metal from the east. To purchase such precious requires gold and so Spartacus steals it from an Armenian temple, along with a beautiful young novice who is the daughter of Armenia's greatest warlord. Thus is set in motion a series of events that will see King Spartacus lead his army to victory after victory as the 'lion of the north roars' to crush Armenian, Parthian and Roman foes.The army of Gordyene rises to rival the other great armies in the empire - the Hatrans of King Gafarn and the Durans of King Pacorus. You wish to be a greater warlord than your uncle but King Pacorus respects the immortals. But the gods are real Spartacus and they have not forgotten the restraints they placed on the rulers of Gordyene. With every victory and conquest they will take something from you until there is nothing left, and your rage and army will avail you nothing against them.As Mark Antony forges an unholy alliance with the Parthian King of Media, will you save the empire and lose your family? Or will you heed the advice of one who is a member of an ancient sisterhood and obey the rules of the gods?'The Cursed Kingdom' is the eighth volume in the Parthian Chronicles and follows on from 'Usurper'. A map of the Parthian Empire can be found on the maps page of my www.petedarman.com.