Reviews and more on my blog: Entering the Enchanted Castle

This was interesting but not as compelling as I have found some of Renault's other books. The shoehorning in of information about ancient theater and about various famous figures (most notably Plato) did not feel entirely natural. The idea seemed to be to follow how Plato's ideas about the good ruler were worked out in a real life context, through the story of a ruler who tried to overcome the tyranny in Syracuse, first through philosophy and then through force. This did not have a happy ending.