When I was just a kid in grade school, I would often find myself with half a dozen volumes of The World Book Encyclopedia (think Google before the internet) spread across the living room floor open to some series of related subjects. At one point I made it through to the "X"s where I found an entry for Xenophon and the above picture which was captioned: "Xenophon Gave Thanks to the Gods as his 'Ten Thousand' Finished Their Long Retreat to the Bosporus."

I can't say precisely what it was about this picture that so captured my imagination, but after reading about Xenophon and the "March of the Ten Thousand" I would-even years later-bore people with a passionate recounting of those historical events.

I know others have done SF versions, but all of the ones I know about involve some military force crashing on a planet and having to march around to some sort of spaceport or something. This version is the first (that I know of) that takes place entirely in space.

It's not easy adapting a historical event which took place in 400 BC to a setting several centuries in the future but I flatter myself in thinking that having read this, you should have a pretty fair grasp of the Anabasis by Xenophon. If this story didn't completely turn you off, I encourage you to find a decent translation and read the original story. I think you'll find it has even more character, humor and irony than what I was able to capture.

I have had several people ask where the amazing cover for the Ascent came from. It came from the lovely and talented #Lucyface. I cannot recommend her work high enough!