Soldier of the Mist

'Latro' is Latin for 'soldier' or 'mercenary.' Latro's head wound has erased both his long-term memories and his ability to form new ones beyond a single day, and he has forgotten his actual name and homeland entirely. His companions have given him the functional title he uses throughout the novel.

The novel is set in ancient Greece in 479 BCE, immediately after the Persian army's defeat at the Battle of Plataea — the climactic land battle of the Greco-Persian Wars following Xerxes's invasion. Wolfe took care with the historical geography, using real ancient place-names and historical figures including the poet Pindar.

Latro's wound — apparently a curse laid on him by a goddess whose sanctuary was desecrated in the fighting — has stripped him of the protective rationalism that ordinary mortals apply to unexplained phenomena. In the novel, the gods and mythological creatures of Greece are entirely real; ordinary people simply cannot perceive them. Latro's broken mind cannot filter them out, making him a uniquely direct witness to the supernatural.

Both simultaneously. Wolfe took extraordinary care with fifth-century Greek history, geography, and religion, incorporating real historical figures and events from the aftermath of Plataea. The fantasy element is that the Olympian gods and mythological creatures operate in this world exactly as the ancient Greeks believed they did — not as metaphors, but as literal actors in daily life.

Yes. Gene Wolfe continued the Latro series with Soldier of Arete (1989), which follows Latro's further adventures across Greece, and Soldier of Sidon (2006), which relocates the story to Egypt. All three volumes are told as Latro's daily journal entries.

Pindaros is a character modeled on the historical Greek lyric poet Pindar (c. 518–438 BCE), one of the most celebrated poets of the ancient world, known for his victory odes. Wolfe uses him as a companion and guide for Latro, and his presence is part of the novel's effort to ground the fantasy in historical authenticity.