The Blood of Gods

The other books in this series I have really enjoyed. However, this book was written many years later and it shows. The continuation of the story presented in the first four books is non-existent, save for the historical basis. The timeline makes no sense and is jarring if you've read the books close together. For example, Octavian is 20 years old- yet he's been with Caesar's armies since the third book, in Gaul. Not possible, but okay, I can accept a crunched timeline. But this book specifically mentions the Gaul campaign took place decades ago-at one point, Mark Antony mentions that the soldiers who fought in that war had become old.

Secondly, all supporting characters from the series have been dropped, besides Mark Antony, Suetonius, and weirdly, Biblius who was a very minor character in the second book. Domitius, Ciro, and Regulus- Caesar's generals since the second book, are completely gone. They've demostrated their loyalty to Caesar dozens of times. One of Caesar's oldest advisors dies to save Domitius. Octavian had a relationship with all of them, especially Domitius, and Brutus had a very layered relationship with Domitius as well, and yet none of these characters are even mentioned. Alexandra, who had a complex history with both Caesar and Brutus for four books, and helped raised Octavian, is never mentioned. Octavian's mother Atia is never mentioned.

Cicero is not mentioned. Cicero's death-being added to the list of people to die by Mark Antony- is not mentioned, despite the historical conversation where Octavian argued with Antony for TWO DAYS over Cicero being included in the list happening in this novel. Cicero has been a character in the series since the very beginning, the conversation where the two lead characters decide if he should live or die happens, and yet the character is not mentioned. I couldn't believe this.


Besides all this, the book just felt rushed. A lot of buildup to settle the disputes very quickly. Brutus and Octavian both feel like different characters from the novels previous. This might have been a 3-3.5 star book if it had been a standalone, but as a continuation of a series, it was garbage. Igguldenson, whom I love otherwise, seemed ready to breeze through this one.