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"Tarquinius is an Etruscan, a warrior and soothsayer, born enemy of Rome, but doomed to fight for the Republic in the Forgotten Legion." "Brennus is a Gaul; the Romans killed his entire family. He rises to become one of the most famous and feared gladiators of his day - and mentor to the boy slave, Romulus, who dreams night and day of escape and revenge." "Romulus and Fabiola are twins, born into slavery after their mother is raped by a drunken nobleman. At thirteen years old they are sold: Romulus to gladiator school, Fabiola into prostitution, where she will catch the eye of one of the most powerful men in Rome."
"The lives of these four characters are bound and interwoven in this marvellous story, which begins in a Rome riven by corruption, violence and political enmities, but ends far away, at the very border of the known world, where Romulus, Brennus and Tarquinius find themselves fighting against the Parthians and impossible odds."--Jacket.
Reviews with the most likes.
I found the pace of this novel rather pedestrian and overall it was pretty dull. Rather than being inspired to read the rest of the trilogy, I really couldn't care less what happened to any of the characters by the end of this first book.
Oh dear. I like historical fiction, and when it's done well it can be exciting, informative and a bloody good read. This book is none of those things. To be honest I gave up half way through it 600 plus pages. The prose is pedestrian, the characters stereotypical and cardboard. The story moves at a snail's pace and I really couldn't find the will to carry on with it. I hate giving up on books but sometimes life is just too short to bother with a bad one.
Where was the editor on this? Why did it need to be 600 pages long? Why are there another two books after this one? I'm sure Mr. Kane loves the Roman world and he's obviously put in loads of research. But he's not a novelist.
This is the kind of ‘blockbuster' that clogs up airports and supermarket shelves. Roman fiction has been done much better by other people (Harris, Iggulden, Sidebottom). Disappointing.