The forgotten legion

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.