04-06-2006, 04:14 AM
Ave!
This is another review found at Amazon.com
"Thorough and fascinating, June 29, 2005
Reviewer: eric (arlington, va United States)
I will agree with a previous review (except for the number of stars, 5 instead of 2): This book covers a fascinating period in British history. "Unfortunately, the prose is dry as toast and the characters -- arguably the most important figures in British history -- remain ciphers."
Now this is what makes this book interesting. Mr Shipway's attention to detail and historical backround accuracy are second-to-none. Simply excellent historical fiction.
It basically describes the difficulty of managing a province during the Roman Empire, and the usual dilemas for the manager (collecting data, assessing options, taking decisions, planning, assigning tasks, etc) are well described. The book could have been a bit more developed (the spying operations are mentioned repeatedly but without details)
If you are looking for romance, story-telling and well developed characters you can empathize with, do not bother. But if you an intelligent reading that shows you how the Roman bureaucracy worked, then this is a good book. (Do not get me wrong, sometimes I like to empathize with characters).
One weakness though regarding navy operations and battle description: No way 5,000 Legionaries can charge 50,000+ Britons and rout them without being encircled. In the real battle, the Legion first withstood the onslaught and then steadily ran down their less armored and less disciplined opponent.
One final word: the main character is human and not a hero, he makes mistakes, learns from them (not always), fights back, wins sometimes (not always). This is like real life, not fantasy.
I will investigate other books by this author."
Vale
M. Spedius Corbulo
This is another review found at Amazon.com
"Thorough and fascinating, June 29, 2005
Reviewer: eric (arlington, va United States)
I will agree with a previous review (except for the number of stars, 5 instead of 2): This book covers a fascinating period in British history. "Unfortunately, the prose is dry as toast and the characters -- arguably the most important figures in British history -- remain ciphers."
Now this is what makes this book interesting. Mr Shipway's attention to detail and historical backround accuracy are second-to-none. Simply excellent historical fiction.
It basically describes the difficulty of managing a province during the Roman Empire, and the usual dilemas for the manager (collecting data, assessing options, taking decisions, planning, assigning tasks, etc) are well described. The book could have been a bit more developed (the spying operations are mentioned repeatedly but without details)
If you are looking for romance, story-telling and well developed characters you can empathize with, do not bother. But if you an intelligent reading that shows you how the Roman bureaucracy worked, then this is a good book. (Do not get me wrong, sometimes I like to empathize with characters).
One weakness though regarding navy operations and battle description: No way 5,000 Legionaries can charge 50,000+ Britons and rout them without being encircled. In the real battle, the Legion first withstood the onslaught and then steadily ran down their less armored and less disciplined opponent.
One final word: the main character is human and not a hero, he makes mistakes, learns from them (not always), fights back, wins sometimes (not always). This is like real life, not fantasy.
I will investigate other books by this author."
Vale
M. Spedius Corbulo
![[Image: spedius-mcmxliii.gif]](http://www.nhmgs.org/images/spedius-mcmxliii.gif)
