John Salter

I so wanted to like this book better than I did but there were obstacles to my **complete** enjoyment. The overarching plot concerned Caratacus/Caradoc and his guerrilla resistance against the Roman invader/occupier. The other co-plots involve Centurion Varro, a scout, and his optio, Grattius; Dumnoc, one of Caradoc's men, wreaking havoc in southern Britannia; and Legionary Valerius, one of the few soldiers surviving the ambush on a road-building detail. After return to camp, he is reassigned to 1st Cohort, from what I gather, the most danger one in which to be. I hope he will figure more strongly in the next installment.

Such an exciting and vivid story [I could see it in my mind's eye] was marred for me by such bad punctuation and run-on sentences. I would often have to stop and reread portions immediately after reading the first time. At first they made no sense; finally I would have to read out loud so I could put in right inflections and pauses. Overuse of "filler words" such as Mmmm, erm, really annoyed me seeing them in print, although I know most of us use them unconsciously. Certain changes in terminology should have been caught: name of the fort Caradoc attacked [Bee Stone/Beeston]; one character's name [Ehus/Ehud]. The author made me care about his characters; this was an achievement. Sometimes dialogue was inane and attempts at humor fell flat for me, but Caradoc's final speech to Varro and the others who have met with him seeking terms of peace, was reasonable and heartfelt. The Governor proves himself duplicitous, undermining the peace delegation, so Caradoc vows to fight on. I didn't feel I missed anything by not reading Book 1 in this series, but I will definitely read the next one. I hope proofing will be improved and possible inconsistencies will be done away with.

Recommended with caveats.… (mehr)