Category: Historical Fiction
Emperor: The Field of Swords by Conn Iggulden
(Cover picture courtesy of GetGlue.)
For Julius Caesar, the time has come to enter the political battleground that has become Rome. Having proved his valor in the slaves’ revolt, Caesar is strengthened by the love of a beautiful older woman—and by the sword of his loyal friend Marcus Brutus. But it is Caesar’s next move that will change history. With an army made in his own image, Caesar begins a daring charge through Gaul, across the English Channel, and to the wilds of tribal Britain.
Here, in a series of cataclysmic clashes, the legend of Julius Caesar will be forged. And while Caesar and Brutus battle the armies of the wilderness, their political adversaries in Rome grow ever more powerful. For when the fighting is over, the greatest danger to Julius Caesar will await him on the Tiber—with a man who wants Rome himself.
The Field of Swords is truly riveting historical fiction of the first order and Conn Iggulden managed to write it without changing history around as much. Surprisingly, the third book in his Emperor series is my favourite out of all four because it is by far the most exciting in terms of plot and character development. It covers the most famous part of Caesar’s life: the Gallic Wars.
War is one of my favourite parts of historical fiction because of all the details of ancient warfare fascinate me. History textbooks do not even begin to cover how physically, mentally and emotionally draining it was on the men and those who had to lead them. Warfare was not a glorious event and Iggulden perfectly hammers this point home.
I absolutely love the character development in this book. Caesar becomes more independent as all of his old tutors and friends die off, leaving him with Brutus as his only friend. How could his only friend orchestrate Caesar’s death? Well, there is a very telling scene near the end of the book when Caesar suffers from an epileptic fit and is unable to lead his men in battle. Brutus dons Caesar’s armour and leads his men into battle.
“You led them?” Julius said. Though his voice was strengthening, he still seemed confused.
“No Julius. They followed you.”
Thus the seeds of jealousy were planted in Brutus’ heart.
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.
Emperor: The Death of Kings by Conn Iggulden
(Cover picture courtesy of Barnes and Noble.)
In a sparsely settled region of North Africa, a band of disheveled soldiers turn their eyes toward one man among them: their leader, Julius Caesar. The soldiers are Roman legionaries. And their quarry is a band of pirates who dared to kidnap Julius Caesar for ransom. Now, as Caesar exacts his revenge and builds a legend far from Rome, his friend Marcus Brutus is fighting battles of another sort, rising to power in the wake of the assassination of a dictator. Once, Brutus and Caesar were as close as brothers, devoted to the same ideals and attracted to the same forbidden woman. Now they will be united again by a shock wave from the north, where a gladiator named Spartacus is building an army of seventy thousand slaves—to fight a cataclysmic battle against Rome itself.
In The Death of Kings, Conn Iggulden has managed to simultaneously thrill and annoy me. He thrills me with his wonderful writing, the characters he brings to life and his fast-paced plot, yet he manages to annoy me in his usual fashion when he changes major historical events to suit his narrative. But before I start ranting, let me list the many reasons to read this novel.
It is mostly historically accurate and Iggulden excels in bringing near-mythical figures like Caesar, Sulla, Marius, Pompey and Cato the Younger to life. In their own time they were the leading men of Rome, but they had not achieved the legendary status they have today. Iggulden takes that into account as he develops these characters that are not much different than you or I. They love, lust, fight, cry, rejoice and, most importantly, have doubts about their abilities or if they are fighting for a worthy cause. One of my favourite characters (aside from Caesar himself) is Marius because he had always been a larger than life figure in my mind before Iggulden made him more human.
The Death of Kings is definitely more fast-paced than the first book because Caesar is grown up, more involved in politics and plays an active part in many battles that were going on at the time. There’s also an interesting subplot featuring Cornelia (his first wife) and Sulla that Iggulden uses to kill off the Dictator. We also see more of Brutus, who is a very strong, but fatally flawed character. These two subplots do not take away from all of the action and instead are used to bring the plot forward, which is why I love them.
But, as regular readers will know, Conn Iggulden annoys me because he sees fit to mess with history. He kills off Sulla and Cato, both of whom died many years after the events of The Death of Kings. In Iggulden’s novel, Sulla is poisoned when in fact he died of old age after retiring from the office of Dictator. Cato publicly commits suicide to avoid execution just before Pompey and Caesar go to put down Spartacus’s rebellion. Cato really did commit suicide, but it was not until after the battle of Pharsalus when Caesar finally defeated Pompey after a bitter civil war. In my opinion, killing off Cato so early denied us a look at the dour senator who was always a thorn in Caesar’s side.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
Conqueror by Conn Iggulden
(Cover picture courtesy of Iceberg Ink.)
A warrior who would rule a fifth of the world with strength and wisdom.
A scholar who conquered an empire larger than those of Alexander or Caesar.
A brother who betrayed his own to protect a nation.
From a wise scholar to one of history’s most powerful warriors, Conqueror tells the story of Kublai Khan—an extraordinary man who should be remembered alongside Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great and Napoleon Bonaparte as one of the greatest leaders the world has ever known.
It should have been a golden age, with an empire to dwarf the lands of the mighty Genghis Khan. Instead, the vast Mongol nation is slowly losing ground, swallowed whole by their most ancient enemy. A new generation has arisen, yet the long shadow of the Great Khan still hangs over them all.
Kublai dreams of an empire stretching from sea to sea. But to build it, the new khan must first learn the art of war. He must take his nation’s warriors to the ends of the known world. And when he is weary, when he is wounded, he must face his own brothers in a bloody civil war.
Conn Iggulden’s latest book chronicles the life of Kublai Khan, son of Tolui, grandson of Genghis Khan. To anyone who has read the Genghis series, Conqueror is a great addition to the story of the Mongol nation. If you have not yet read the Genghis series, I would recommend you read it first to get a richer background, but reading Iggulden’s previous books is not a pre-requisite.
Conqueror paints a vivid picture of Mongol life post-Genghis and Iggulden masterfully brings almost legendary characters to life. As with all of his novels, he inserts many details from everyday life, which makes the story more authentic-feeling. He masterfully puts believable motivations behind all of his historical figures, which is the part of his writing that I love best.
The one thing I do not like about Iggulden’s writing is the fact that he constantly screws with history. This is a pet peeve of mine and is perhaps just a product of my meticulous personality, but it is still annoying. Then again, one must take into account that he is not writing for historians or people like me—he is writing for the mass market, which he excels at. The way he writes makes reading one of his novels an almost cinematic experience and he makes history accessible to the ordinary person. I’m actually surprised that none of his novels have been snapped up by ambitious Hollywood directors. (If any directors or screenwriters are reading this, I think you may have a blockbuster here!)
I give this book 4/5 stars.
Scroll of Saqqara by Pauline Gedge
(Cover picture courtesy of Pauline Gedge’s website.)
Prince Khaemwaset is a powerful man. The son of Ramses II and a revered physician, he is respected for his wisdom throughout Egypt. But Khaemwaset harbours a strong and secret desire—to find the mysterious Scroll of Thoth and receive the power to raise the dead.
When Khaemwaset hears of the discovery of a hidden tomb on the plain of Saqqara, he is quick to break its seal and take its secrets—secrets that he soon learns he should never have disturbed.
Richly detailed with the exotic realities of Ancient Egypt, Scroll of Saqqara is a compelling tale of power, lust, and obsession.
Scroll of Saqqara is one of the few novels that has truly managed to surprise me. I thought it was going to be another slow-paced novel that chronicles the life of a famous ancient Egyptian, but I was very, very wrong. Scroll of Saqqara is a relatively fast-paced novel that chronicles the life of a virtually unknown (and fairly unimportant) son of Ramses the Great.
It starts out with Khaemwaset inspecting a tomb that he has ordered opened. The strange thing is that he himself has been digging in the sacred hills of Saqqara—a resting place for the dead that was already ancient in his time—looking for the Scroll of Thoth. It is Khaemwaset’s obsession with finding this legendary scroll that will bring a curse on him and his family.
Scroll of Saqqara is an historical fiction novel, but it could also be categorized as a horror novel because of the tense undercurrent running throughout it (especially in the last 200 pages). Pauline Gedge brings all of her characters to life, especially Ramses, who makes a brief, but memorable appearance. Each character is very well developed and readers will understand them, if not completely sympathize with them. Because of its sexual content, I would recommend Scroll of Saqqara for older teens and adults.
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.
The Twelfth Transforming by Pauline Gedge
(Cover picture courtesy of Teen Ink.)
Akhenaten…the powerful, the pious, the infamous. Raised in the heat of the palace harem, mated to his beautiful, dangerous cousin Nefertiti, the young Pharaoh soon turned his passion heavenward. His love of the sun god Ra seared his being and consumed his worldly attentions. As Akhenaten’s rule soared to its finale, ancient Egypt teetered on the edge of a cataclysm, and his family’s curse became an empire’s downfall.
Pauline Gedge is one of the best writers of historical fiction set in ancient Egypt and The Twelfth Transforming proves it.
Set in the (in)famous 18th Dynasty of Egypt, this novel chronicles the entirety of the heretic pharaoh Akhenaten’s reign through the eyes of his domineering mother, Queen Tiye. Tiye is a ruthless woman by virtue of being Great Royal Wife to pharaoh Amunhotep III (Akhenaten’s father), and as such, is not always a sympathetic narrator. But she is so three dimensional that she commands your attention and you miss her forceful personality near the end of the novel when she dies.
Pauline Gedge paints a vivid picture of the 18th Dynasty and fills her novel with authentic historical details. Most of the events in the novel are correct, however there are gaps in history that she fills with the most salacious and dramatic explanations. But readers also have to keep in mind that The Twelfth Transforming was written in 1984 and reflects the information she had available at the time. If you do not mind tiny historical inaccuracies (most of which are only noticeable to fanatics like myself), then this is certainly the novel for you.
I give this book 4/5 stars.