Tagged: colleen mccullough
Fortune’s Favorites by Colleen McCullough
(Cover picture courtesy of Avon Romance.)
In a time of cataclysmic upheaval, a bold new generation of Romans vied for greatness amid the disintegrating remnants of their beloved Republic. They were the chosen…and the cursed—blessed with wealth and privileged yet burdened by the dictates of destiny in a savage struggle for power that would leave countless numbers crushed and destroyed. But there was one who would tower above them all—a brilliant and beautiful boy whose ambition was unparalleled, whose love was legend, and whose glory was Rome’s: a boy they would one day call “Caesar.”
While Sulla features heavily in the first part of Fortune’s Favorites, make no mistake: this is the story of Gaius Julius Caesar and his brutal early years. You know, Colleen McCullough’s portrayal of Caesar is the most sympathetic I’ve ever come across and yet he really does some horrible things. He crucifies all those pirates (but broke all their legs except the leader so they’d die quicker) and was utterly ruthless in Spartacus’ revolt as he served under Marcus Crassus. At the same time I had difficulty not shedding at least a few tears at his pure grief when his aunt Julia and his wife Cinnilla died.
Sulla is fully developed as a character now; his story is clearly done by the time he gives a gigantic middle finger to Rome at the time of his retirement. That’s when we really get into the Julius Caesar chronicles and things start to get a little more hopeful. Sulla was always such a ruthless guy but out of all the characters you couldn’t help but cheer for him once Gaius Marius went crazy. It was sad to see him go downhill over such a long period of time.
So it was a nice break to see Caesar finally start to succeed in life. His bargaining with Nicomedes of Bithynia for a navy, the sheer gall he had in facing the pirates when he was captured and his strategies during the Third Servile War all seemed so satisfying, so realistic because Colleen McCullough really put a lot of effort into his character. There are so many ways a sympathetic portrayal of Julius Caesar can go wrong (mainly the fact that hey, he did some pretty awful things) but in Fortune’s Favorites you can’t help but love him. Even his ruthless streak.
As I mentioned in my review of The Grass Crown, Colleen McCullough has a ridiculously addictive writing style. This book is 1004 pages long and I read it over the course of just four days, sneaking in a few minutes here and there. Considering how busy I’ve been lately that’s quite an achievement and a testament to how much I really enjoy her writing. She makes you really feel like you’re there in the ancient world along with all these historical figures you’ve read about for years. (In my case, anyway.)
Really, if you haven’t picked up Colleen McCullough’s Masters of Rome series, you need to start now. The crazy page counts are worth it.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
The Grass Crown by Colleen McCullough
(Cover picture courtesy of The Incurable Bluestocking.)
Throughout the Western world, great kingdoms have fallen and despots lay crushed beneath the heels of Rome’s advancing legions. But now internal rebellion threatens the stability of the mighty Republic. An aging, ailing Gaius Marius, heralded conqueror of Germany and Numidia, longs for that which was prophesied many years before: an unprecedented seventh consulship of Rome. It is a prize to be won only through treachery and with blood, pitting Marius against a new generation of assassins, power-seekers and Senate intriguers—and setting him at odds with the ambitious, tormented Lucius Cornelius Sulla, once Marius’s most trusted right-hand man, now his most dangerous rival.
It goes without saying that we get to see things from the POVs of our old favourite characters Marius and Sulla but I for one welcomed the introduction of other characters. Livia Drusa was a fantastic female character and her situation really gave me more insight into the plight of aristocratic women in Rome. And of course who can forget the precocious young Gaius Julius Caesar, who is feared by Marius because of old Martha’s prophecy that he would surpass his uncle? As with how it actually happened, Marius’s declining health and mental state led to Sulla’s meteoric rise up the ranks of the Roman hierarchy. The way Colleen McCullough chose to tell the story was very telling: Marius, whose star is fading, receives very little page time while Sulla takes the main stage.
While I can see where this new expanded set of characters might confuse some readers, if you’ve read The First Man in Rome you’ll have no trouble following the many intrigues of The Grass Crown. The Social War is sort of the main war in this book and it’s certainly not simplistic. What fascinated me the most was the different approaches the many Senators took to the war and how they proposed to stop the Italian rebellion and discourage future rebellions. Pompey Strabo Carnifex, true to his name (‘Pompey Cross-Eyed Butcher’ in English) was a truly horrible character that demonstrated the worst the patrician class had to offer. There are just so many different, complex characters that if I start on them now this review will turn into an essay.
In essence the characters drive the story, whether they’re Roman or not since we get to see things from all points of view. The plot is not fast-paced by any stretch of the imagination and yet Colleen McCullough’s writing is just too good to put down. She truly cares about historical accuracy and her writing immerses you in the cutthroat world of ancient Rome. From the halls of the Senate to the blood-soaked streets of Rome all the way to the far east of the empire, you’ll feel like you’re really there with the characters watching the events play out. And that, my friends, is a special talent very few writers possess.
With the end being such a cliffhanger I had no choice but to dive straight into the next book, Fortune’s Favorites. Truly, Colleen McCullough has an addictive writing style.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Books I Want to Read
I have an enormous To Be Read pile, both in a physical sense and in a more technology-based sense. But here are some books that I just know I won’t be able to resist the call of:
I absolutely loved Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers and I can’t wait to get my hands on the sequel. Seeing things from another person’s point of view in the same world will be fascinating, especially with all of the politics going on behind the scenes. I’ll miss Ismae, but seeing more of Sybelle will be awesome. It’s also nice to see things from a completely different perspective sometimes and I think Sybelle will have a very different worldview than Ismae. She’s had different life experiences and I think she’ll add a lot more to Robin LaFevers world-building because we’ll be able to see more of the political machinations that are more implied with Ismae’s point of view.
After reading and thoroughly enjoying Prince of Thorns, I need to read King of Thorns immediately. With my current schedule I won’t be able to, but I can’t wait to dive into Jorg’s world once more. Will Jorg become ‘good’ or will he continue on his awesomely ruthless path, defying traditional YA sensibilities of what good and evil are.
Firelight, a novel of the descendants of dragons, draki, was a surprisingly good read. With Jacinda in the situation she’s in now (spoilers!), returning to the Pride I’m hoping Sophie Jordan won’t do the love triangle trope. If she doesn’t, I will be ridiculously happy because it will allow Jacinda to grow out of the whole forbidden love trope.
The First Man in Rome, the first book in Colleen McCullough’s classic Masters of Rome series was a long read, but it was so good. It’s nice to be able to curl up with a long book that you need to actually engage your brain to enjoy. That’s why I’m definitely going to continue the series with the next book that chronicles Sulla’s rise. The only problem is finding the time to read the 1000+ page book.
Well, those are some of the books I really, really want to read. But now I want to know: what do you guys want to read? What’s stopping you from reading them? (Unless they’re not out, of course!) See any books on my list that you’d like to read?
The First Man in Rome by Colleen McCullough
(Cover picture courtesy of Avon Romance.)
When the world cowered before the legions of Rome, two extraordinary men dreamed of personal glory: the military genius and wealthy rural “upstart” Marius, and Sulla, penniless and debauched but of aristocratic birth. Men of exceptional vision, courage, cunning, and ruthless ambition, separately they faced the insurmountable opposition of powerful, vindictive foes. Yet allied they could answer the treachery of rivals, lovers, enemy generals, and senatorial vipers with intricate and merciless machinations of their own—to achieve in the end a bloody and splendid foretold destiny…and win the most coveted honor the Republic could bestow.
After reading so many Young Adult books of late, reading something as heavy as The First Man in Rome was a refreshing challenge. Trust me, even if you know your Roman history well, this is a book that you should not read when you’re tired. You will forget all of the plot points.
I first fell in love with Colleen McCullough’s writing after reading The Song of Troy because her portrayals of historical characters were amazing. She made it feel that not only was I alongside these famous people, but that I truly understood them. Well, she does the exact same thing in The First Man in Rome. From Marius’ brilliant leadership in the battlefield to his dismal political career, I really feel like I know the legend as a man. We see the soft side of him when it comes to Julia, his more ruthless streak at the end of the novel and his never-ending ambition to become the First Man in Republican Rome. He’s a larger-than-life character and yet he seems extremely accessible. Contrast that to the brilliant, but debauched young patrician Sulla who develops the ruthless streak he was known for later in life. These two have an unlikely friendship, but it’s one that I absolutely love because it shows that not everything is in black and white.
If you don’t know much about Roman history, I can see where you would get confused by The First Man in Rome. Thankfully, Colleen McCullough includes a well over 200 page index that tells you everything from the English translations of Latin curses (very creative!) to the history behind many of the events characters refer to. But if you’re like me and have someone like Mike Duncan to thank for your knowledge of ancient Rome, you’ll just breeze through The First Man in Rome. In terms of historical accuracy, I can’t pick away at it. Everything is well researched and McCullough does an excellent job of defending her hypotheses in places where there are gaps in the historical record.
I wouldn’t call this a fast-paced book, but it’s not meant to be either. It’s meant to be a sprawling novel in order to draw you in to the cutthroat world of Roman politics and to explore the lives of the main players. The strange thing about Colleen McCullough’s books is that they have this sort of grand, epic feel to them that I can’t quite explain. It’s like you know they’re on par with classic novels, but there’s no sense that McCullough was trying really hard for that ‘classic novel’ status. Her books feel like epic novels in an effortless sort of way and that’s really part of the attraction of her writing: it’s larger-than-life, yet accessible to most readers. That’s why, despite the intimidating length and amount of time I need to spend on them, I’ll certainly be continuing her Masters of Rome series.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Spotlight: The Song of Troy by Colleen McCullough
Spotlight is my Saturday feature in which I highlight a book I am either really looking forward to or really enjoyed. This time I’m highlighting a book I really enjoyed: The Song of Troy by Colleen McCullough.
In The Song of Troy, the bestselling author of The Thorn Birds recounts the tale of Helen and Paris, the immortal lovers who doomed two great nations to a terrible war. It is told through the eyes of its main characters: the sensuous and self-indulgent Helen; the subtle and brilliant Odysseus; the sad old man Priam, King of Troy; the tormented warrior prince, Achilles; and Agamemnon, King of Kings, who consents to the unspeakable in order to launch his thousand ships. This is an unputdownable tale of love, ambition, delusion, honour and consuming passion.
It’s hard to pick a favourite character out of the entire book because Colleen McCullough has made each unique and interesting. Not all portrayals are necessarily the most flattering (see: Helen herself), but the way the story is told they feel more realistic. There are no divine interventions, only people fighting a vicious, bloody war for reasons of their own.
Although newcomers to the legend of Troy would be able to understand things perfectly, The Song of Troy is more of a refreshing change for people who have read at least one different interpretation or even the original. Having read at least one other interpretation allows you to truly appreciate the monumental effort Colleen McCullough put into her novel to make legendary figures more human. Being human, they are wonderfully, fatally flawed as well.
Even if you don’t like historical fiction in general, I would definitely recommend The Song of Troy.