Soldier of Rome: The Legionary: A novel of the Twentieth Legion during the campaigns of...

Soldier of Rome: The Legionary: A novel of the Twentieth Legion during the campaigns of Germanicus Caesar | James Mace | Awesome Book

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Soldier of Rome: T...

	Soldier of Rome: The Legionary: A novel of the Twentieth Legion during the campaigns of Germanicus Caesar James Mace iUniverse, Inc., 2006 - 308 pages average customer review:based on 24 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Soldier of Rome - First Book

Really a very satisfying read. I loved the detailed pciture of legionary life, their weapons, lifestyle, how they moved the legions about, their style of fighting, their training--everything. This is not usually the type of book I would read, but I enjoyed it very much. (Yes, I noted a few errors in editing--didn't bother me a bit!)

The author's sympathies are certainly with the legions, but he is able to show the Germani point of view, too, and how heroic their resistance really was. The battle scenes are exceptionally vivid. This is the first of several books following the career of Artorius the Leginary, and I look forward to the next ones coming out.

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Awesome Book

I loved the book. It is a very smooth read and it keeps your interest throughout.

Germanicus' Blitzkrieg

I was fascinated by the Teotoburgerwald disaster and Arrminius since I read about this as a footnote on an ancient history book in Grade School. Since then I try to read every information I can about this campaign and the retaliation campaign that Germanicus undertook in order to punish the Germans. For me the book was fine, straightforward tale of the campaign with some memorable characters especially the Centurion Master at Arms that trains the hero and fights a duel with a gladiator at the end of the book. Will like if it introduced more palatial intrigue such as the reasons Tiberius had to pull the plug on Germanicus campaign. Some say this was pure jealousy as Germanicus was getting popular and could become a rival emperor, making Tiberius recall him before his victories became too well known. As a purely escapist soldier of Rome tale I found it fine, could improve the editing and the characterization, the history was fine, not many licences, the story was straightforward with not many surprises. Need to add more texture to the tapestry to make it a trully compelling book but as a first atempt I really like it and will like to keep reading more books on the Roman legios by this author.

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Fast-paced, edge of the blade adventure

I've just finished the first book in James Mace's "Soldier of Rome" series, "The Legionary", a story of the 9 AD defeat of Varus' Roman legions at Teutoburg Forest in Germany and its aftermath. It's a measure of my response that I immediately ordered the sequel, "The Sacrovir Revolt". As a lead-in, the author has neatly fitted a plausible reason for Julius Sacrovir to detest the Romans in at the end of the first book.

I was impressed. "The Legionary" is well written and has a real immediacy about it; the scenes in Germania and the Teutoburg Forest are particularly compelling. As a reader you feel as if you are right there and involved with all the characters, both Roman and German. We are following the Roman army, but it's not a case of black-and-white; no quarter is given from either side.

The details of the soldiers' training and battle techniques are interesting, and well-meshed into the story, so that you don't get the impression that you are at an ancient military studies lecture.

The main character, Artorius, has potential. He's motivated by revenge, and has some barely-repressed-anger management issues to sort out, but has enough self-awareness to understand that himself. He's still very young in this story, so I'll be curious to see how he develops as the series progresses and he gets older.

I don't like to nag, as the author is well aware of the problem and working on it, but I did find the spelling and editing errors a bit distracting, and at times my fingers itched for a red pen.

That said, great stuff! I'm looking forward to the next installment.

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Fan of the genre

As a recent fan of the historical novel (ancient) genre I give Mr. Mace's work, The Legionary, three out of five stars. I would not put the book in the same league as Pressfield or Ford but would rank it favorably with Scarrow and his series on the same topic. In fact, in some ways I prefer Mr. Mace's work to Scarrows though both are enjoyable to me.

I enjoyed the attention to detail and the small unit emphasis that runs through the book. I've interacted a bit with Mr. Mace and see he has done his homework.

The interaction between Artorious and his squad strikes me as authentic and reflective of the small unit friendships, rivalries, and competitions found among soldiers from all time periods. I would also agree with the other reviewer who mentioned that Artorious is not a super hero catapulted into leadership after only a year in the Legion.

I also found the culture clash between Rome and Germania very interesting as these same type of barbarians would in fact succeed centuries later in bringing about Rome's downfall. The Battle in the Wald and it's aftermath is but a prediction of things to come.

I found it to be a enjoyable read which is what I'm after. I think for a first time out Mr. Mace as done rather well and I've ordered the sequel.

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reviews: 1, page 2, 3, 4, 5

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