The Death of Kings (Emperor, Book 2) | Conn Iggulden

The Death of Kings (Emperor, Book 2) | Conn Iggulden | A sequel thats better than the original!

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The Death of Kings...

	The Death of Kings (Emperor, Book 2) Conn Iggulden Dell, 2005 - 560 pages average customer review:based on 39 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Great Book.

I am an avid ancient historian, and although there are errors in this book I still think it is a fantastic book that I could not put down. The author keeps you in constant interest and switches between different viewpoints, which I love. The characters are interesting and there is the constant irony of Marcus Brutus. Although at some points I did get annoyed due to the mistakes, but apart from that I would say this has to be one of the best books I have read. I would thoroughly recommend this book and the series.
P.s. The author is intelligent enough to recognise the historical mistakes himself, which I think shows that the book truly is a historical fiction, rather than a history book, or a fiction book, a combination of the both.

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A sequel thats better than the original!

There is a fine line between being historically accurate and writing an entertaining story. The line varies from person to person, but I think Conn Iggulden and myself are seeing the same line.

The Death of Kings is the second of a four part series about Julius Ceasar life. Just like the first book, I read this in a day. Obviously once again, I couldnt put it down. I not a fast reader by any means, so I made time and lost sleep to finish this book.

Amazing, outstanding, engaging, these are just some ways to describe this book and this series. This is just a well written book that without a doubt the author, Iggulden, put time into.

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A Great Historical Novel

I say novel because it is precisely that. A wonderfully detailed and fairly accurate portrayal of ancient Rome. True, Iggulden takes liberties with many facts (or creates some fiction) but the book overall is a page turner that is hard to put down. I am an avid student of ancient history and truly enjoyed this book as a story set in my favorite period of time. It is in the style of Pressfield's "Gates of Fire" or "Tides of War", but a bit more gritty and realistic considering the time. I have recommended this book to many friends and all have reported that it was so good they bought the series.

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amazing book

i think this book was amazing and unlike most books and movies it makes the first book look boring, i would just like to say that if you like novels involving ancient rome, you must pick this up. this book has been ranked as my second favorite so far that i have read and that has only been topped by harry potter and the order of the pheonix. to compare the books is not fair for difference in genre, but i would say that this book and series is comparable to the harry potter series in my opinion.
i love this book

Ahistorical Historical Fiction . . . but a Fun Read

I was not a huge fan of Conn Iggulden's, "The Gates of Rome," his first novel in his planned four-volume "Emperor" series, in which he fictionalizes the life and times of Julius Caesar. He took enormous historical liberties with his tale, and his conceit of keeping the identities of his protagonists (Julius Caesar and his friend-turned-assassin Brutus) secret didn't really work.

Iggulden's second novel in the "Emperor" series, "The Death of Kings," is a much more enjoyable read. Caesar and Brutus are now young men soldiering for Rome, and Iggulden has a knack for writing battle scenes and depicting the soldier's life. Not as poetic as Steven Pressfield, nor quite as violent as Bernard Cornwell, Iggulden is nevertheless capable of spinning a riveting tale. From his opening scene of a night raid on a rebellious Greek city to the climactic battle against Spartacus, Iggulden throws the reader pell-mell into the chaos of battle.

Iggulden also has a command of the realities of daily life in the Roman world. It's refreshing to see history's great figures dealing with the frustrations and agonies of the real world just as we all do -- from pulled muscles to tormenting flies to the pangs of a romance that isn't working. All too often, authors make their protagonists super-human, and Iggulden enjoyably refuses to play this game. Further, without going overboard on the historical details, Iggulden reminds the reader that we are reading about a world centuries gone, but it was nevertheless a civilized world with its own craft and technology.

The novel also gains as Iggulden reduces the elements of mysticism from the first novel. In Book One, Iggulden introduced the entirely fictional (at least as far as I know) healer/mystic Cabera, and his magical powers were out-of-place in Caesar's story. While Cabera is back for Book 2, he generally seems to be more of a man of wisdom and learning than of magic, and that generally helps the novel.

You cannot read Iggulden's works as a fictionalized-yet-historically-accurate account of Caesar's life. Sure, some of the major points are there, such as Caesar's capture by and eventual destruction of the pirates (one of the most enjoyable sections of the book). But, as Iggulden acknowledges in his author's note, he made several major departures from the historical record. Sulla was not murdered by Caesar's friend, Caesar did not slay Mithridates, and there is no evidence that Caesar ever met Spartacus. But these deviations are not a weakness -- Iggulden is trying to tell a rollicking story of the ancient world, and for the most part he succeeds, and succeeds very well.

Not as epic as Colleen McCullouch's "Masters of Rome" series, Iggulden's "Emperor" series is nevertheless shaping up as a thrilling, enjoyable spin through the fall of the Roman Republic and the rise of one of history's titanic figures. Here's looking forward to book 3!

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, page 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

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