6.5/10This had the feeling of a surprise party where the guest of honour fails to turn up. Fair play to Julius Caesar, he had an excuse to not be there with him being stabbed by the “Liberators” at the end of book 4 so it was obvious he would be missing but the story certainly lacked something for this.The story revolves around the days and years after the assassination of Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony and Octavian/Augustus taking it upon themselves to hunt down and kill all those involved with the plot that occurred on the Ides of March. There is quite a bit of politics at play here and nobody trusts anyone which is probably wise with back stabbing (literal and metaphorical) rife in this period. Things that annoyed me in this book were the fact that some of the main characters in this book were new to me and the series so there was no affinity to them, whereas Augustus took a bit of a back seat which I found odd with him being a rival to Caesar’s legacy with all he did down the line so there could have been plenty of opportunity to flesh his character further. I also found it struggled through certain parts of the book and then rushed some of the bigger battle scenes, such as Philippi which was only a small page count at the end considering the size of the battle.I read somewhere that Conn Iggulden had an obligation to his publishers to print 10 books (I think 10, could be more/less) and he wanted to write his new series about the War of the Roses but that was to be for his new publishing house. It felt like this was a book more to fulfil a commitment but this could just be something my brain was telling me after hearing that story. It was definitely the weakest book in the series and not necessary to read to complete the series. Whilst it does tie up loose endings it also did lead to more open threads, such as Mark Anthony vs Augustus. I guess you could always go to Shakespeare if you wanted something more, I’ve heard his version is good on those boys scuffling.If you enjoyed this try: “Roman Blood” by Steven Saylor Conn Iggulden's cavalier approach to historical fact in the first four books of the series catches up with him here. Having anachronistically made Octavian one of Caesar's commanders during the subjugation of Gaul, he has to wind time backwards here and make him 20 in the aftermath of Caesar's assassination 15 years later. The real Octavian was a toddler during the Gallic wars, and so Iggulden has painted himself into a corner.The novel itself suffers from the absence of Caesar from the stage. Octavian is simply not as interesting, and the complex--if again anachronistic--Brutus is too rarely on stage. As ever, though, Iggulden excels in the battle scenes, and although we know the outcome of the Battle of Philippi, the depiction of the conflict is electric.I'll be interested to read his "Conqueror" novels, where my knowledge is so scanty that I am less likely to be distracted by historical inaccuracy.
Do You like book Emperor: The Blood Of Gods (2013)?
Outstanding stuff as usual from one of the best historical fiction authors out there.
—Gaorie
Great book. Easy reading, good storyline, great characters.
—musiclover101
Really enjoyed it, thought it was a great read.
—harshu
