Romanitas

This is a fascinating idea, but I've tried to start it a few times -- I've read the first couple of chapters and shuddered at the abuse of imagery that just clogged it. I read the reviews and saw other people's objections -- weird elements of fantasy, slow pace, etc. I skipped ahead in the book and didn't like what I saw there any better, so I'm taking this back to the library. At least for now: maybe someday soon I'll have time for a long slow build. ( )

This is a fast paced young adult novel set in an alternative universe where the Roman Empire did not fall. A plot in Rome leaves Marcus orphaned and heir to the Emperor but at risk of his life. Two slaves with mysterious powers, one under threat of crucifixion, flee.

It's hard to review this as a standalone, because I've read all three books back to back. But I remember it being very difficult to put the book down. The characters are carefully drawn and convincing, and mostly avoid being lazy steriotypes. There is lots of Action and Adventure. And although it is the first in the triology there is a satisfying ending. ( )

I am a bit of two minds about this one. The setting is utterly fascinating - an alternative history where the Roman Empire never declined and fell but has continued on to the present day. I'm not sure how realistic it is that any empire would last for that long, but it certainly makes for a compelling alternative history concept. Against that background, the plot follows a group of three teenagers - two escaped slaves and the heir to the emperor on the run from assassins - as they try to bring down a conspiracy that originates from somewhere in the inner circle of power in the Empire.

This had me expect something really exciting, but unfortunately the novel fell somewhat short of my expectations - for the most part, I just could not connect to what was happening at all, and as a consequence the novel dragged considerably during its first two thirds. I can not even quite put the finger on what the problem was, but I suspect it was a certain lack of urgency during the travelogue chapters combined with a rather diffuse sense of place, the combination of which is pretty much deadly to any kind of pursuit story. Things do pick up in the last third third of Romanitas, though, once the action moves to Rome where things culminate in what is indeed a very exciting finale.

That I lasted that long at all and kept reading through the drab chapters leading up to the climax, was mainly due to the one element where the novel really shines, and that is characterization. I'd have a hard time to think of another novel that does teenagers so convincingly (and without being a YA novel, too!) and McDougall keeps a wonderful balance between having her characters behave in a reasonable manner and having their emotions or sheer impulse get the better of their reason. It's this aspect that kept me hooked and will likely make me get the remaining volumes of the trilogy as well.

The idea is simple and intriguing: what if the Roman Empire had survived and remained dominant throughout not only Europe, but the rest of the world up to the present day?

This posed lots of questions for me and it was a must read from this point of view. However, the Roman world in Romanitas seems to be a very lightweight veneer on an otherwise fairly run of the mill thriller/espionage tale. Perhaps it was unrealistic to expect that such a world would look anything like the Roman empire of antiquity, but while reading I didn't feel like the book was transporting me to anywhere other than today's world with a few tweaks.

This is a decent story - it's just that it promises more than it delivers. ( )

I could not get into the characters in this one. I read as much as I could, which I admit was not very much. Oh well, an interesting premise, just not the book for me. ( )