Defender of Rome

Nero orders Valerius to find Petrus, the leader of a new sect founded by a Jewish carpenter who had been executed for sedition some 30 years previously.

Exciting with lots of twists and turns though some may feel that the climax of the final fights was a bit too well-timed.

Not as good as the first, but decent.

Definitely lagged in quality over the first, and I wasn’t all that appreciative of the not so subtle ooh gee miracles stuff. I also kind of don’t love that so far, being anything other than heterosexual seems to be a sign of a bad and / or doomed person. But decent and I will continue the series. I enjoy the setting and the historical detail, and there’s enough nuance in all the characters and their fates to keep the cartoons and caricatures mostly at bay.

A good read, but I do prefer my historical intrigue on the Machiavellian level of mischief, not so much a soldier running around hunting xians and trying to protect his sister. I would like to read an account of how Seneca schemed and plotted to gain and retain power in ancient Rome. That would be cool.

And poor Nero. No one ever has a good word to say about this man. So he had a few problems, a few issues, but the guy could throw a great party. As for killing off the aristocracy. Great, thin them out I say. I am thinking of creating a website for Nero, to tell the other side of the story. Any one interested?

But seriously folks, the use of the "week" in the novel. This is the bane of my existence. All ancient fictional stories are show more littered with weeks. The week did not come into common usage until the mid 1st century (ok, the time of this novel I admit), but the eight day market interval was in more widespread use at this time. There should be fewer weeks mentioned and more market days. show less

Very enjoyable story sey in nero's time. The roman military hero from the british uprising Gaius Velerius Verrens is tasked with crushing the christian uprising in rome and delivefing its leader petrus to nero for execution. There is a scene where christians are fed to the lions for enjoyment of the rich. Exciting read and well written.