That damned Alexander

[pjthompson]

Random quote of the day:

"There it was: Alexander again. I wished the little Macedonian bastard was alive so I could kill him all over again. Just one such maniac in all of history and he inspired fools forever after. Well, Macedonia is part of the Roman Empire now, which ought to teach people something."

—John Maddox Roberts, Nobody Loves A Centurion


I like these books by Roberts, set in Ancient Rome. They aren't masterworks, aren't as beautifully written as Steven Saylor's books, but they're fun. The narrator, Decius, is funny and sarcastic and cynical, and Roberts doesn't spoil it by making him into a Man Out of Time conforming to 21st century ideals. He's a Roman from a good family (though something of a black sheep), loves being Roman and Roman civilization. The amusing subtext in these books, I think, is that Roberts gives these blustering, swaggering Romans an American feel, bringing "modern thinking" to the ancient, sophisticated civilizations they've conquered.

Comments

[handworn.livejournal.com]

Nice. Those books do sound good. Better than the Lindsay Davis ones, and perhaps as good as Barbara Hambly's sole Roman entry, The Quirinal Hill Affair.

I'll have to pick one up when I'm at the library next.

[pjthompson]

An entertaining read. I can really recommend the Steven Saylor books.

Gillian Bradshaw

[thursdayhaiku.livejournal.com]

Have you read any of Gillian Bradshaw's books?
The Bearkeeper's Daughter is an especially good one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gillian_Bradshaw

Re: Gillian Bradshaw

[(Anonymous)]

I haven't read her but I LOVED Rosemary Sutcliffe, mentiond in that wiki article. I'll have to check her out. (I highly recommend Sutcliff. She follows one family through many centuries through Roman Britain and beyond. The first book is Eagle of the Ninth.)

Re: Gillian Bradshaw

[pjthompson]

And, of course, Ms. Anonymous was me. :*)