‘Fire and Sword’ is a powerful addition to the epic ‘Throne of the Caesars’ series. The Year of the Six Emperors continues in bloody and back stabbing style, covering three months of battle, both in the field and the senate. Roman versus Roman sees power changing sides frequently, it’s not a good year to be an emperor. The maps, glossary and list of characters are welcome additions and I read them all to settle myself back in, before embarking on this dramatic tale. Harry Sidebottom excels in bringing a human side to each of the characters, these men and women display both admirable and repulsive traits, sometimes at the same time. Allowing such a varied cast access to this tale, ensures it feels personal, almost touchable, from the plebs who live in the moment, through to those who scrabble and scheme for ultimate power. The story builds layer by fascinating layer ensuring ‘Fire and Sword’ is an impressively compelling and convincing tale.
‘Absorbing and brilliant … Game of Thrones without the dragons’ THE TIMES The third book in Sidebottom’s epic series set in third century Rome; a dramatic era of murder, coup, counter-rebellions and civil war. Rome AD238. The Year of the Six Emperors. The empire is in turmoil. With the Gordiani, father and son, dead in Africa, the tyrant Maximinus Thrax vies to reclaim the throne. The Senate, who supported the revolt of the Gordiani, must act quickly to avoid the vengeance of Maximinus. They elect two Senators to share the imperial purple. But fighting erupts in the streets as ambitious men call for violent revolution. Can the new Augusti hold the city together as the empire’s farthest territories fight off bloody attacks from the Goths and the Persians in the east? In the north of Italy, Maximinus descends on Aquileia. Against the odds, Menophilus, an old friend of the younger Gordian, prepares to defend the town. In one of the greatest sieges of the empire, its fate will be decided in a fight for victory, for revenge, for Rome. Filled with intrigue, betrayal and bloody battle, Fire & Sword creates a magnificent world built on brutality and political games, where no one is safe from retribution – not even those who dare to rule.
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