This is poor but read on...
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I am putting the same review on this book and Scarrow's latest one in the series, "Centurion". Now this one is poor; poorly written, bog-standard charactarisation and ho-hum action scenes, but...
By the time you get to "Centurion" we have an author who has settled into his style, still basic, but eminently readable, with the author's research and expertise in the subject lightly spread amongst the plot and the expansion of the major characters into almost loveable specimens.
So for those of you reading this review in "Under the Eagle" stick with this series, it gets way better.
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Cornwell could only have been bribed for his endorsement of this.
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I can not believe the hype around this novel. I bought this book based on the endorsement of Bernard Cornwell. I am beginning to suspect that he has never actually read it. The writing is poor, and it is filled with modern cliches. The liberal use of modern profanity was especially cringe-worthy. The story itself is mediocre at best, and a trial at worst. The two main characters are uninteresting, unbelieveable and under-developed. It seems as if it was written by a teenage boy for teenage boys, the latter may well be true. On the positive side, this book is so bad and yet so popular, that it almost inspires one to write a book of their own.
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A good start
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This is the first in the series of Simon Scarrow's 'Eagle' books chronicling the lives of Macro and Cato in the service of Rome's legions.
I found the book mostly entertaining and the (all too rare) subject matter to my taste. The author has a broad knowledge of his genre and keeps the action rattling along nicely. It is a great way to pick up a feel of life in the legions through their routines and equipment. That's the positive.
Now the negative. The characters were, for me, a little too cliched and the plots tissue-thin with the kind of pace and goon-ish bad guys usually reserved for video games. The rapid progression of Cato from a pencil-necked weed to a hardened warrior was just plain silly in its speed. Also, the language was too modern for my taste - I like to feel immersed in a historical story, not feel like I am watching a modern adaptation of it. There was the occasional very small historical inaccuracy, but nothing that can't be called artistic licence.
What really peeved me was the idea that Roman Legionaries were supermen able to hack their way through countless hordes of crazed 'natives' as individuals as well as tight formations. The fact is that they were very good soldiers, fought in well drilled units and had a logistical organisation that was centuries ahead of their rivals. You would obviously have the odd killing-machine, especially in veterans, but for the most part one-on-one, in individual combat, they were often at a disadvantage with equipment and training that was not suited, against practised warriors who fought in that very style and focussed on it exclusively from an early age. Mr Scarrow appears to have swallowed Julius Caesar's self-agrandising propaganda without question.
I have read others books in the series and found that these flaws remain, although to a lesser degree, throughout. Simon Scarrow has obviously warmed to his narrative a little more with practice, but without changing the essence of his style. They're a decent read and worth having, but I'm not going to be elbowing any grannies out the way for the latest release on the shelf. These books are fun fiction and should be treated as such, probably aimed at the younger adult audience rather than those who are looking for anything deeper.
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OK but...
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I love historic fiction and find it a great way to appreciate the period without having to read through countless dry academic works. From that point of view I enjoyed the book.
As a light read it works too - simple enough plot, ok characters, ok story, etc. But that's the problem really; it's all just ok.
I think there are two factors in particular I should mention. One I had high hopes and so may be judging the book a bit harshly. Two, the tone of the book seems a bit 'older teen' rather than 'adult.' I mean this in terms of character development and plot in case anyone misunderstands my use of the word 'adult.'
Having gobbled up all of Flashman, Kydd, Sharpe, Hornblower, and Aubrey, the ultimate test is whether I'll read the next of the series. Well, I don't feel any great urge at the moment but I might just give it another go to see if the style improves...
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What's the Latin for "rubbish"?
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I bought this book on the strength of the rave reviews it has received on this site.
Two criminally annoying main characters (a wimpish scholar conscripted into the Roman army at the beginnings of the invasion of Britain, and his illiterate and brutish sergeant) plod through a transparent plot, dispatching enemies left, right, and centre with a few unrealistic swishes of their big, Roman swords.
There is much better historical fiction than this out there, fellas. Much better.
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