Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb epic tale of the Fall of Rome, 16 Sep 2005
By A Customer
Fans of Gladiator would love this - and just about anybody else! I devoured it, cant' wait for the next volumes - it tells about the boyhood of Attila the Hun, who I'd heard of but didn't know a lot about - a hostage in the Court of Rome - his escape through war-town Italy and his long-planned vengeance on his mortal enemy, the Roman Empire ... its fantastic, stirring stuff, full of great set-piece battles, marauding Gothic warriors, stern Roman heroes, but it's way better written than most of this type of blockbuster historical fiction, I found it beautiful and moving too. It takes you right back to that world and those tumultuous years of the Fall of Rome and Europe's collapse into the Dark Ages, under the vengeful onslaught of Attila and his terrible Huns - it has all kinds of resonances of the world situation now, but readers will pick those up or skate over them as they choose, I guess; the character of Attila is powerful, hypnotic, terrifying, unforgettable. He is a man of iron will and will stop at nothing to achieve his desires. His boyhood friend, the noble Roman boy Aetius, becomes his greatest enemy in adulthood, and they will each bring their opposing armies to battle to decide the fate of the world. I can't praise this book highly enough, READ IT!
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absolute Corker, and Utterly Convincing , 20 Mar 2007
As sequels go this is as good as they get - the difficult 'middle volume' of the trilogy, like the Two Towers, but an absolute triumph, the tension for the Final Battle cranking up all the time - After a blistering opening when Attila returns to seize the Hun throne, he then rides out and unites the tribes across Scythia (Central Asia) for the final assualt on Rome - terrific stuff, I loved all the interaction between the Hun warriors and their king, especially old Chanat - and Napier's take on these men and the way they see the world is really enthralling, pure historical imagination - there's one bit where Attila APPEARS to have a sudden attack of rather anachronistic chivalry when he saves the life of a young girl, and you think, Hm, not sure about that ... then Napier turns it on its head when Attila growls that the only reason he saved her life was because 'I want good warriors out of that one's womb.' And you think ... yup, that's the way a Dark Age warlord would have thought! As I say, highly convincing, epic in scope and imagination, great, rich characters, and as a galloping story with one furious set piece following on another, as Attila imposes his iron will on the world, a truly compelling narrative. When oh when is Volume Three coming out?!
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good new historical fiction author, 21 Nov 2008
I am a huge fan of historical fiction, and wherever possible read about the major players in history; Caesar, Alexander, Genghis Khan, Hannibal and alike. My favourite authors are usually Cornwell, Iggulden, Scarrow and Manfredi, so when this new author arrived on the scene, writing about one of the greats who I didn't know much about, had to give it a try. I must say, that for only his second book, this was a great effort, read very smoothly if in an all too familiar format with an old wizened man writing down his memories of events. First books in a trilogy, especially about the beginnings of a legend are notoriously difficult to make interesting, as the battles, life and love of the main character usually only happen later in the time-line, however Napier does a good job here. My main criticism is the writing and language sometimes feels all too modern, with modern expressions and sayings but he also uses classic texts, Latin and Greek, so sometimes feels a little confused. I personally would have liked it all to feel more of the times. However that issue aside, I enjoyed this and I am busy tucking in to the second instalment.
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