Empire of Dragons
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More About the Author
Product Description
Daily Echo
'Fast moving, epic tale of the meeting of two civilisations'
Product Description
A sensational new action-packed adventure from the bestselling author of the 'Alexander' trilogy and The Last Legion
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Few authors can be better equipped to write about the history of ancient Greece and Rome than Valerio Massimo Manfredi. Professor of archaeology at the university of Milan, he has carried out many excavations and expeditions in the Mediterranean region. He has produced many factual books on historical matters, mainly military and has still found the time to write several novels and this is one of the best yet.
This book has a storyline that must surely be unique. It begins with the personal bodyguard of the Roman Emperor Publius Licinius Valerianus and their commander caught in a trap after Valerianus had agreed to meet his adversary, to negotiate peace and save the city of Edessa. However Marcus Metellus Aquila, legate of the Second Augusta Legion and his men manage to break free and find shelter at an oasis, where they meet a mysterious exiled prince. With nothing left for them, the Romans agree to become the prince's private militia and volunteer to guide him back to his homeland, China.
While they are there they see things that no other European has ever seen. They see cruelty, violence, but on the other side they see men of great intelligence and tolerance and beautiful women, unlike any of the women in Rome. But everything is at stake, even the very survival of the world's two greatest empires . . .
This book has a storyline that must surely be unique. It begins with the personal bodyguard of the Roman Emperor Publius Licinius Valerianus and their commander caught in a trap after Valerianus had agreed to meet his adversary, to negotiate peace and save the city of Edessa. However Marcus Metellus Aquila, legate of the Second Augusta Legion and his men manage to break free and find shelter at an oasis, where they meet a mysterious exiled prince. With nothing left for them, the Romans agree to become the prince's private militia and volunteer to guide him back to his homeland, China.
While they are there they see things that no other European has ever seen. They see cruelty, violence, but on the other side they see men of great intelligence and tolerance and beautiful women, unlike any of the women in Rome. But everything is at stake, even the very survival of the world's two greatest empires . . .
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I thought this book was a very good thriller. I agree with others' comments who say that you will not learn much from the book about ancient Rome and/or China but that does not detract from the overall very interesting hypothesis in the book or its enjoyability.
I enjoyed the way the author writes and the fact that the pace of the story is fast-moving; he avoids spending too long on any given section of the book and his descriptive passages are just long enough to paint a good mental picture without becoming long and consequently boring.
I agree that there is little character development in the book except for the main protagonists but I don't see how the smaller characters could be better developed in the space available. Also I think the first half of the book was slightly better, but the author is more knowledgeable about ancient Rome than ancient China so perhaps this is only to be expected.
Will definitely be reading more books by this author.
I enjoyed the way the author writes and the fact that the pace of the story is fast-moving; he avoids spending too long on any given section of the book and his descriptive passages are just long enough to paint a good mental picture without becoming long and consequently boring.
I agree that there is little character development in the book except for the main protagonists but I don't see how the smaller characters could be better developed in the space available. Also I think the first half of the book was slightly better, but the author is more knowledgeable about ancient Rome than ancient China so perhaps this is only to be expected.
Will definitely be reading more books by this author.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I brought this book because I was so found of the alexander series written by Valerio Massimo Manfredi and the Roman era it is set in. It isn't really historical fiction as all the characters are fictional, but it does its best to capture the essence of the period its set in to begin with.
However it soon loses this because as the story progresses the location changes from Rome to China. The story is about a commander in the Roman army who is captured, he escapes with his men to find that he must go to the ends of the earth before he can even think about returning. He finds that in even such far away place as China there are disturbing parallels between his world and theirs and that he must fight for the same cause that he left at home.
The book moves fast through just under 400 pages and doesn't linger on events for more than a chapter or so. There is little character development, except for that of Dan Qing, the Chinese prince and Metellus, The Roman Commander, and this only develops near the end of the book. I enjoyed the story and thought it was a new approach to the genre. It reminded me a little of the story of the last Samurai.
The book needed more depth and seemed rushed, especially the "last battle" which seems rather anti-climatic. The language and structure isn't very advanced and some is rather cringeworthy but you get use to it and don't notice it as the story progresses. However I did feel that the end was satisfying and leads up to a sequel oppurtunity which I would also give a chance and read.
So don't be put off by bad reviews if you like a light read with an intriguing and different story line, then give the empire of dragons a chance.
However it soon loses this because as the story progresses the location changes from Rome to China. The story is about a commander in the Roman army who is captured, he escapes with his men to find that he must go to the ends of the earth before he can even think about returning. He finds that in even such far away place as China there are disturbing parallels between his world and theirs and that he must fight for the same cause that he left at home.
The book moves fast through just under 400 pages and doesn't linger on events for more than a chapter or so. There is little character development, except for that of Dan Qing, the Chinese prince and Metellus, The Roman Commander, and this only develops near the end of the book. I enjoyed the story and thought it was a new approach to the genre. It reminded me a little of the story of the last Samurai.
The book needed more depth and seemed rushed, especially the "last battle" which seems rather anti-climatic. The language and structure isn't very advanced and some is rather cringeworthy but you get use to it and don't notice it as the story progresses. However I did feel that the end was satisfying and leads up to a sequel oppurtunity which I would also give a chance and read.
So don't be put off by bad reviews if you like a light read with an intriguing and different story line, then give the empire of dragons a chance.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A Fair read
This is a worthy attempt to construct a novel around a well known but unproven mystery of the ancient world whereby roman soldiers settled in the western part of China. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Lee Hanley
GOOD, SPECULATIVE, HISTORICAL FICTION
EMPIRE OF DRAGONS Dr. Valerio Massimo Manfredi 2006
Dr. Valerio Massimo Manfredi, is a very eminent Italian historian and the Professor of Classical Archaeology at the... Read more
Dr. Valerio Massimo Manfredi, is a very eminent Italian historian and the Professor of Classical Archaeology at the... Read more
Published 10 months ago by The Black Brigand
An interesting mixture
I enjoy Manfredi's historical fiction. This novel combines the empires of Rome and China and their totally different world views. A very different and novel approach to a plot
Published on 1 July 2009 by B. Carney
Back to his best
In this novel Manfredi mergers 2 giants in history, Rome and China, and writes a gripping novel. Unlike his fact/fiction books, this is entirely fictional, but even so this is on a... Read more
Published on 22 Oct 2008 by chuckles
Enough to make a Hollywood writer blush.
"Hidden Dragon, Couching Tiger" meets "Gladiator" and the guild of Hollywood writers won hands down. Read more
Published on 28 Mar 2007 by Iphidaimos
Comic book historical fiction
Manfredi appears to be an adventure novelist, and this book, like Spartan, which I have previously read is very much a plot driven affair. Read more
Published on 19 Mar 2007 by A. Gothorp
Not what it promises on the cover
The idea of a novel exploring an encounter between Rome and China - the two great Empire of the classical world - is a fasncinating one. Read more
Published on 14 Dec 2006 by Davywavy2
Starts well but falls off
This is my first Valerio Massimo Manfredi novel so I come in without the baggage of having read the Alexander series (although I will seek it out now) but I do understand he comes... Read more
Published on 23 Nov 2006 by Chris Chalk
OK till the starting of the adventure to China
Half of the novel is readable, so it gets 2.0 stars. The other 1 to the idea and imagination of combining the two empires, which is the reason I bought and read the novel. Read more
Published on 9 Oct 2006 by Zhu
Fast & Light
Empire of Dragons is the first Manfredi novel I've read and its likely to be the last one.
With little or no depth in either characterisation or plot, no decernible dramatic... Read more
Published on 8 April 2006 by C. Green
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