Empire (Rome 2)
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Product Description
Review
'Saylor expertly weaves the true history of Rome with the lives and loves of its fictional citizens.' Daily Express; 'Saylor's scholarship is breathtaking and his writing enthrals.' Ruth Rendell; 'With the scalpel-like deftness of a Hollywood director, Saylor puts his finger on the very essence of Roman history.' Times Literary Supplement; 'Readers will find his work wonderfully (and gracefully) researched...this is entertainment of the first order'. --Washington Post
Book Description
The eagerly awaited sequel to the bestselling Roma - now in paperback.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
32 of 37 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is simply awful.
Let me be clear. I have been a longtime fan of Steven Saylor. The first two thirds of his Roma sub Rosa series about Gordianus the Finder are brilliant.
My problem with Saylor really began with Roma, the first in his pompous new series about ancient Rome, and really brings Empire to a halt. What seems to have happened is that Saylor has done huge amounts of research and feels the need to ensure everyone knows it. As a result the book - as far as I had to heart to read it anyway - is a long series of dialogues when a character can't just say what is happening - it has to be then explained in terms of what the history of the person/place/event is, what the colour of their clothes were - what the metaphysical or allegorical omens of the day were. All of which simply seems to say "Aren't I clever with what I know.." But you really just want to shout at the page "Get on with it".
Because Saylor's writing style is so ponderous and exasperating quite what the story is becomes meaningless. To his credit (hence two stars)he's trying to tell the story of ancient Rome from birth to death through one family line. But by now you just don't care. I'm saddened to say I couldn't finish this - and hope the charity shop at least makes some money from my misery.
If you want to read really classy stories about Rome read Robert Harris, or go back to Robert Graves and I Claudius. Give Saylor a very wide miss. Sorry.
Let me be clear. I have been a longtime fan of Steven Saylor. The first two thirds of his Roma sub Rosa series about Gordianus the Finder are brilliant.
My problem with Saylor really began with Roma, the first in his pompous new series about ancient Rome, and really brings Empire to a halt. What seems to have happened is that Saylor has done huge amounts of research and feels the need to ensure everyone knows it. As a result the book - as far as I had to heart to read it anyway - is a long series of dialogues when a character can't just say what is happening - it has to be then explained in terms of what the history of the person/place/event is, what the colour of their clothes were - what the metaphysical or allegorical omens of the day were. All of which simply seems to say "Aren't I clever with what I know.." But you really just want to shout at the page "Get on with it".
Because Saylor's writing style is so ponderous and exasperating quite what the story is becomes meaningless. To his credit (hence two stars)he's trying to tell the story of ancient Rome from birth to death through one family line. But by now you just don't care. I'm saddened to say I couldn't finish this - and hope the charity shop at least makes some money from my misery.
If you want to read really classy stories about Rome read Robert Harris, or go back to Robert Graves and I Claudius. Give Saylor a very wide miss. Sorry.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I was rather underwhelmed with this book. I felt as if I was being educated, and indeed I was but that was not my aim. The plot did keep me reading however.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
It took me some time to track this book down since, before Christmas, it seemed conspicuous by its absence from the shelves. Marketing I suppose! I loved Steven Saylor's previous book in the series - "Roma" - and had looked forward to reading this with some relish. I suppose it is inevitable that under such circumstances the reality was a little disappointing, but there are some very real flaws in this work. Perhaps the most annoying was the habit of characters explaining situations that were obviously well known to those they were speaking to. You know the sort of thing - "As you know Pinarius.... " A clumsy device that someone with Steven Saylor's writing experience should avoid. Some of the plot was a little contrived but, given the strange twists and turns in Roman history, not so much as to make this work untenable. As a device to describe Roman history from Augustus to Hadrian from the point of view of witnesses not directly connected to the various imperial families it does work, though somewhat awkwardly at times. Still, a creditable effort which, despite its flaws, I enjoyed. Is it worth the effort? Yes it is and I look forward to the next installment that must inevitably be in the pipeline.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
this empire has fallen
i had previously read saylors first volume in this saga Roma the story of one roman family from the foundation to the end of the republic and enjoyed it
Empire tells the... Read more
Empire tells the... Read more
Published 7 months ago by mark1000
WHY!!!!!!!
I was given "Empire" as a Birthday present and read the first two chapers .. I then decided to download "Roma" on my kindle... "Roma" is a 5 star book .. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Brian Daniels
Gahhhhhh!
Is this the death of what was a really good series?
In the past its always been a bit ploddy and slow, but i always took that as part of the story, its not designed for pace... Read more
In the past its always been a bit ploddy and slow, but i always took that as part of the story, its not designed for pace... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Parm
excellent read
an excellent follow up to Roma, historicaly accurate, the story murging fact and fiction, enjoyed it tremendously. can't wait till the next installment.
Published 15 months ago by osprey
A great Roman History novel
It's absolutetly a great book to read about the History of Rome.
From the very beginning of the first Emperor Augustus
until the end of the reign of Hadrian. Read more
From the very beginning of the first Emperor Augustus
until the end of the reign of Hadrian. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Clemens Schoonderwoert
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