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Book Description
PART OF THE ACCLAIMED MASTERS OF ROME SERIES
Product Description
The third novel in the epic Masters of Rome series.
Fortune's Favourites witnesses the power, mastery and cunning of two enigmatic rulers of Rome - Sulla, returning from exile, and the 22-year-old Pompey, who designates himself Magnus 'the Great'. And in the background is the young soldier, Caesar, who begins to show the expert qualities that will one day culminate in him becoming an unparalleled leader of ancient Rome. And at the heart of this sumptuous tale is the unforgettable story of Spartacus and his doomed slave revolt - the true story, as no modern reader has ever before encountered it.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Colleen McCullough was born in Australia. A neurophysicist, she established the department of neurophysiology at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney She then worked as a researcher and teacher at Yale Medical School for ten years. She is the author of the record-breaking international bestseller The Thorn Birds and her series of books on Rome have also been bestsellers. Colleen lives on Norfolk Island in the Pacific with her husband.
Colleen McCullough has been one of my favourite authors, ever since I read the book The First Man in Rome and then eagerly awaited the next in the series and then the next and so on. The book Fortune's Favourites, third in the series covers the period in Roman history when, perhaps the greatest change took place. A triangle of three of possibly the most recognized names in Roman history, Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Pompey and a young man, yet to make a name for himself Julius Caesar.
The glory days of Gaius Marius are gone and his one time right hand man, Sulla and the young, 22-year-old Pompey, who has already designated himself The Great are each vying for sole control of Rome. What they are not taking seriously is the rising star of a young soldier, who at this stage in his career is not afraid of hanging onto the togas of the more influential men in Roman society. He is already beginning to make a name for himself and Sulla and Pompey will ignore him at their peril.
Colleen McCullough has been one of my favourite authors, ever since I read the book The First Man in Rome and then eagerly awaited the next in the series and then the next and so on. The book Fortune's Favourites, third in the series covers the period in Roman history when, perhaps the greatest change took place. A triangle of three of possibly the most recognized names in Roman history, Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Pompey and a young man, yet to make a name for himself Julius Caesar.
The glory days of Gaius Marius are gone and his one time right hand man, Sulla and the young, 22-year-old Pompey, who has already designated himself The Great are each vying for sole control of Rome. What they are not taking seriously is the rising star of a young soldier, who at this stage in his career is not afraid of hanging onto the togas of the more influential men in Roman society. He is already beginning to make a name for himself and Sulla and Pompey will ignore him at their peril.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
After two masterpieces like "First man in Rome" and "Grass Crown" it is really a great achievement of Collen McCullough that the third instalment in the series is another great book.
This story takes us through the last years of Sulla, the rise of Pompey the Great, the war in Iberia (Spain) between Sulla's forces and his last Roman enemy Sertorius, the endurant and charismatic Roman general turned Iberian warlord, the first steps of young Ceasar's career and also Spartacus slave rebellion. It is extremely erudit, historically very true, well paced, full of intelligent dialogues, naturalistic in its description of the unspeakable cruelty of Roman world but also witty and humouristic by moments (the description of the decadent hellenistic king of Bithynia is particularly irresistible).
The description of Spartacus rebellion is very interesting and I believe it is very useful to read it to have another view of this event - mostly known in the public perception by the (magnificent) movie with Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtiss. Needless to say, here the vision, being historically more accurate, is also less glamourous but not less moving...
Now, author continues to describe Ceasar as a God like being (although in this book he is still mostly a teenager) surrounded by inferiors. It can get on the nerves of the reader (it did on mines) when most of future Ceasar's antagonists like Pompey or Bibulus are described in the worst possible way, preparing the reader to accept their future fate in the following books... This worshipping of Ceasar and bashing of all others, even great generals like Lucullus or Marcus Crassus, is the only thing that in my humble opinion Collen McCullough got wrong in this great historical cycle.
Still, it doesn't change the fact, that this is a great book, coming after two great books and leading us into more great books. I warmly recommend to read it.
This story takes us through the last years of Sulla, the rise of Pompey the Great, the war in Iberia (Spain) between Sulla's forces and his last Roman enemy Sertorius, the endurant and charismatic Roman general turned Iberian warlord, the first steps of young Ceasar's career and also Spartacus slave rebellion. It is extremely erudit, historically very true, well paced, full of intelligent dialogues, naturalistic in its description of the unspeakable cruelty of Roman world but also witty and humouristic by moments (the description of the decadent hellenistic king of Bithynia is particularly irresistible).
The description of Spartacus rebellion is very interesting and I believe it is very useful to read it to have another view of this event - mostly known in the public perception by the (magnificent) movie with Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtiss. Needless to say, here the vision, being historically more accurate, is also less glamourous but not less moving...
Now, author continues to describe Ceasar as a God like being (although in this book he is still mostly a teenager) surrounded by inferiors. It can get on the nerves of the reader (it did on mines) when most of future Ceasar's antagonists like Pompey or Bibulus are described in the worst possible way, preparing the reader to accept their future fate in the following books... This worshipping of Ceasar and bashing of all others, even great generals like Lucullus or Marcus Crassus, is the only thing that in my humble opinion Collen McCullough got wrong in this great historical cycle.
Still, it doesn't change the fact, that this is a great book, coming after two great books and leading us into more great books. I warmly recommend to read it.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is book 3 in McCullough's massive 6 book series, and suffers a little from being a pivotal book that has to be got through before she can move on with her story.
It covers the rise of Pompey, the childhood and early life of Julius Caesar, and the decline and deaths of Marius and Sulla.
McCullough is superb on treating the minutiae of Roman life and never fights shy of intricate political debates and speeches. This is probably the next best thing to reading the actual historical sources.
It covers the rise of Pompey, the childhood and early life of Julius Caesar, and the decline and deaths of Marius and Sulla.
McCullough is superb on treating the minutiae of Roman life and never fights shy of intricate political debates and speeches. This is probably the next best thing to reading the actual historical sources.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Fortunes Favourites
I really love the history of Marius and Sulla and was looking for some good fiction. This is great for a student or fan of Roman history though I think you will need a basic... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Cat
Fortune's Favorits
An interesting sequel to the former books in the series, which covers an interesting period of the history of rome and the actors on the political scene
Published 8 months ago by Stygge
A magnificient book
I have already read First Man In Rome, but Fortune's Favourites outranks it by far. A very accurate book and very loyal to history. Magnificient.
Published 11 months ago by Marco Mazon Gomariz
Sulla's last
Number three in the series felt a little plodding! The ending didn't feel as rushed as the previous enteries, but still a good read. Read more
Published 20 months ago by AdNoctum
Time for Julius Caesar to step forward
This is the third book in the Masters of Rome series of six. Make sure that you have first read The First Man in Rome, and The Grass Crown. Read more
Published on 8 Aug 2007 by Mr. William Oxley
Patchy
First complaint is the misleading rear cover,which states 'Spartacus is at the heart of this novel'. Read more
Published on 17 Oct 2004 by philip donaldson
Yet another fantastic read
I loved this book. It made me laugh, cry and marvel at the parallels between ancient Roman life and certain aspects of the modern-day world. Read more
Published on 14 Aug 2003 by Jo
An excellent continuation of the Rome series
The young Caesar meets the aging Sulla and a range of other characters both likeable and detestable. Read more
Published on 8 Jun 2000
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