- Hardcover: 352 pages
- Publisher: Puffin; 1st Edition edition (3 Feb 2011)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0141333634
- ISBN-13: 978-0141333632
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.8 x 3.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 146,665 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Gladiator: Fight for Freedom
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
Simon Scarrow will do for boy gladiators what JK Rowling did for boy wizards. (waterstones.com )
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
Rome, 61 BC
RECRUITED as a gladiator, young Marcus Cornelius Primus faces a new life of brutal training, governed by strict rules, as he learns the skills of an elite warrior.
But Marcus cannot simply forget his past. His father lies murdered by soldiers and his mother has been kidnapped and forced into slavery. Marcus is determined to find his father's old commander, Pompeius the Great, to seek justice for his family and set his mother free.
Yet, unbeknown to him, Marcus is hiding a life-threatening secret. And if the Romans discover it, there will be no escape . . .
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Product Description (From back of book)
Rome, 61 BC RECRUITED as a gladiator, young Marcus Cornelius Primus faces a new life of brutal training, governed by strict rules, as he learns the skills of an elite warrior. But Marcus cannot simply forget his past. His father lies murdered by soldiers and his mother has been kidnapped and forced into slavery. Marcus is determined to find his father's old commander, Pompeius the Great, to seek justice for his family and set his mother free. Yet, unbeknown to him, Marcus is hiding a life-threatening secret. And if the Romans discover it, there will be no escape . .
Review
Gladiator : Fight for Freedom
One major advantage for me when picking up this new Simon Scarrow book was that I knew I would enjoy it, it would be the degree of enjoyment that was in question.
Recently I have called into question a couple of plot lines in Simons Eagle Series (sorry Simon), and to be fair the latest book Legion answered those questions in spades.
So how would his foray into the world of young adult books fair, would it follow in the footsteps of its older brother The Eagles and become a deserved Bestseller? Would it be fresh and new?
The answer is quite simply yes, in fact at times its hard to spot its a young adult book, this story does not deride the audience, it does not talk down, it does not preach as some young adult books do.
This Book moves long with great pace great action and great depth, there are very few punches pulled in the drama that is life and this book echos that, you could be forgiven for thinking that Macro and Cato would pop up at any moment (if they had been born yet), Readers of this series could easily move on to the eagle series and vice versa.
Marcus as our main star and character is well written, well rounded, and comes to life on the page, and thanks to the cover you have a visual image of him to carry through the book with you.
Adding a personal enemy in the Ludus was a moment of genius for me as it gives our main star someone to bounce his character/ personality and growth off and reminded me a little of Gladiatrix by Russ Whitfield.
The plot line (which I shall not give away) brings in famous characters from that roman period, and gives you a taste of where this very very promising series is going to go, and the trials that await our young gladiator.
This book is a total triumph, and reminds me of the freshness of the Eagle series at the beginning.
It seems that both the Brothers Scarrow have a talent for the young adult market, with the success of the excellent Timeriders series, and this detined to be a surefire hit, Puffin really do know their stuff.
(Parm)
Rome, 61 BC RECRUITED as a gladiator, young Marcus Cornelius Primus faces a new life of brutal training, governed by strict rules, as he learns the skills of an elite warrior. But Marcus cannot simply forget his past. His father lies murdered by soldiers and his mother has been kidnapped and forced into slavery. Marcus is determined to find his father's old commander, Pompeius the Great, to seek justice for his family and set his mother free. Yet, unbeknown to him, Marcus is hiding a life-threatening secret. And if the Romans discover it, there will be no escape . .
Review
Gladiator : Fight for Freedom
One major advantage for me when picking up this new Simon Scarrow book was that I knew I would enjoy it, it would be the degree of enjoyment that was in question.
Recently I have called into question a couple of plot lines in Simons Eagle Series (sorry Simon), and to be fair the latest book Legion answered those questions in spades.
So how would his foray into the world of young adult books fair, would it follow in the footsteps of its older brother The Eagles and become a deserved Bestseller? Would it be fresh and new?
The answer is quite simply yes, in fact at times its hard to spot its a young adult book, this story does not deride the audience, it does not talk down, it does not preach as some young adult books do.
This Book moves long with great pace great action and great depth, there are very few punches pulled in the drama that is life and this book echos that, you could be forgiven for thinking that Macro and Cato would pop up at any moment (if they had been born yet), Readers of this series could easily move on to the eagle series and vice versa.
Marcus as our main star and character is well written, well rounded, and comes to life on the page, and thanks to the cover you have a visual image of him to carry through the book with you.
Adding a personal enemy in the Ludus was a moment of genius for me as it gives our main star someone to bounce his character/ personality and growth off and reminded me a little of Gladiatrix by Russ Whitfield.
The plot line (which I shall not give away) brings in famous characters from that roman period, and gives you a taste of where this very very promising series is going to go, and the trials that await our young gladiator.
This book is a total triumph, and reminds me of the freshness of the Eagle series at the beginning.
It seems that both the Brothers Scarrow have a talent for the young adult market, with the success of the excellent Timeriders series, and this detined to be a surefire hit, Puffin really do know their stuff.
(Parm)
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
When I first saw the book, I immediately thought 'oooh, there's something I haven't seen much of in YA' and I like when that happens. I like when things are new and different. And Gladiator, this first book for children by Simon Scarrow, is quite a fun read. With it's action scenes and violence and gladiator training, this is one sure to attract boys, but I found myself really gripped by the story and the characters as well.
Marcus is our main character, a smart 10 year old, growing up on a farm with his parents during the Roman times. When his father is murdered, Marcus and his mother are captured as slaves. When Marcus escapes and is later caught, he is then sold on to a gladiator school in order to help train him in fighting and the methods of survival as a gladiator. Marcus is very intent on getting into Rome to see his father's old commanding officer, who Marcus thinks will help free him and his mother from slavery. But first, Marcus must survive the brutal training and the poor conditions of being a slave in Roman times.
There is quite a lot of detail here describing the way of life and treatment of slaves. There are brief references to Spartacus, made famous for his slave rebellion and it is clear to see how and why so many Roman slaves came to feel this way about those who have oppressed so many people and for such an extended period of time. There's a real sense that these slaves, especially the ones Marcus meets on his travels, serve only purposes of labour and entertainment when they go to be mauled or killed during gladiator games.
And Marcus is really quite young, over the course of the novel he does turn 11, but still, it is a lot for one young boy. Marcus is very brave and goes through a great deal, especially after another boy in the school sets his eye on destroying Marcus. For all of that, he still maintains this level of decency and morality. There's a strength about Marcus that made me really cheer for him.
There's a lot going for this book, the interesting setting, the fast-paced adventure story, a mysterious secret that could change everything, and a great main character who readers will root for. I'm very glad I read it and can recommend it!
Marcus is our main character, a smart 10 year old, growing up on a farm with his parents during the Roman times. When his father is murdered, Marcus and his mother are captured as slaves. When Marcus escapes and is later caught, he is then sold on to a gladiator school in order to help train him in fighting and the methods of survival as a gladiator. Marcus is very intent on getting into Rome to see his father's old commanding officer, who Marcus thinks will help free him and his mother from slavery. But first, Marcus must survive the brutal training and the poor conditions of being a slave in Roman times.
There is quite a lot of detail here describing the way of life and treatment of slaves. There are brief references to Spartacus, made famous for his slave rebellion and it is clear to see how and why so many Roman slaves came to feel this way about those who have oppressed so many people and for such an extended period of time. There's a real sense that these slaves, especially the ones Marcus meets on his travels, serve only purposes of labour and entertainment when they go to be mauled or killed during gladiator games.
And Marcus is really quite young, over the course of the novel he does turn 11, but still, it is a lot for one young boy. Marcus is very brave and goes through a great deal, especially after another boy in the school sets his eye on destroying Marcus. For all of that, he still maintains this level of decency and morality. There's a strength about Marcus that made me really cheer for him.
There's a lot going for this book, the interesting setting, the fast-paced adventure story, a mysterious secret that could change everything, and a great main character who readers will root for. I'm very glad I read it and can recommend it!
61 of 71 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I don't know wether to be annoyed with myself or Amazon but I managed to miss that this was a children's story. Once it was delivered there were clues. It was a puffin publication, the gladiator on the front cover has more than a whiff of Harry Potter about him and the print is widely spaced enough to navigate a tractor around! The book was also dedicated to legendry children's author Rosemary Sutcliffe.
Still I didn't panic, some of the best books ever written were targeted at children, 'Northern lights' and 'The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe' to name two. This wasn't quite in their class however!
Don't get me wrong, if I had been 11 years old I would probably be giving this 5 stars, or more likely I'd be out playing football or riding my bike. However for the long toothed consumer of sword play novels like me this lacked originality, grit and adrenalin. For the first third of the book I was very tempted to put it down. The characters were 2D enough to squeeze through grating, the dialogue was flat and story totally predictable.
However things did pick up when young Marcus arrived at Gladiator school! with a few more characters and a suitably evil villain. The other thing is it can be read very quickly!
Anyway the last third was much more like the standard we expect of Mr Scarrow and will have young readers glued to their Kindle's I'm sure, with a couple of nice twists in the plot and an exiting climax.
Would I give it as a gift for an 11 year old nephew? Yes.
Would I recommend it to a like minded adult reader? No.
Still I didn't panic, some of the best books ever written were targeted at children, 'Northern lights' and 'The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe' to name two. This wasn't quite in their class however!
Don't get me wrong, if I had been 11 years old I would probably be giving this 5 stars, or more likely I'd be out playing football or riding my bike. However for the long toothed consumer of sword play novels like me this lacked originality, grit and adrenalin. For the first third of the book I was very tempted to put it down. The characters were 2D enough to squeeze through grating, the dialogue was flat and story totally predictable.
However things did pick up when young Marcus arrived at Gladiator school! with a few more characters and a suitably evil villain. The other thing is it can be read very quickly!
Anyway the last third was much more like the standard we expect of Mr Scarrow and will have young readers glued to their Kindle's I'm sure, with a couple of nice twists in the plot and an exiting climax.
Would I give it as a gift for an 11 year old nephew? Yes.
Would I recommend it to a like minded adult reader? No.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Pretty good
I was entertained enough by this book to pre-order its sequel. I can't help wondering though whether the book has been written for teenagers rather than adults. Read more
Published 9 days ago by binary101
First Class Novel for Young Adults
Marcus is the son of an ex legionary who saved the life of the general Pompey in the slave uprising led by the ex gladiator Spartacus. Read more
Published 17 days ago by Sir Furboy
Gladiator
Again Simon Scarrow brings to life of what ancient Rome was like. As soon as the postman arrived i openend up the book and was hooked, finished it that same day.
Published 1 month ago by paul
Gladiator:fight for freedom
After reading first book a while ago i picked up this book and found it hard to put down, As always author drags you in to the story and you feel like your there with the character... Read more
Published 1 month ago by mikecan
None
great story which draws you in to the life of marcus and atmosphere of roman life and slavery. excellent read and definitely want to read next one.
Published 1 month ago by P. J. Lucas
Exciting read
I was a great Rosemary Sutcliffe fan when I was growing up so this book appealed to me as soon as I saw the cover. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Jan
Great series
Simon Scarrow's books are tremendous and a gripping read.Once I read the 1st one I had to buy all the others.Once started it is very hard to put down. Read more
Published 2 months ago by asolja
Usual good service
Many thanks Amazon, as usual excellant service and products. As I live in Spain and only deal with Amazon.co. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Inez
JP
This was possibly the best of the series. I was unable to put it down. I look forward to further adventures of the protagonists.
Published 2 months ago by John
simon scarrow's roman books
I have over ten simon scarrow 'roman' books - they are brilliant, can't put them down 'til they're finished as quickly as I can!
Published 2 months ago by Mr. B. F. Knowles
Listmania!
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