Legion is a stunning recreation of the life of Roman soldiers at a fort on the Gallic frontier in the late First Century B.C. Centurion Quintus Flavius Rufio returns to Gaul near the Rhine to finish his career with the Twenty-fifth Legion. An invasion by the Germans is imminent, and the veteran Rufio takes command of a century with many recruits whom he must train on the eve of the German onslaught. Rufio's return to Gaul has a wider significance as well. Twenty years earlier, he accidentally killed a young Gallic woman in battle. Still haunted by this, he is confronted by her daughter, orphaned as an infant and now an adult, and his search for redemption takes an unexpected turn in his relationship with her. Legion climaxes with the outnumbered Romans attacking the Germans in a savage battle as the barbarians storm into Gaul in a war of annihilation.
LEGION
and over 1.5 million other books are available for Amazon Kindle . Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. Special Offer until June 30, 2013: Receive an additional £5 promotional Gift Certificate, when you trade-in at least £10 worth of books. Learn more. |
Book Description
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
47 of 49 people found the following review helpful
By Clive E Coy
Format:Paperback
LEGION by William Altimari is the best work of fiction I have read in a very long time. I found myself staying up far too late at night as the end of each exciting chapter drew me into the next few pages. Oh just a peek won’t hurt; just had to know what was going to happen next! LEGION is a fresh take on the armies of Rome, not set in Rome, but in a far-flung outpost. Altimari has skillfully recreated the day to day existence of a Legion, and woven into the fabric of historical details a compelling tale. From the first day that the main character, a Centurion named Quintus Flavius Rufio, arrives at the Roman fort in Gaul, life for men of the 25th Legion changes. Set in the First Century B.C., on the eve of a massive invasion of German Barbarians, Rufio takes command of a century of raw recruits, whom he must not only train to fight, but to stand their ground, and push back the onslaught. LEGION is a thrilling tale, made hugely enjoyable by Altimari’s tight writing, with well developed, strong male and female characters, [and I ain’t talking muscles]. The narrative is inviting, tense, pithy, witty, and often laugh out loud funny. The battle scenes left me firmly gripping my copy of LEGION. Altimari has created a ripping yarn that deserves to be made into an epic film. LEGION is the book I am recommending to all my friends. Hail Rufio! Hail Altimari!
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
By Patsy Emery
Format:Paperback
I've been interested in Ancient Rome ever since seeing "Gladiator." I happened upon Altimari's "Legion" and loved it. Through the eyes of a Greek scholar and tutor, the reader experiences the daily lives and battle strategies of Roman soldiers. "Legion" is the perfect book--a balance between learning facts and details about a subject and getting lost in an exciting story. Oh, and woman-to-woman, be prepared to fall in love with "Legion's" Rufio the Centurion.
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I only meant to give this book 2-3 stars, but somehow it is showing as 5 and there is no way to undo it, but please read on!
I would divide the book into two. First, there is the recreation of life in a Roman army settlement on the Rhine frontier. This is as good as people say it is, giving a really vivid impression of what it must have been like. It puts the battles into context by showing how much of a Roman soldier's time was spent on building up the infrastructure of the empire (building roads, etc.). So far so good.
The other half of the book is the story and I felt this was very lame. One of the other reviewers descibes it as unputdownable and I am pleased they enjoyed it. To me the story left no cliche unturned and was, at best, of the level of sophistication of the action comics I used to read when I was a boy. The film "Gladiator" was clever enough to make you suspend your disbelief; this book is not half as clever and by midway through I was skimming through to find the next piece that told me something about life in the Roman army. I really didn't care what happened to the characters.
Early PC games were said to be either written by people who could program but didn't know how to design a game, or people who could devise a game but had no idea how to program it. For me, this book was written by someone skilled at recreating history (which covers about one-fifth of the book) but with no particular skills as a novelist. Because the novel takes up four-fifths of the book it gets a low score from me.
I would divide the book into two. First, there is the recreation of life in a Roman army settlement on the Rhine frontier. This is as good as people say it is, giving a really vivid impression of what it must have been like. It puts the battles into context by showing how much of a Roman soldier's time was spent on building up the infrastructure of the empire (building roads, etc.). So far so good.
The other half of the book is the story and I felt this was very lame. One of the other reviewers descibes it as unputdownable and I am pleased they enjoyed it. To me the story left no cliche unturned and was, at best, of the level of sophistication of the action comics I used to read when I was a boy. The film "Gladiator" was clever enough to make you suspend your disbelief; this book is not half as clever and by midway through I was skimming through to find the next piece that told me something about life in the Roman army. I really didn't care what happened to the characters.
Early PC games were said to be either written by people who could program but didn't know how to design a game, or people who could devise a game but had no idea how to program it. For me, this book was written by someone skilled at recreating history (which covers about one-fifth of the book) but with no particular skills as a novelist. Because the novel takes up four-fifths of the book it gets a low score from me.
21 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I cannot imagine anyone reading this book can consider it anything other than a complete load of rubbish. Not even worth one star - the only thing believeable is the name of the emperor correct.
Full of inaccuracies, it is a poor pastiche of every other well-written and researched book (Scarrow, Davies, Iggulden, Bream, etc.,), and full of American clichés straight out of the poorest western genre, it commands no respect whatsoever.
To have such a major character as Rufio, even an experienced soldier, newly joining a legion and taking over all the running of legion from the Legate to the Senior Centuriate is absolutely farcical. The only reason is might be considered `unputdownable' is to see if the complete nonsense written about continues right to the bitter end! Unfortunately, it does.
And I've got to say the complete fantasy of the battle, plainly based on Suentonius defeat of Boadicea, is a dreadful parody of other, far better works and really insults the intelligence.
I shall not be buying anything by this man again for it is a complete waste of time and money.
Full of inaccuracies, it is a poor pastiche of every other well-written and researched book (Scarrow, Davies, Iggulden, Bream, etc.,), and full of American clichés straight out of the poorest western genre, it commands no respect whatsoever.
To have such a major character as Rufio, even an experienced soldier, newly joining a legion and taking over all the running of legion from the Legate to the Senior Centuriate is absolutely farcical. The only reason is might be considered `unputdownable' is to see if the complete nonsense written about continues right to the bitter end! Unfortunately, it does.
And I've got to say the complete fantasy of the battle, plainly based on Suentonius defeat of Boadicea, is a dreadful parody of other, far better works and really insults the intelligence.
I shall not be buying anything by this man again for it is a complete waste of time and money.
20 of 23 people found the following review helpful
By S. Warren
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book was reccomended to me by the other reviews on this site. Having just finished it, I wanted to first of all agree with most of the reviews here, but the book does have a couple of minor things that make me not want to give it the full 5 stars.
The first is that the main charracter Ruffio seems like some olden day superhero a little too much and the second, and I know it sounds a bit morbid, but the ending is a little too much like a "hollywood" style one. I wont go into more detail about this, but still a very good book and highly reccomened. The Last Legion (wallace breem) is a better book though.
The first is that the main charracter Ruffio seems like some olden day superhero a little too much and the second, and I know it sounds a bit morbid, but the ending is a little too much like a "hollywood" style one. I wont go into more detail about this, but still a very good book and highly reccomened. The Last Legion (wallace breem) is a better book though.
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By "123simonb"
Format:Paperback
I started this book last night, thinking of reading a couple of chapters before going to sleep. Ha, no chance !
This book is such a page turner. The story, the characters, the style of writing are all excellent.
This book is so well written that I would recommend it to anyone. In fact I will be ordering extra copies to send as birthday presents to my friends and family.
.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 45 reviews
4.3 out of 5 stars
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
a really good read
well research, excellent story line, well developed characters, will be waiting , for the next installment, read it in two sittings
Published 2 months ago by Mr. John P. Limbert
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great read well researched
A brilliant book ,showing the human side to the backbone of Rome and her conquering legions ,can't wait to start the next.
Published 4 months ago by stevieb
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great read
I've read this book is about 24 hours. Not because it was short but because I couldn't put it down. I've read many historical Roman fiction books but this was the first that bought... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Shineman
5.0 out of 5 stars
A complete and pleasant surprise
When this book was passed to me by a friend, I didn't expect much of it, but I've been engrossed in it ever since I started the first page. Read more
Published on 5 Jun 2011 by BruceB
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good read but Eagle in the Snow by Wallace Breem is much better..
A good and very enjoyable read.If you are interested in this era and type of historical novel you wont be disappointed.Enough said go buy it.
Published on 13 Jun 2008 by Mr. L. Simpson
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great insight into the mind of men preparing for battle
This book was recommended to me by several readers who enjoyed my own book (Dawn of Empire) and took the time to email me about their thoughts. Read more
Published on 29 Dec 2007 by samfromscottsdale
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ave Altimeri !
A fantastic book about the discilpine,honour and courage of a Roman legion facing overwhelming numbers of barbarians in Gaul. Read more
Published on 24 Nov 2006 by C.Elder
5.0 out of 5 stars
Life in the Legion's
Even the youngest schoolboy can tell you something about a Roman soldier, their valour and prowess as a unit of fighting men has stood the test of time and brought their memory... Read more
Published on 16 Sep 2006 by J. Chippindale
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unputdownable
One of the best books, if not the best of this genre that I have ever read. In a word "terrific" More from Altamari PLEASE.
Published on 23 July 2005
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
