- Paperback: 336 pages
- Publisher: Warner Books; Reprint edition (Feb 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0446679666
- ISBN-13: 978-0446679664
- Product Dimensions: 13.3 x 2.2 x 20.3 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,196,440 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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29 reviews
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Between history and fiction...
28 April 2001
Format:Hardcover
Being a fan of Lindsey Davis' series of historic mysteries of Marcus Didius Falco, and also having recently read "Vespasian" by Barbara Levick, I found this novel to be an acurate and entertaining portrayal of the long time relationship of Vespasian and Caenis. It is neither the rollicking, irreverant narrative of Falco, or the dry statement of historical footnotes in a textbook; "Course of Honor" combines the best of both in a tale that gives a wonderful perspective on the life of one of Rome's better emperors through the eyes of the woman who truly stood by his side.
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
A stately love in a treacherous time
22 Jan 2000
Format:Hardcover
Fans of Lindsey Davis' rollicking Falco novels will find here a more restrained style, as she polishes up a small lost history into a life's love. The care used to tell the tale befits the main players on the stage. We meet Caenis, an intelligent, resolute woman who happens to be a slave in Rome's Imperial household; hand in hand with that, we meet a steady, decent young soldier named Vespasian. (That name's familiar for a reason, Latin students.) The skein of attraction, duty, forsaking, and fulfillment that will drive these two apart and together over their lifetimes plays out with even pace against the nasty backdrop provided by Rome in the time of the Claudians. Vespasian's fate won't surprise the reader, but as for Caenis: will she or won't she? Loyal readers of Davis may be taken by surprise at the almost Victorian gravitas of her style in this work. I found it soothing, but I could note that she does tend to overuse a few favorite phrases. Still, I don't hesitate to recommend it; it's refreshing to read a love story in which restraint is an almost tangible third partner.
13 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Could have been MUCH better
2 Nov 1999
Format:Hardcover
The (true) story on which this novel is based -- the decades-long love affair between the impoverished nobleman/unlikely emperor Vespasian and the freed slave Caenis -- is inherently compelling, and the author of the "Falco" mysteries seems like the perfect writer to retell it. Unfortunately, I felt that the novel fell flat. Choosing to tell the story in the third person (why?) meant that Davis spent far too much time on rather dry exposition -- in the first few chapters there were about 10 pages of background for every page of dialog. She falls into this same habit in some of the Falco novels (e.g. "The Iron Hand of Mars"), but there the expository bits are more fun because they're told in the narrator's cynical, wise-cracking voice. The historical characters are engaging enough when they're allowed to speak for themselves -- the straight-arrow Vespasian (I kept seeing John Wayne playing him), the loving but all-too-intelligent Caenis, her sorely tried royal mistress Antonia -- and even the made-up ones, such as her gold-digger friend Veronica and her manipulative mentor Narcissus, have considerable depth. Occasional scenes -- such as Vespasian's triumphal return from Britain -- came vividly alive, and the conclusion kept me up past my bedtime. But I suspect that Davis, in trying to write a "serious" novel rather than Philip Marlowe in a toga, went too far in the opposite direction. She seems to have forgotten a couple of basic principles of fiction writing: (1) A novel should be entertaining, and (2) Show, don't tell. I would have found the story much more absorbing if it had been told from Caenis' point of view; I'm sorry Davis decided to play it safe and go for Victorian omniscience and excruciating dignity.
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