2008-09-21 Has its moments but the historical context is badly researched

As the first novel by the author, it seems he was quite badly served by his editors. The numerous typos and bad grammar as well as the occasional plain misuse of language distract from the fact that the part of the novel involving the organization of the Roman legion is very well researched. The author also manages to keep the pace up. Unfortunately, it seems the author mainly consulted the official Roman histories of the conflict, which by default are one-sided and not taken at face value by modern academia. Additionally, the between-the-lines moral of the story seems to be a straight adaptation of the American view on 9/11 and its aftermath to Augustus' Germanic wars, and as such 'Roman' could often just as well be replaced with 'American'. After the third or fourth battle the main protagonist's seemingly unquenchable thirst for vengeance - and with it the story per se - seems just too one-dimensional. As a serving soldier, on the other hand, I appreciate the author's effort to describe the sense of camaraderie and brotherhood that must have existed in the Roman Army just as it does in modern military units. This certainly achieves the desired effect (and not 'affect' as it is consistently written in the book).