2 Book Lovers Reviews
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Cassias Corbulo is a fresh grain officer who has been dropped into the role of defending a key resource with a rag-tag group of soldiers. With a much larger contingent of the enemy on the way, he must pull this group together to defend Rome’s interests and save his own life.
With so many books set in Roman Britain (that I have been reading lately), it was nice to get a different picture of the vast Roman Empire. Syria is such a completely foreign place. Nick Brown did an excellent job of bringing the country to life and the trials of fighting in such a harsh and unforgiving environment.
Cassius is an interesting character. He is in over his head; he does not have the experience to pull off this task on his own. Cassius uses the tools at his disposal to get the job done, ingrained Roman discipline threats and bribery. This is what made the Roman world work and last for so long.
Nick Brown spent a good amount of time with the enemy. This was a great point of view. They had their own troubles and problems to overcome. The Palmyrans were not the simple barbarians that would attempt to overpower the Roman line with sheer numbers.
The only drawback that I had was the wait. The story was a bit slow to develop, but once the action started this was more than made up for.
If you are looking for a different view of the might of the Roman Empire and enjoy a flawed protagonist who is not the Roman equivalent of Superman, then I would recommend The Siege. I will be looking for more from The Agent of Rome series.
*4 Stars