2 Book Lovers Reviews
The premise of The IX was something that really intrigued me. Soldiers from different points in history snatched from the claws of death, transported to a new world to fight a war that they knew nothing about. The bulk of this group came from the IXth legion of Rome, they vanished while fighting in what is now Scotland.
This was a difficult book for me, my expectations were set high. I was looking forward to a lot of confrontation between these groups, who were in the midst of trying to kill each other, only to be told that they were now on the same team. And to top it all off, they were to fight an enemy they had never known, in a war they had no stake in. For me these conflicts were resolved far too quickly and easily. I think that there was fantastic content available which would have allowed me to get to know some of the characters better.
For the most part, the writing was good. The story flowed nicely and it maintained my interest. Unfortunately, I did have one particular problem with the writing, the author was far too verbose in his choice of vocabulary. I believe it was Stephen King who once said something along the lines of, if you need a thesaurus, then it is the wrong word. Don’t get me wrong, a book that is too simple will easily lose my interest, but at the same time, reading is a hobby, if I have to look up multiple words it becomes a distraction and interferes with the pace of the book.
All in all, The IX was a good book, one which I had some issues with. At the same time, I thought that the premise of the book was new and unique; the world created by Andrew P. Weston was incredibly done. This is a book that could be enjoyed by many.
*3 Stars
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