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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
adventurous
informative
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
informative
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
adventurous
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Very interesting spin on Pompeii, an attempt to bring all the thriller tropes into it: conspiracies, people disappearing, mysterious omens which we as readers know to be harbingers of eruption. The plot got much more exciting closer to the end, otherwise it was a kind of slow read: the characters were a bit one-dimensional and the writing tended to be a little dry sometimes.
Also finished it in Pompeii 😮ðŸ¤
Also finished it in Pompeii 😮ðŸ¤
‘A fool’s errand –'
After visiting the wonderful Pompeii exhibition at the National Museum of Australia (March 2025), I picked up a copy of this novel. The exhibition provided a detailed view of life in Pompeii and the devastation caused after Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE, and I was keen to read some fiction set during the period.
The story unfolds over a few days, both before and after the eruption. The main character is Marcus Attilius Primus, the aquarius appointed by Rome to take charge of the Aqua Augusta, the aqueduct that supplies water to several towns around the Bay of Naples, including Pompeii. Attilius’s predecessor, Exomnius has disappeared as the supply of water through the aqueduct begins to fail. Attilius is unpopular with the workers as he tries to identify and solve the problem.
Attilius’s concerns increase when he is summoned by Corelia, a wealthy young woman, to investigate why the water from the aqueduct is killing her father’s prized fish. Corelia’s father, Numerius Popidius Ampliatus, was a former slave whose fortunes rose after he rebuilt Pompeii following an earthquake. The other major character is Pliny the Elder, whose fleet docked at Misenum, provides the means for Attilius and his team to travel to Pompeii.
The tension rises. The reader knows that Mount Vesuvius is about to erupt. Ampliatus wants to involve Attilius in a corrupt scheme. Marcus Attilius refuses, placing his life at risk.
And then Mount Vesuvius erupts. Who will survive?
Yes, I enjoyed this novel.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
After visiting the wonderful Pompeii exhibition at the National Museum of Australia (March 2025), I picked up a copy of this novel. The exhibition provided a detailed view of life in Pompeii and the devastation caused after Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE, and I was keen to read some fiction set during the period.
The story unfolds over a few days, both before and after the eruption. The main character is Marcus Attilius Primus, the aquarius appointed by Rome to take charge of the Aqua Augusta, the aqueduct that supplies water to several towns around the Bay of Naples, including Pompeii. Attilius’s predecessor, Exomnius has disappeared as the supply of water through the aqueduct begins to fail. Attilius is unpopular with the workers as he tries to identify and solve the problem.
Attilius’s concerns increase when he is summoned by Corelia, a wealthy young woman, to investigate why the water from the aqueduct is killing her father’s prized fish. Corelia’s father, Numerius Popidius Ampliatus, was a former slave whose fortunes rose after he rebuilt Pompeii following an earthquake. The other major character is Pliny the Elder, whose fleet docked at Misenum, provides the means for Attilius and his team to travel to Pompeii.
The tension rises. The reader knows that Mount Vesuvius is about to erupt. Ampliatus wants to involve Attilius in a corrupt scheme. Marcus Attilius refuses, placing his life at risk.
And then Mount Vesuvius erupts. Who will survive?
Yes, I enjoyed this novel.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith