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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
informative
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
For me this is somewhere between three and four stars. It was entertaining and interesting but a lot of the detail of Roman life is missing. The several digs at women throughout the novel made me wonder if they were the sentiments of the narrator or the author; it's curious they were included as they added nothing to the story IMO. Still, there's enough here to make me consider finishing the trilogy.
An excellent narration, but goodness, this wears its research heavily and didn't really engage me. A couple of characters leap out, Pompey, Catalinus, Tiro himself, but the rest blur into an attempt to show politics is unchanged for centuries, the masses are easily duped and the powerful and rich are corrupt. It's not that I disagree, it's just not very interesting.
adventurous
informative
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Interesting story, but not particularly well written. At times, Harris uses words that seem out of place -- such "high falutin" -- in a novel set in Ancient Rome.
As is Harris’s way, this is solidly researched and fleshes out the history; but it was a little pedestrian at times — probably because it was about a lawyer! Had Cicero been more a Rumpole, it might have been a better read.
The tag to this novel is what would Cierco do. It’s not bad, and I think listening to it was the better choice for me.
This was an interesting journey into historical fiction. The life of Cicero, his contemporaries and most interesting, the form of government during the Roman Empire. If you like this time period this is a good one.