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blodeuedd's review against another edition
3.0
Alternate history, Rome never fell, Rome sure conquered. Rome is a machine. Rome is scary. And now Rome wants America. But as we saw in the last book the 33th Legion was destroyed by the Cahokians. And Gaius, well he brought new things to the people he came to like.
But Rome does not give up that easy.
And then there are the Iroque that are at war with Cahokia.
And then there is the thing we learn at the end, ohhh, intrigues. I can not say more about that, but interesting take.
I should be writing this review, but I really had to go google Cahokia and the mounds. To really get a look at them, since I know so little about the Native Americans along the Mississippi.
Back to fiction then. I really got to know everyone, and liked them. And I am very anti-Rome, we all know what they want. It's an interesting read, how things were, and could have been. yes of course he mixes fact and fiction. This is an alternative history after all. But it makes it fascinating.
The book is about making a life in a new land. New friends. New ways. But also the danger of the past. Hint hint, Rome is coming.
Interesting.
But Rome does not give up that easy.
And then there are the Iroque that are at war with Cahokia.
And then there is the thing we learn at the end, ohhh, intrigues. I can not say more about that, but interesting take.
I should be writing this review, but I really had to go google Cahokia and the mounds. To really get a look at them, since I know so little about the Native Americans along the Mississippi.
Back to fiction then. I really got to know everyone, and liked them. And I am very anti-Rome, we all know what they want. It's an interesting read, how things were, and could have been. yes of course he mixes fact and fiction. This is an alternative history after all. But it makes it fascinating.
The book is about making a life in a new land. New friends. New ways. But also the danger of the past. Hint hint, Rome is coming.
Interesting.
emnii's review against another edition
4.0
(Note: This is a review of the 2nd book in the Clash of Eagles trilogy. No particular care will be taken to avoid spoiling any parts of the first book, Clash of Eagles. The spoiler-free review of this book is that readers should continue to read the series through this transitory phase, even though it's a bit more meandering than I would've liked.)
Eagle in Exile picks up shortly after the ending of Clash of Eagles. The Cahokians are picking up the pieces after their battle with the Iroqua, and much of the blame is cast at Gaius Marcillinus's feet. Gaius, continuing to struggle between his Roman past and his Cahokian present, looks for ways to make himself more useful by preparing the Hesperians for the impending Roman invasion. He knows it's coming, and he does what he can to prevent all-out war between the two peoples, despite his very precipitous position within Cahokia.
Eagle in Exile functions a lot like a fish-out-of-water world tour, except the world is ancient America. Without throwing out much of the twists in the plot, Gaius finds himself traveling west, east, and south of Cahokia, meeting the people of those regions respectively. They're all given unique treatment, guided by the extensive research Smale has done. Gaius is often accompanied by translator or interpreters, so the language barrier is lower, and we get down to ideological differences faster than we do in Clash of Eagles. It works great to keep the story moving and not bogged down by the semantics of communicating with different people.
The story also continues the complicated relationship between Gaius and the Cahokians he holds most dear. The will-they or won't-they between him and Sintikala progresses significantly. The younger Cahokians also continue to gain and lose trust in Gaius as he shows himself to be a very human character. Sometimes he does things that don't make a lot of sense beside "It sounded like a good idea at the time".
While I generally enjoyed this back and forth, and the story is punctuated with frequent tension and conflict, the general plot doesn't come into focus until late in the story. It feels a quite meandering and the definition of a "middle book" story. It's just carrying us from the introduction to the (surely) large-scale conclusion. When I was getting toward the end, I finally determined that the current thing threatening Gaius was probably going to get resolved somehow, and it happened to be something that was referenced frequently throughout the rest of the story. There's a definite through-line from beginning to end, but it feels so small and far away at the start that it could've been the plot of the third novel.
Though Eagle in Exile suffers middle book syndrome, I'm still invested in this story and will see it through to the end. It continues to be a believable work of alternate history that weaves an interesting story, even if the plot is too blurry at the start to be particularly obvious. It ends on a note that makes the plot of the next book obvious from the start, and I want to see where it goes.
Eagle in Exile picks up shortly after the ending of Clash of Eagles. The Cahokians are picking up the pieces after their battle with the Iroqua, and much of the blame is cast at Gaius Marcillinus's feet. Gaius, continuing to struggle between his Roman past and his Cahokian present, looks for ways to make himself more useful by preparing the Hesperians for the impending Roman invasion. He knows it's coming, and he does what he can to prevent all-out war between the two peoples, despite his very precipitous position within Cahokia.
Eagle in Exile functions a lot like a fish-out-of-water world tour, except the world is ancient America. Without throwing out much of the twists in the plot, Gaius finds himself traveling west, east, and south of Cahokia, meeting the people of those regions respectively. They're all given unique treatment, guided by the extensive research Smale has done. Gaius is often accompanied by translator or interpreters, so the language barrier is lower, and we get down to ideological differences faster than we do in Clash of Eagles. It works great to keep the story moving and not bogged down by the semantics of communicating with different people.
The story also continues the complicated relationship between Gaius and the Cahokians he holds most dear. The will-they or won't-they between him and Sintikala progresses significantly. The younger Cahokians also continue to gain and lose trust in Gaius as he shows himself to be a very human character. Sometimes he does things that don't make a lot of sense beside "It sounded like a good idea at the time".
While I generally enjoyed this back and forth, and the story is punctuated with frequent tension and conflict, the general plot doesn't come into focus until late in the story. It feels a quite meandering and the definition of a "middle book" story. It's just carrying us from the introduction to the (surely) large-scale conclusion. When I was getting toward the end, I finally determined that the current thing threatening Gaius was probably going to get resolved somehow, and it happened to be something that was referenced frequently throughout the rest of the story. There's a definite through-line from beginning to end, but it feels so small and far away at the start that it could've been the plot of the third novel.
Though Eagle in Exile suffers middle book syndrome, I'm still invested in this story and will see it through to the end. It continues to be a believable work of alternate history that weaves an interesting story, even if the plot is too blurry at the start to be particularly obvious. It ends on a note that makes the plot of the next book obvious from the start, and I want to see where it goes.
plaidpladd's review against another edition
5.0
This series continues to be amazing! Every time I thought I knew where the story was headed, I was completely wrong, which is thrilling.
sherpawhale's review against another edition
4.0
One of the best thought-provoking "what-ifs" out there. Gripping emotionally as well as historically.
archergal's review against another edition
3.0
What if the Roman Empire never fell, but continued to conquer throughout the world? This story about Rome invading Nova Hesperia (North America, mostly what's currently the United States) continues to be interesting. Gaius Marcellinus, the Roman praetor who failed to conquer the Cahokia (the mound building empire near modern St. Louis, MO), has to deal with conflicting loyalties when Roman legions come back to Nova Hesperia with conquering on their minds. And they may end up with a battle on two fronts.
Gaius Marcellinus is a good, sympathetic character. He was the only one of his Legion left after they were soundly defeated by the Cahokian peoples in the first book. In this book, he's trying to get his adopted people ready for the new invasion by Rome that he knows is coming. Gaius is trying to make a new home for himself, with a new family. It's not always a smooth process.
There's a long section in the middle where the Cahokians meet the Blackfoot people on the Plains and join in a big buffalo hunt. I thought that went on a bit long and slowed the plot. But it is important for later plot developments. It's just a little long.
I'm still worried about the ending of this series. The Old World diseases that killed so many of the New World peoples aren't talked about here. Rome's overwhelming might is... overwhelming. This second book ended a little better than I feared it would, though. So maybe there's hope. I may have to take another little break because there's enough horrible things going on in the World Outside right now. I can't take reading about horrible things happening to characters I like too. :(
Gaius Marcellinus is a good, sympathetic character. He was the only one of his Legion left after they were soundly defeated by the Cahokian peoples in the first book. In this book, he's trying to get his adopted people ready for the new invasion by Rome that he knows is coming. Gaius is trying to make a new home for himself, with a new family. It's not always a smooth process.
There's a long section in the middle where the Cahokians meet the Blackfoot people on the Plains and join in a big buffalo hunt. I thought that went on a bit long and slowed the plot. But it is important for later plot developments. It's just a little long.
I'm still worried about the ending of this series. The Old World diseases that killed so many of the New World peoples aren't talked about here. Rome's overwhelming might is... overwhelming. This second book ended a little better than I feared it would, though. So maybe there's hope. I may have to take another little break because there's enough horrible things going on in the World Outside right now. I can't take reading about horrible things happening to characters I like too. :(
jamethielc's review against another edition
5.0
A little long winded, but wraps up the series in an utterly unpredictable but fantastic way. Most alt history is boring, but this blends action, characters and settings in a way that seems utterly believable and an awesome story.
madcassier's review against another edition
5.0
**A huge thank you to Ballantine, within the Random House Publishing Group, for providing me a digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley for the purposes of review**
I remember reading an ARC of Clash of Eagles this past February and saying that it pulled a fast one on me. In fact, I almost put it down about 25-30% of the way through it because I was dead sure I knew exactly how it would end and was feeling frustrated with it.
Well, not only was I partially-wrong about how Clash of Eagles would end, but I fell absolutely in love with that book. I fell in love with Marcellinus, our Roman protagonist, and his interactions with the Cahokians. When the novel ended, I was hungry for more of everything from the world of Alan Smale’s alternate history.
Eagle in Exile picks up where its predecessor left off and moves at an overall swifter pace. So much occurs within this second installment that it would be a struggle for me to recall every detail of this novel’s events. But I can say this: Eagle in Exile ups the ante…and it ups that ante BIG. In this novel, Alan Smale goes all in to the proverbial pot and says, “Go ahead. I dare you not to completely lose your mind at what happens.” Needless to say, I lost that bet because I sat wide-eyed and slack-jawed at this novel for its entire final quarter.
As always, the relationships between Marcellinus and his Cahokian friends are the best part of the novel. These relationships progress so much not only from where these characters all began in Clash of Eagles, but throughout the plot of Eagle in Exile. It’s also nice to see some familiar faces that I, personally, missed from Clash of Eagles – I’d say who, but, spoilers!
As with its predecessor, Eagle in Exile is brutal and gritty – a hypnotic and compelling piece of fiction that shows a world so real, you’ll wonder if maybe we all learned wrong in history class.
I remember reading an ARC of Clash of Eagles this past February and saying that it pulled a fast one on me. In fact, I almost put it down about 25-30% of the way through it because I was dead sure I knew exactly how it would end and was feeling frustrated with it.
Well, not only was I partially-wrong about how Clash of Eagles would end, but I fell absolutely in love with that book. I fell in love with Marcellinus, our Roman protagonist, and his interactions with the Cahokians. When the novel ended, I was hungry for more of everything from the world of Alan Smale’s alternate history.
Eagle in Exile picks up where its predecessor left off and moves at an overall swifter pace. So much occurs within this second installment that it would be a struggle for me to recall every detail of this novel’s events. But I can say this: Eagle in Exile ups the ante…and it ups that ante BIG. In this novel, Alan Smale goes all in to the proverbial pot and says, “Go ahead. I dare you not to completely lose your mind at what happens.” Needless to say, I lost that bet because I sat wide-eyed and slack-jawed at this novel for its entire final quarter.
As always, the relationships between Marcellinus and his Cahokian friends are the best part of the novel. These relationships progress so much not only from where these characters all began in Clash of Eagles, but throughout the plot of Eagle in Exile. It’s also nice to see some familiar faces that I, personally, missed from Clash of Eagles – I’d say who, but, spoilers!
As with its predecessor, Eagle in Exile is brutal and gritty – a hypnotic and compelling piece of fiction that shows a world so real, you’ll wonder if maybe we all learned wrong in history class.
cindyc's review against another edition
4.0
After reading Clash of Eagles, the first book in the Hesperian trilogy, I had some difficulty reviewing the book. I enjoyed the book, but I couldn’t quite connect with the main character and I had some doubts about his role in the new society he discovered. I’m really glad I got an opportunity to read the second book, Eagle in Exile, because all the things that didn’t work for me in the first book worked perfectly now. I started to care about Gaius Marcellinus almost right away and I was glad to see that he expressed the same doubts I had in the second book and tried to do something about it.
Lets get in to that in a bit more detail. Roman Praetor Gaius Marcellinus’ Legion was sent out by the Roman Emperor to explore Nova Hesperia, what we know as America. There he stumbles across a lot of different indigenous tribes that are different in every way from the Romans. Marcellinus’ goal is to find gold in the big city Cahokia, but the Cahokians won’t stand for their city being invaded by these strange men in shining armour. Marcellinus’ Legion is obliterated by the Cahokians. Marcellinus is spared and spends the next few years living with the Cahokians. I had a real problem with him trying to push Roman habits on these people. In Eagle in Exile, he seems to realise that he’s been manipulating these people to be more like the Romans and for the most part he regrets it. The changes he did bring weren’t all bad, but I thought it important to recognise that the Cahokians had their own culture and own war strategies and that those had worked perfectly for them. I was very glad to see this acknowledged in this book.
Eagle in Exile took a leap forward in every aspect compared to the first book. The characters were engaging, the relationships between them investments that were realistic and emotional. The story itself took various unexpected turns and took us across Nova Hesperia to discover more of this America.
Marcellinus is now fully focusing on the imminent threat of Rome to Nova Hesperia. He doesn’t want to see his friends get slaughtered by a bigger Roman force, so he tries to do everything in his power to unite the different clans and tribes. Together they could form a united front that will hopefully lead to a peaceful exchange with the Romans. Unfortunately, not everyone agrees. Their culture is heavily based on war and how well their warriors perform, the idea of peace therefore throws them off completely.
I liked how Cahokia took its fate into its own hands again, even though that wasn’t always a positive thing. I also enjoyed that most of the book was spent away from Cahokia and took us into the Iroqua capital, the Mud Market, the plains with the nomad tribes and even gave us a glimpse of the people living on the peninsula that we now know as Yucatan. So much to explore! All of them seem to have different habits and cultural beliefs and it was immensely fascinating to read about that.
The relationships Marcellinus has with the various people in Cahokia went much deeper in this book. Though romantically nothing gets rushed, true to what you would expect in that situation in real life, the bonds he has with for instance Enopay, Tahtay and especially Kimmimela were worked out beautifully. I also reading about Tahtay’s growth throughout the story.
Lastly, I think Smale made a terrific choice when it comes to how Marcellinus handled the return of the Romans. I’m sure this was a tricky bit, but the choices Marcellinus made were true to his character and made the whole thing even more interesting.
Even though it’s not a short book, I read it in just a few days which is testament to how much I enjoyed it. I’m pleased to see that the second book has improved on the first book and I’m looking forward to read the third part of this trilogy!
Lets get in to that in a bit more detail. Roman Praetor Gaius Marcellinus’ Legion was sent out by the Roman Emperor to explore Nova Hesperia, what we know as America. There he stumbles across a lot of different indigenous tribes that are different in every way from the Romans. Marcellinus’ goal is to find gold in the big city Cahokia, but the Cahokians won’t stand for their city being invaded by these strange men in shining armour. Marcellinus’ Legion is obliterated by the Cahokians. Marcellinus is spared and spends the next few years living with the Cahokians. I had a real problem with him trying to push Roman habits on these people. In Eagle in Exile, he seems to realise that he’s been manipulating these people to be more like the Romans and for the most part he regrets it. The changes he did bring weren’t all bad, but I thought it important to recognise that the Cahokians had their own culture and own war strategies and that those had worked perfectly for them. I was very glad to see this acknowledged in this book.
Eagle in Exile took a leap forward in every aspect compared to the first book. The characters were engaging, the relationships between them investments that were realistic and emotional. The story itself took various unexpected turns and took us across Nova Hesperia to discover more of this America.
Marcellinus is now fully focusing on the imminent threat of Rome to Nova Hesperia. He doesn’t want to see his friends get slaughtered by a bigger Roman force, so he tries to do everything in his power to unite the different clans and tribes. Together they could form a united front that will hopefully lead to a peaceful exchange with the Romans. Unfortunately, not everyone agrees. Their culture is heavily based on war and how well their warriors perform, the idea of peace therefore throws them off completely.
I liked how Cahokia took its fate into its own hands again, even though that wasn’t always a positive thing. I also enjoyed that most of the book was spent away from Cahokia and took us into the Iroqua capital, the Mud Market, the plains with the nomad tribes and even gave us a glimpse of the people living on the peninsula that we now know as Yucatan. So much to explore! All of them seem to have different habits and cultural beliefs and it was immensely fascinating to read about that.
The relationships Marcellinus has with the various people in Cahokia went much deeper in this book. Though romantically nothing gets rushed, true to what you would expect in that situation in real life, the bonds he has with for instance Enopay, Tahtay and especially Kimmimela were worked out beautifully. I also reading about Tahtay’s growth throughout the story.
Lastly, I think Smale made a terrific choice when it comes to how Marcellinus handled the return of the Romans. I’m sure this was a tricky bit, but the choices Marcellinus made were true to his character and made the whole thing even more interesting.
Even though it’s not a short book, I read it in just a few days which is testament to how much I enjoyed it. I’m pleased to see that the second book has improved on the first book and I’m looking forward to read the third part of this trilogy!
r_j_setser's review against another edition
3.0
It’s been more than 5 years since I began the story of Gaius Marcellinus in book one, Clash of Eagles. Then, I was a new teenager and though I absolutely loved the story, it was pretty inappropriate (in my standards at the time–now, I’d consider it only a PG-13 rating) for my age and I dropped the book only giving it 2 stars. But even now, 5 years later, the story of Gaius has been one of my favorites and I have found myself talking about this book on more than one occasion, so last year, I picked up Clash of Eagles where I left off and started Eagle in Exile shortly after.
Eagle in Exile is the sequel to Clash of Eagles, but it’s not a stand alone. So you definitely do NOT want to pick this one up before Clash of Eagles, you will be lost, I promise! There is just as much action and politics in this alternative, historical North American story as the first book had had. I would say Eagle in Exile is actually better than the first book in a few ways. For one, the characters seemed more easily distinguishable to me in this book. Bringing in tribal North American culture and Roman culture together produces names that were hard enough to pronounce, much less remember, but I had a much easier time in Eagle in Exile in telling which characters were who. I think it’s because the key characters actually started to act differently in book two and they were far more distinct and individual in their personalities, instead of being just mass characters in a tribe, as they had been in the first book.
The storyline is still pretty incredible and there were some twists that I didn’t see coming, and some that I waited for in anticipation. There is a LOT to the story, so don’t try to read it in one night. This is a trilogy that you pace yourself reading, almost like watching a TV show. Each book covers, in detail, a year at least, if not more, so you can think of each book as a season of a TV show, and each chapter is it’s very own episode (seriously, there is something totally different going on in every chapter!).
There are a couple of reasons that I’m only giving Eagle in Exile 3 stars instead of 5 though. One, there is definitely some high TV-14, if not low TV-MA, rated content. Sexual content consists of some semi-detailed mentions of women’s nakedness and a royal, tribal sex scene (they are all high on some sort of weed as well, and lots of drinking), HOWEVER, these are very mild descriptions to set the scene, not actions that the main character indulges in (Gaius is a great guy folks, admirable even!) so, it settled a bit different with me. That’s just what happened during this time period and it made the book more historically accurate. The blood and gore is pretty detailed as well, so it’s not a book for the squeamish.
So, overall, the story of Gaius Marcellinus is one I recommend to lovers of alternative historical timelines, because this one is an excellent one. But definitely beware of the content that comes with these types of stories. In my opinion, this series is pretty mild compared to other shows I’ve watched, but it might be a lot to someone else.
I received this book from the author for the purpose of this review. All comments and opinions are entirely my own.
This is a LiteratureApproved(.com) Review.
Eagle in Exile is the sequel to Clash of Eagles, but it’s not a stand alone. So you definitely do NOT want to pick this one up before Clash of Eagles, you will be lost, I promise! There is just as much action and politics in this alternative, historical North American story as the first book had had. I would say Eagle in Exile is actually better than the first book in a few ways. For one, the characters seemed more easily distinguishable to me in this book. Bringing in tribal North American culture and Roman culture together produces names that were hard enough to pronounce, much less remember, but I had a much easier time in Eagle in Exile in telling which characters were who. I think it’s because the key characters actually started to act differently in book two and they were far more distinct and individual in their personalities, instead of being just mass characters in a tribe, as they had been in the first book.
The storyline is still pretty incredible and there were some twists that I didn’t see coming, and some that I waited for in anticipation. There is a LOT to the story, so don’t try to read it in one night. This is a trilogy that you pace yourself reading, almost like watching a TV show. Each book covers, in detail, a year at least, if not more, so you can think of each book as a season of a TV show, and each chapter is it’s very own episode (seriously, there is something totally different going on in every chapter!).
There are a couple of reasons that I’m only giving Eagle in Exile 3 stars instead of 5 though. One, there is definitely some high TV-14, if not low TV-MA, rated content. Sexual content consists of some semi-detailed mentions of women’s nakedness and a royal, tribal sex scene (they are all high on some sort of weed as well, and lots of drinking), HOWEVER, these are very mild descriptions to set the scene, not actions that the main character indulges in (Gaius is a great guy folks, admirable even!) so, it settled a bit different with me. That’s just what happened during this time period and it made the book more historically accurate. The blood and gore is pretty detailed as well, so it’s not a book for the squeamish.
So, overall, the story of Gaius Marcellinus is one I recommend to lovers of alternative historical timelines, because this one is an excellent one. But definitely beware of the content that comes with these types of stories. In my opinion, this series is pretty mild compared to other shows I’ve watched, but it might be a lot to someone else.
I received this book from the author for the purpose of this review. All comments and opinions are entirely my own.
This is a LiteratureApproved(.com) Review.