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liroa15 's review for:
The Valiant
by Lesley Livingston
I was so excited for this book, but it is just not very exciting. Totally disregarding the fact a decurion would never get involved with a slave (although a gladiatrix would be another choice and probably more likely for a senator's son) in this capacity. To borrow a modern term, have an affair with (although the concept of affair implies consent, which would be, by necessity lacking), of course, but that would hardly be remarkable. That was common for Romans of all classes. The idea of a Roman of senatorial rank admiring the idea of freedom from slavery and Spartacus's rebellion would no doubt be as anathema in their time as admiring the idea of slavery is in ours. (And therein lies the true problem.) Also, it's highly, highly unlikely that Fallon would be fluent in Latin, which this novel relies upon heavily. It was hardly the universal language of the ancient world.
Livingston approaches a time with very different mores from our own and attempts to use it as a basis for some sort of star-crossed lovers story with the basis in the gladiatorial games. (As a note, I was glad to see that most of Livingston's fights didn't end in death, as is so often the modern conception.) There's so much romanticization of gladiators in this that it's farcical.
I'm also not quite sure what to make of Livingston's Caesar, especially since she's placing this in a very particular and (by necessity) brief time in history. Julius Caesar is one of the most romanticized figures of Roman history, but I think she would have been better off picking his heir and nephew as her Caesar and avoiding this fraught period all together.
Other than the fact the history didn't ring true to me in pretty much any respect, there's very little to this novel. The characters are flat, and Fallon forgets about Mael shockingly quickly. Whether this should be read as teenage flightiness or the feelings not being as deep as the character professes or whatever remains unclear. Regardless, the love story is anemic at best, and I didn't really buy any other part of this.
I really, really did want to like this, but it was mostly just the standard dystopian YA fantasy schtick set in Ancient Rome instead of some nebulous future, and for me that made it even less enjoyable.
Livingston approaches a time with very different mores from our own and attempts to use it as a basis for some sort of star-crossed lovers story with the basis in the gladiatorial games. (As a note, I was glad to see that most of Livingston's fights didn't end in death, as is so often the modern conception.) There's so much romanticization of gladiators in this that it's farcical.
I'm also not quite sure what to make of Livingston's Caesar, especially since she's placing this in a very particular and (by necessity) brief time in history. Julius Caesar is one of the most romanticized figures of Roman history, but I think she would have been better off picking his heir and nephew as her Caesar and avoiding this fraught period all together.
Other than the fact the history didn't ring true to me in pretty much any respect, there's very little to this novel. The characters are flat, and Fallon forgets about Mael shockingly quickly. Whether this should be read as teenage flightiness or the feelings not being as deep as the character professes or whatever remains unclear. Regardless, the love story is anemic at best, and I didn't really buy any other part of this.
I really, really did want to like this, but it was mostly just the standard dystopian YA fantasy schtick set in Ancient Rome instead of some nebulous future, and for me that made it even less enjoyable.