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A review by aront
Roma by Steven Saylor
3.0
Good:
Easy to read. Saylor knows all the tricks of the trade to keep the suspense going, to keep the story line moving and to make his characters interesting. He also brings to life many of the "heroes" of Roman history and humanizes their motivations. He gives the reader a good feel for the day to day life of Rome at all levels of it's society. Finally he brings to life all the themes that led Rome to become a great empire along with the internal conflicts that eventually led to it's collapse: it's ruthless militarism, it's religious conservatism, the conflict between plebes and patricians along with the outsized egos of generals, senators and businessman.
Bad:
Didactic explanations of the missed decades between chapters to fill in the missing gaps. Surely he could have found a better way to do this. Also the trite "follow the family through the centuries" approach to historical fiction was just a hack trick. The Source is the granddaddy of all these but Michener is a much finer craftsman than Saylor and the rest. Some more innovative approach is needed.
And as some other review noted, turning the winged phallus into a cross was jarring and totally absurd.
Nonetheless worth a read. Rome is so central to human history and this is an easy way to pick up the basics.
Easy to read. Saylor knows all the tricks of the trade to keep the suspense going, to keep the story line moving and to make his characters interesting. He also brings to life many of the "heroes" of Roman history and humanizes their motivations. He gives the reader a good feel for the day to day life of Rome at all levels of it's society. Finally he brings to life all the themes that led Rome to become a great empire along with the internal conflicts that eventually led to it's collapse: it's ruthless militarism, it's religious conservatism, the conflict between plebes and patricians along with the outsized egos of generals, senators and businessman.
Bad:
Didactic explanations of the missed decades between chapters to fill in the missing gaps. Surely he could have found a better way to do this. Also the trite "follow the family through the centuries" approach to historical fiction was just a hack trick. The Source is the granddaddy of all these but Michener is a much finer craftsman than Saylor and the rest. Some more innovative approach is needed.
And as some other review noted, turning the winged phallus into a cross was jarring and totally absurd.
Nonetheless worth a read. Rome is so central to human history and this is an easy way to pick up the basics.