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Entry number 4 (of 5) in Simon Scarrow & Tj Andrews's 'Warrior' series of novellas, in which the Catuvellaunian tribe go to war against the Atrabates, with Caratacus here first experimenting with the guerilla tactics he would later use against the Roman invaders.

As with the previous three entries, this is presented as the elderly Caratacus, whilst in exile in Rome, recounting his experiences to a Roman historian, with the sub-plot that this may be bringing that historian unwelcome attention from Nero's officials.

As also before - and as required by the fact that this is a novella - it's also a rather short read, complete with it's own 'intro' and 'outro'
  
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Deborah (162 KP) rated Master and God in Books

Dec 21, 2018  
MA
Master and God
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Lindsey Davis' latest offering isn't a new Falco, but it isn't all bad news, because I thought it was a really good read! The Master & God of the title is, of course, the emperor Domitian, son of Vespasian and brother of Titus, so readers of the Falco novels will already be in familiar territory.... Domitian isn't the main narrative character in the novel though, so in some ways it's not really 'about' him. The story centres around a soldier and a hairdresser and imperial freedwoman, and it is their story and the story of the times they live through.

The book I read just before this was Kate Quinn's Daughters of Rome, which covers the Year of the Four Emperors, concluding with the accession of Vespasian, so in many ways this linked in nicely from an historical point of view. What I noticed almost straight away though, was how much better Davis' writing is; Rome and the characters really came alive for me in a way they never quite managed in Quinn's work.

Davis' sense of humour is still very much apparent, thought it doesn't come across quite so keenly as in the Falco novels; I think this may be because Falco is in the first person while Master & God is told in the third person, utilising more than one character point of view - including Musca the Fly, that I see several people have commented on!