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David McK (3562 KP) rated Tribune of Rome in Books
Jan 30, 2019
Ever since (roughly) about a decade ago - when the movie 'Gladiator' first came out - I've been noticing more and more Roman-themed books, from Simon Scarrow's 'Macro and Cato' series to Conn Iggulden's 'Emperor' quartet to Ben Kane's 'Forgotten Legion Chronicles' (and now 'Enemy of Rome' series) to John Stack's 'Masters of the Sea' series to Anthony Riches' 'Empire' series to Harry Sidebottom's 'Warrior of Rome' series to ...
... you get the picture.
To that list, we can now also add Robert Fabbri with his planned 'Vespasian' series of books, of which this is the first. In the interest of full disclosure, I'm also going to state that (from the above list of authors) I've read at least one book in their respective series. Of those all - and, including, now, this book - I have to say, I've found Scarrow's novels to be the most entertaining.
As a novel, I found this one could be split into three distinct sections: the beginning was set during Vespasians early years in the Roman country-side and mainly concerning the relationship between him and his brother, before the setting moves to Rome proper when the two brothers get embroiled in Roman politics, and then (in the latter half of the book), following Vespasians early military career. It was probably this latter aspect of the book that is the most enjoyable, even if it does still suffer from seemingly stilted conversations that are used to move the plot along - that, and some 'Oh, come on! As if ...' moments (one in particular!).
While I read some more of this series? Possibly, but also I'm not going to be going out of my way to look for them.
... you get the picture.
To that list, we can now also add Robert Fabbri with his planned 'Vespasian' series of books, of which this is the first. In the interest of full disclosure, I'm also going to state that (from the above list of authors) I've read at least one book in their respective series. Of those all - and, including, now, this book - I have to say, I've found Scarrow's novels to be the most entertaining.
As a novel, I found this one could be split into three distinct sections: the beginning was set during Vespasians early years in the Roman country-side and mainly concerning the relationship between him and his brother, before the setting moves to Rome proper when the two brothers get embroiled in Roman politics, and then (in the latter half of the book), following Vespasians early military career. It was probably this latter aspect of the book that is the most enjoyable, even if it does still suffer from seemingly stilted conversations that are used to move the plot along - that, and some 'Oh, come on! As if ...' moments (one in particular!).
While I read some more of this series? Possibly, but also I'm not going to be going out of my way to look for them.
Sarah (7800 KP) rated The Boys - Season 2 in TV
Oct 10, 2020
Excellent, but not quite as good as the first
For me, the first series of The Boys was a brilliant surprise and the wait for this second series has been a rather frustrating and impatient experience, especially as Amazon decided not to release the entire series at once. Fortunately by the time the credits rolled on the series 2 finale, it was definitely worth the wait.
This second series follows on from the reveal at the end of the series 1 finale, and features more dodgy supes and the Boys trying to take down both them and Vought.
Series 2 is very similar to the first. It’s just as rude and crude as before, full of dark and often hilarious humour and the blood and gore ante seems to have been upped considerably. It definitely provides a refreshing change to the Marvel universe and the majority of other superheroes that stick to their PG or 12A ratings. This has a very smart and funny take on politics and also on pop culture and the media, and even superhero films don’t escape this unscathed when we see The Seven making their own movie.
The cast are as fantastic as they were in the first series. Antony Starr is outstanding as Homelander, playing the homicidal maniac with some semblance of a heart – after 2 series I think I both love and hate him in equal parts, he’s such a complex character. It was very nice to see Dominique McElligott get more to work with as Maeve as well and to see more depth to her character. The rest of the cast and the new additions do very well too - Goran Visjnic, Shawn Ashmore and Jim Beaver are especially welcome, and it was very clever of Eric Kripke to name Beaver’s character as Robert Singer, the same name as his character from Supernatural.
Despite this, I don’t think this series is perfect and I do think it’s a slight baby step down from the rather excellent first series. Some of the episodes feel like they drag a little, although they do end up picking up towards the end (usually with a bang). The final two episodes definitely try and make up for this and I think the finale itself was especially good as we get to see Stormfront get her much deserved comeuppance. I also think some of the interactions between Starlight and the other characters are slightly badly scripted and feel a little forced and cringeworthy, but I’m not entirely sure if this is on purpose to show how awkwardly Starlight interacts with others.
The Deep has also been done a disservice in this series. He starts off brilliantly and the scene with the whale in the third episode is downright genius, however as the series moves on we see less and less of him and he’s sorely missed. Admittedly when he does pop up in the later episodes he has some cracking lines, but it’s not enough. I also think that Shawn Ashmore as Lamplighter was fantastic for the brief time we saw him, and I really wish he’d been kept around for much longer.
The Boys series 2 is overall a very good series that for the most part lives up to it’s predecessor and after the final few scenes in episode 8, definitely leaves us crying out for more.
This second series follows on from the reveal at the end of the series 1 finale, and features more dodgy supes and the Boys trying to take down both them and Vought.
Series 2 is very similar to the first. It’s just as rude and crude as before, full of dark and often hilarious humour and the blood and gore ante seems to have been upped considerably. It definitely provides a refreshing change to the Marvel universe and the majority of other superheroes that stick to their PG or 12A ratings. This has a very smart and funny take on politics and also on pop culture and the media, and even superhero films don’t escape this unscathed when we see The Seven making their own movie.
The cast are as fantastic as they were in the first series. Antony Starr is outstanding as Homelander, playing the homicidal maniac with some semblance of a heart – after 2 series I think I both love and hate him in equal parts, he’s such a complex character. It was very nice to see Dominique McElligott get more to work with as Maeve as well and to see more depth to her character. The rest of the cast and the new additions do very well too - Goran Visjnic, Shawn Ashmore and Jim Beaver are especially welcome, and it was very clever of Eric Kripke to name Beaver’s character as Robert Singer, the same name as his character from Supernatural.
Despite this, I don’t think this series is perfect and I do think it’s a slight baby step down from the rather excellent first series. Some of the episodes feel like they drag a little, although they do end up picking up towards the end (usually with a bang). The final two episodes definitely try and make up for this and I think the finale itself was especially good as we get to see Stormfront get her much deserved comeuppance. I also think some of the interactions between Starlight and the other characters are slightly badly scripted and feel a little forced and cringeworthy, but I’m not entirely sure if this is on purpose to show how awkwardly Starlight interacts with others.
The Deep has also been done a disservice in this series. He starts off brilliantly and the scene with the whale in the third episode is downright genius, however as the series moves on we see less and less of him and he’s sorely missed. Admittedly when he does pop up in the later episodes he has some cracking lines, but it’s not enough. I also think that Shawn Ashmore as Lamplighter was fantastic for the brief time we saw him, and I really wish he’d been kept around for much longer.
The Boys series 2 is overall a very good series that for the most part lives up to it’s predecessor and after the final few scenes in episode 8, definitely leaves us crying out for more.
Flowerpower (154 KP) rated Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Season 1 in TV
May 15, 2017
Christina Tsitlakidou (43 KP) rated Mr. Robot - Season 1 in TV
May 19, 2017
BobbiesDustyPages (1259 KP) rated Sherlock - Season 1 in TV
Jul 22, 2017
