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Tribune of Rome
Tribune of Rome
Robert Fabbri | 2011 | Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics
4
6.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
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.
  
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Sarah (7800 KP) rated The Boys - Season 2 in TV

Oct 10, 2020  
The Boys - Season 2
The Boys - Season 2
2020 | Action, Adventure
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.
  
Buffy the Vampire Slayer  - Season 1
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Season 1
1997 | Horror
Entertaining and fun. (1 more)
Good level of creepiness.
The first series is a little rough around the edges. (0 more)
Buffy, battles the evil forces as the slayer!
  
Mr. Robot  - Season 1
Mr. Robot - Season 1
2015 | Drama
Storyline (3 more)
Interesting insight into hacking
Rami Malek perfect actor to play 'Elliot'
Joanna Wellick (Tyrell's Wife)
Probably the first series I've been fully hooked on
  
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
J.K. Rowling | 2014 | Children, Fiction & Poetry
9
9.1 (271 Ratings)
Book Rating
The story line (1 more)
The creation of characters
A great start to a wonderful series
This book opened a whole new world for many young readers.
  
Sherlock  - Season 1
Sherlock - Season 1
2010 | Mystery
The cast (1 more)
The modernization
Love it so much
I truly hate the books so I was beyond shocked in how much I loved the series.
  
Cinder
Cinder
Marissa Meyer | 2012 | Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
9
8.5 (96 Ratings)
Book Rating
Diverse characters (1 more)
amazingly original while sticking to the source material.
Such a breath of fresh air.
This became one of my favorite series to date.
  
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Jenna (87 KP) rated Cinder in Books

Jul 29, 2017  
Cinder
Cinder
Marissa Meyer | 2012 | Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
9
8.5 (96 Ratings)
Book Rating
Interesting take on Cinderella fairytale (0 more)
I thought this was an interesting re-telling of Cinderella. I can't wait to read the rest of the series.
  
The Expanse  - Season 1
The Expanse - Season 1
2015 | Sci-Fi
10
9.3 (6 Ratings)
Diverse Characters (2 more)
Kickass Females
Stuck to the first book, but made some interesting additions
Great book series. I was excited to see it on TV.
  
Prince of Thorns
Prince of Thorns
Mark Lawrence | 2014 | Fiction & Poetry
7
8.3 (11 Ratings)
Book Rating
Charming (0 more)
Derivative (0 more)
Better than I expected
Fallen World science fantasy is a bit tapped out now, but this series is one of the better examples.