The book starts when a man wakes up in a roadside hut not knowing who he is or how he got there. Meanwhile back in the city Loreticus, The Spymaster, is trying to piece together the disappearance of the emperor Marcan whilst negotiating his way around the trio of warlords who jostle to take the emperor's place.
The mystery man bears a remarkable resemblance to the emperor and, in fact, takes on the role as emperor in a band of travelling storytellers.
What follows is Loreticus' manoeuvres to return this man to the empire, as it's leader.
The book is full of unlikeable characters, plenty of death, infidelity and plotting galore. You can tell that the fictional empire is broadly based upon the Romans but a lack of detail about the empire itself allows the reader to extend the full range of their imagination.
It was good to see some really strong female characters in the book - the power behind the throne it would seem.
There are definitely parallels that can be drawn with the modern day - after all the struggle for power is as old as time itself.
This is the first book of the trilogy and I'm certainly intrigued to find out what happens next.
The mystery man bears a remarkable resemblance to the emperor and, in fact, takes on the role as emperor in a band of travelling storytellers.
What follows is Loreticus' manoeuvres to return this man to the empire, as it's leader.
The book is full of unlikeable characters, plenty of death, infidelity and plotting galore. You can tell that the fictional empire is broadly based upon the Romans but a lack of detail about the empire itself allows the reader to extend the full range of their imagination.
It was good to see some really strong female characters in the book - the power behind the throne it would seem.
There are definitely parallels that can be drawn with the modern day - after all the struggle for power is as old as time itself.
This is the first book of the trilogy and I'm certainly intrigued to find out what happens next.