This book follows the story of Ballista. In short, he must get to the Emperor of Rome within the next 24 hours or they will both die.
The book starts off at a very fast pace. The chases and fight scenes are really exciting, and the writing in these parts of the book is very good.
I also enjoyed the historical setting of the book. I don't usually read much historical fiction so I was pleasantly surprised at the extra level this added to the story. I felt like I was learning something interesting at the same time as enjoying the fast pace of an action thriller.
I liked the added element of the map at the front of the book. It helped me to imagine what was happening. There were so many different locations involved and it was great to be able to follow the route the story took on the map.
The one thing I didn't like about the book was that there felt like a struggle in the advance of the plot. It's basically just a really long chase, interspersed with moments of rest or hiding. The chase parts are really exciting and full of action, almost like a 24-style political thriller. But the quiet bits in-between were just a little bit too quiet, and the interest of the Roman history thrown in wasn't quite enough to stop me from being a little bored at times.
Overall this is a great read, but I did have to push through the quieter parts to get to the good stuff.
The book starts off at a very fast pace. The chases and fight scenes are really exciting, and the writing in these parts of the book is very good.
I also enjoyed the historical setting of the book. I don't usually read much historical fiction so I was pleasantly surprised at the extra level this added to the story. I felt like I was learning something interesting at the same time as enjoying the fast pace of an action thriller.
I liked the added element of the map at the front of the book. It helped me to imagine what was happening. There were so many different locations involved and it was great to be able to follow the route the story took on the map.
The one thing I didn't like about the book was that there felt like a struggle in the advance of the plot. It's basically just a really long chase, interspersed with moments of rest or hiding. The chase parts are really exciting and full of action, almost like a 24-style political thriller. But the quiet bits in-between were just a little bit too quiet, and the interest of the Roman history thrown in wasn't quite enough to stop me from being a little bored at times.
Overall this is a great read, but I did have to push through the quieter parts to get to the good stuff.