Review: Caros may rise to the top a little fast but he guides us with skill
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 9, 2014
Warhorn is an attempt to bring us into the world of the Second Punic War. Where this does begin to succeed the authors notes cites the liberties he took with the timeline to make the story flow better, and that actually diverts you from what might have been an even stronger piece.Supplemental characters are brought on stage often to illustrate the harsh realities of the time. The Barbarous nature of the era. And readers should be prepared for this is a time where might is right, and might does rule. Especially when you are in the border lands of two giant empires positioning for control of ultimately all of the Mediterranean, though that will come later. This is the beginning of that long war.To tell us about this period and take us through it, we are introduced to Caros, the son of a merchant. The story opens when tragedy has struck his family. Caros is our advocate to learn of Hannibal, he of the elephant fame, and who we know will ultimately lose to Rome. Thus usually in fiction told of the period we see the world through the eyes of Rome. We know Scipio Africanus will be victorious ultimately. We also know that Hannibal was a military genius.Here Caros shows us that there were actions like the pawns in chess moving about ahead of the first fight at Tagus and then the siege of Saguntum. That Mr. Bauer changes the timeframe perhaps makes a wronger tale with a great many heroic fight scenes and tales of the siege.There however is a certain realism to our heroes that Caros transcends. Here is a man who has had some training with a weapon, and the intelligence to learn the life of a merchant. He instantly has the skill of a battle hardened warrior of many campaigns, and the craft of a leader of thousands of men. Skills that are not acquired over one season of warfare. Given some backstory to these skills beyond what we learn might have provided us with a greater appreciation of our hero. Instead he appears more blessed than even Hannibal who trained for his generalship from childhood is eclipsed by our Caros. When overlooking this the story flows to surround us with details and subplots that give us an idea what the Inerian Peninsula was like at the time.Even to the very end, where Caros faces the end of his own personal journey, we see a harsh world revealed with a conclusion that is necessary for our heroes personal growth. Reading this tale of fighting, great battles, and a period long gone, should bring a reader who has had a large selection of Pro-Roman Historical and Military Fiction to see that the grass may be no greener from the side of their many foes, but is as equally filled with heroism, sacrifice, and wonderment. For those with a shared love of this period you will see that Bauer does not disappoint and a perusal of his story is worth the effort.