Review: Suspension of disbelief to the limit, but...
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 17, 2013
*REVISION:  I am editing this review and adding a star to my rating after re-evaluating my comments.  This was billed by Amazon as "historical fiction," which of course it is - kind of.  But it doesn't attempt to be historically accurate.  It is more like a fantasy or science fiction story that happens to take place in ancient Rome.  There is some terminology and there are some details about war ships of the era that ring true, but they are incidental to the story.  SO... My advice is to approach this as a science fiction novel with a few elements of historical truth, rather than the other way around.  If you, dear reader, do that, you will not be disappointed and you will find this to be a fun adventure.  -DBPI have to admit that this book kept me reading it to the end, though I was tempted to give up on it more than once. There were numerous flaws, such as the first person narrator describing in detail, sometimes verbatim, things he could not possibly have seen, heard or known... an illogical encounter with Christianity... and Oh, the silly anachronisms!  Telescopes, a "mysterious" compass, tiny boats self-powered by some unexplained "buzzing" mechanism, and of all things, a nuclear bomb - in ancient Rome!  All invented by a pair of ancient geniuses who make Newton, Einstein and Oppenheimer look like elementary school children at a science fair.  The story was predictable and often trite, and sometimes ridiculous...And yet I read it to the end, so it did have some quality that made it worthy of my time.  It started well enough to catch my interest; and curiosity, not intrigue nor suspense nor characterization, kept me reading it.  But it was a good effort by the author, who shows potential, I think.  And it did keep me reading, so I give it three stars.  If you enjoy an adventure yarn and can suspend disbelief to the extreme, or if you approach it as an odd fantasy novel, you might very well enjoy this story a lot.  But don't think to hard while you're reading it or like me, you'll find yourself thinking, "Oh, come on now, give me a break!  That's ridiculous!"  (And yet, I continued reading!)