Mare liberum

Vindolanda #2

by Adrian Goldsworthy

Keer terug naar Britannia, waar geen enkele Brit óf Romein veilig is voor de dreiging van de zee


BRITANNIA, 100 N .CHR.

Flavius Ferox, een Brits-Romeinse centurion, vindt het moeilijk om de vrede te bewaren. Hij is gestationeerd in Vindolanda – een fort aan de noordgrens van Britannia en daarmee aan de noordelijke kant van het Romeinse Rijk – en voelt de ogen van zijn vijanden op zich gericht.

Eerzuchtige leiders zien een kans om hun rijk uit te breiden, terwijl mannen dichterbij uisteren over oorlog en de vernietiging van Rome.

Ondertussen wachten op zee schepen vol piraten en deserteurs ruste loos op het juiste moment om aan te vallen.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Audiobook, Historical, Roman, British Literature, Thriller

350 pages, Paperback

First published May 31, 2018

About the author

Adrian Goldsworthy, born in 1969, is the author of numerous acclaimed books, including biographies of Julius Caesar and Augustus. He lectures widely and consults on historical documentaries for the History Channel, National Geographic, and the BBC. He lives in the UK.

Reviews

[Jeffrey Keeten · Rating 4 out of 5]

”The wind picked up, hissing through the grass. As a child, he had been told that the winds sometimes carried the voices of those who had gone on to the Otherworld and now walked in shadow. He listened hard, for a moment longing for this grandfather to speak to him, but if there were words he could not catch them or the message was for someone else. Perhaps he was now too Roman to understand, for his people also said that running water carried the echoes of old magic and old tears, the words of gods and spirits reaching back to the start of all things, and yet all he could hear was the soft roar of the stream. He was a long way from his homeland.”

Flavius Ferox is a Briton turned Roman centurion. He is stationed in the far North at Vindolanda. His people, the Silures, are wolf people, who fought the Romans and, like all the other cultures who stood in the way of Roman conquest, failed to stop the Romans. Ferox would have been a prince and future king for his people, but those days are gone. His connection to the earth and to his heritage becomes more tenuous with each passing year as he becomes more and more Roman.

The equestrian class of military leaders come to Britain with the hope of winning glory and fame. Maintaining the peace should be the goal of any military commander, but returning to Rome bragging of the tranquility of their time in Britain hardly opens up doors for the ambitious. Ferox doesn’t trust any of their intentions, but he does covet one member of their class.

Sulpicia Lepidina

The golden haired beauty, whom he saved from being sacrificed to the gods by the Druids in the first book, can tease him that he hasn’t had to save her from certain death in at least a year.

The Fates must have heard her for her string has been plucked once again.

The fort is attacked by pirates, men in black who come in the dark of the night in boats. They are feared because they are fierce warriors, but also because they are desperate, ex-Roman soldiers who mutinied against their officers and must fight to the death because death awaits them anyway if they are taken alive. They have also become something that makes them even more despised and feared...eaters of men.

”During the same summer, a cohort of Usipi conscripted in the German provinces and sent to Britannia committed a great and infamous crime. After killing the centurion and soldiers who were put amongst them to teach discipline, serve as examples and instruct, they seized three light warships….”
Tacitus, Agricola 28.

Ferox must rescue Sulpicia Lepidina even though she is married to another. She is the love of his life, and even if she were free, he would never be allowed to marry her.

Doomed love.

The very best kind.

What really makes this series so interesting to me is that Adrian Goldsworthy is making full use of the cache of remarkable texts found in a dig at Vindolanda. These revealing artifacts help him to put flesh and bones on his fictional characters as well as create expanded identities for those characters who were once real people. In the back of each volume, he shares with the reader the influences that these texts have had on the story line. The third volume, titled Brigantia, was just released this month. Needless to say, I will be time travelling back to 100AD Britain for yet another adventure.

If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visithttp://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten

[Justo Martiañez · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 Estrellas

Segunda entrega de las aventuras de nuestro centurión "regionalis", Flavio Ferox, en Vindolanda, en la lejana y difusa frontera norte de la provincia de Britania, allá por los primeros años del principado de Trajano, principios del II dc.

Como "regionalis", se encarga de mantener la paz entre la población civil que rodea el fuerte fronterizo al que está asignado y de estar pendiente de cualquier movimiento, rumor, alteración de las tribus que amenazan la frontera norte de la provincia.

La presencia militar romana no está en sus mejores momentos en Britania. Las campañas Dacias que planea Trajano en el Danubio, detraen recursos de las provincias, que a duras penas reponen los efectivos necesarios para mantenerse sin penurias. Sin embargo, una revuelta de grandes dimensiones puede poner en un serio aprieto a los romanos.

En la frontera, siempre hay asaltos, robos, muertes....y Ferox investiga, y halla. En este caso empiezan a aparecer indicios que apuntan a una cohorte de auxiliares germanos amotinada unos años antes. Tras rebelarse matan, asaltan, practican hasta el canibalismo, se enfrentan entre ellos....y acaban desapareciendo, hasta ahora ¿Qué los induce a reaparecer en escena?

Los personajes son muy buenos, la ambientación estupenda, los conocimientos militares del autor incuestionables No hay grandes batallas, pero la acción es casi continua y no permite que te aburras en ningún momento.

¿Qué es lo que me ha fallado? Hay un tema que no me cuadra. El autor intenta meter algo de fantasía en la trama. Que si druidas, que si brujas, que si tribus o poblaciones dominadas por los poderes de determinados personajes....no sé, intenta cargar la atmósfera con este tipo de temas y, por lo menos a mi, me desvirtúa un poco la trama. Entiendo que a otros lectores esto le parecerá un valor añadido, no es mi caso.

Presiento que en alguna de las entregas posteriores caerán las 5 estrellas.

Recomendable. Los que gusten de novela histórica de acción, la gozarán con este autor.

[Charles van Buren · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fine second volume in the series

This second volume of Mr. Goldsworthy's Vindolanda series set in Roman Britain during the reign of the Emperor Trajan is a fine sequel to the first volume. It is a standalone novel but will be just a bit easier to follow if one reads volume one first. Many readers will be reminded just a little of Michael Crichton's EATERS OF THE DEAD (movie version THE THIRTEENTH WARRIOR). It has the same questioning plot, is it supernatural or just very evil and disgusting men? The question is answered earlier in this book than it was in Crichton's. Centurion Flavius Ferox is joined in this adventure by many of his compatriots from volume one as well as some new characters including an amazonian Hibernian warrior queen. One of the better Roman historical novels I've read.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Punchier than the first in the series, this once again follows Centurion Flavius Ferox as he plays the hero. Written by someone who really knows what he's talking about when it comes to Romans in Britain, this one manages to incorporate the detail that made Vindolanda so vibrantly real, but feeds it more effectively into the overarching narrative, making it a much more exciting read. There's even a section at the end that discusses what extant sources can tell us about the period and where the author has let his imagination flow.

Ferox is a thoroughly engaging character-capable, intelligent, and yes, romantic. For me, he's the heart of the book and the reason I'll keep coming back. The plots have been interesting enough, but there's nothing especially new about them save the knowledge the author has an excellent grounding in the possible. Without the draw of this main character, and the surrounding cast of fun individuals like Vindex, it would certainly not have the same level of appeal. They are excellently drawn, the kind of people you get behind immediately and cheer to the last. Most of all, they add to the cinematic feel of the whole experience, bright lights against the grey drizzle of Roman Britain. The books would make excellent films, full of detail and death.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second of the author’s series set at the end of the first century AD and featuring his hero Flavius Ferox, high born native Briton and Roman citizen, and a centurion based at the fort of Vindolanda at the northern frontier of Roman Britannia, in what is now Northern England.

This book contains an afterword in which the author explains he drew the idea for the plot from two references by the Roman historian Tacitus. One, from the “Germania”, is to a particular Germanic tribe (to avoid spoilers I won’t say which one). The other, from “The Life of Agricola” refers to an incident involving a cohort of Germanic auxiliaries serving with the Roman Army in Britain. I’ve read both of those books (in a single volume, and in translation) and confess I couldn’t initially remember either reference, though of course I couldn’t resist going back to the books by Tacitus to read the extracts for myself. I suppose that illustrates the skill of a successful author like Adrian Goldsworthy, that he can take brief references of that kind and turn them into a full-blown novel.

As with the first novel, this one has a threat emanating from the mysterious lands of Caledonia (roughly modern-day Scotland), which were not part of Roman Britain. There’s also a side issue of a diplomatic mission from Hibernia (Ireland).

I quite enjoyed the first book in the series, but I initially thought this was going to be a superior sequel. Even as a native Briton, Ferox struggles to understand who is behind certain raids launched against the frontier, and why they are targeting a particular person. I thought the author made a good job of creating an atmosphere of gathering threat. Unfortunately the last part didn’t totally deliver for me. In my review of the first book, I commented that I got a sense of authenticity around time and place. That didn’t happen so much this time. It would be misleading to describe this as a fantasy novel, but the author does include some elements that took it a little way towards that. He also includes a bit of druidical hocus-pocus, which I didn’t really take to. Of course if you enjoy those aspects then you’ll have the opposite reaction to me.

I believe the third book in the series has just been published, and I remain interested enough to put that on my TBR list.

[Darwin8u · Rating 4 out of 5]

Similar to my review of Volume 1 (Vindolanda). Goldsworthy's strength is building a good set of characters (their development is a bit clunky, however) that the reader cares about, history, and military history and action. The best prose in the book is when he is quoting Latin poets and philosophers. The read is easy and packed with a ton of action.

In my last review I said the novels were a bit like Dumas' romances, but I'd also add that in someway these novels are also a bit like Tom Clancy's early Jack Ryan novels (back before he chased away any real editor) without the flag-waving militarism. Instead of Jack Ryan, Goldsworthy treats us to Flavius Ferox. Which actually makes the comparison a bit more interesting. I'm going to start calling Goldsworthy's fiction Roman Tom Clancy. Still doesn't make it five stars. This isn't literature. It is a beach read or cotton candy for the military classicist's soul.

[William Gwynne]

After finishing the first instalment of this trilogy a few months ago, I was looking forward to being back with Flavius Ferro, who is a very good central character who was my favourite part of Vindolanda. In The Encircling Sea, he did not disappoint, and continued to be my favourite part of this series.

We again follow events unfolding where we follow the conflict between Rome and the British tribes at the very beginning of the 2nd century AD, as the growing empire endeavours to assimilate Britain into its realm piece by piece, using Flavius Ferox as a chess piece in the machinations of politics.

Vindolanda established an awesome setting, and had good characters and great battles. The Encircling Sea built on this really well but also took it in a new fresh direction. There was a part in the middle that I think was quite inflated, and lost my attention slightly, but overall The Encircling Sea was a thoroughly enjoyable read.

Full Review to Come

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second Vindolanda book was just as good as the first, in my opinion. Perhaps even a bit better.

Goldsworthy does a great job of telling new readers everything they need to know from the first book without boring those of us who’ve read it. You could easily read this as a stand-alone novel.

There’s more action in this one and the violence is, if anything, bloodier and more gruesome than in book one. It never feels gratuitous though, which I appreciated. The sex scenes occasionally felt a little gratuitous, which is one of my only complaints about this series, but even they are quite tastefully done, if you like that sort of thing. Personally, I tend to agree with Ridley Scott’s famous quote: ‘Sex is boring unless you’re doing it’.

My next book: Mr. Noisy

[Darek Zawisko · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Roman Britain historical fiction/hard boiled detective/military thriller mashup in which series protagonist fights pirates with Roman connections on the Irish Sea (Oceanus Hibernicus).

My dead tree copy was 400-pages with a 2018 UK copyright.

Adrian Goldsworthy is a British historian and author of both fiction and non-fiction. He has written about ten novels. The last book of his I read was Vindolanda (Vindolanda #1) (my review).

This was the second novel in the author’s Vindolanda series. Reading the first book in the series Vindolanda isn’t necessary, but would certainly be helpful.

This series' Roman-era, Sword 'n Sandal historical fiction is a guilty pleasure of mine. That Goldsworthy is an accredited historian lessens my shame. A positive about this series has been it builds-in more recent information from the UK Roman-era archeological record than previous series I’ve read. I also like the hard boiled fiction, and pre-Christian supernatural influences on the story. The regular appearance of Celtic warrior women, femme fatales is icing on the cake.

This story was set almost two years after the first book. The series’ protagonist Flavius Ferox was a Roman Legionary officer in a position which had police powers on the Roman, British, northern frontier. Ferox discovers a Roman connection between pirates terrorizing the Oceanus Hibernicus when they disrupt a political mission from Hibernian (Irish) tribes to Britain. In addition, the series’ long-term plot lines were advanced.

Writing was good, but it was no improvement over the previous book. For example, the dialog continued to irk me. The Roman legionnaires spoke like 19th Century British redcoats amongst themselves; English Yorkshire accents and all.

The author heavily leveraged the character development done in the first book. Vindex, Ferox’s native Briton, buddy-cop, side-kick as well as Philo his Jewish servant boy appeared. Although their part was not as large as in the previous book. Ferox’s difficult relationship with his love interest Sulpicia Lepidina and her husband Flavius Cerialis (Ferox’s military commander) became more complicated. Scottish warrior women Slice ‘n Dice with the best of the men. The evil Druid Acco made an appearance for the series’ long-term plot line.

This book was more a Sword ‘n Shield story than the first book in the series. It contained many well-wrought descriptions of Roman legionaries thumping barbarians in tight formation. There was a good description of a Roman assault on a fortified position with a testudo .

Goldsworthy didn't do as good a job with the supernatural component in this second book. I liked the better handled existential threat of the rectilinear Romans to the Celtic's knotty religion in the first book much better. There was also a lesser degree of sleuthing done by Ferox in this story.

World building was as authentic as the earlier book. The attention to historical detail has been strong point of this series. The author moved the scene of the action west along the frontier to the shores of the Irish Sea in current Cumbria and to some unnamed islands off the Scottish west coast.
I suppose he could have emphasized that life was considerably more 'Nasty, brutish and short' than present day. A major complaint was that the author paid very little attention to Roman nautical and marine details. I felt this odd, because of the large part that: the Oceanus Hibernicus, boats, and ships played in the story. For example, there were only brief descriptions of triremes and merchant craft. Despite a lot of opportunity for sea combats (raming, boarding, etc.), all the Cut ‘n Thrust took place on land. Even the Roman marines fought on land. My guess is Goldsworthy isn’t a ‘navalist’?

Finally, the Historical Note at the end of the book should not be ignored. If you consider yourself an amateur historian of Roman Britain, there is a good summary of the archeological background for the story and the series found there.

Rarely are second books in a series better than the first. This confirms that. (The first book was better.) This story provided an in-depth, entertaining re-introduction to war and peace in 1st Century, Roman, North West, Britain and the surrounds of the Oceanus Hibernicus. The story leveraged the characters and backstory of the first book Vindolanda and extended long-term plot lines. The battles were epic and the history was solid. However, this book only added a little to the background British Roman history of the series' first book. (The first book had more Edutainment value.) In addition, it was less a hard boiled detective mystery than a military thriller. I would have preferred more sleuthing and less edged-weapon combat. However it was entertaining enough.

I’ll likely read the next book in the series Brigantia , but I’m in less of a rush to do so.

If you liked this story, you'd also be interested in The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians. (My review.)

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This time historian-cum-novelist Goldsworthy has taken a short mention in Tacitus's "Agricola" about a mutiny in the army and from this cleverly constructed a full-fledged novel. The cohort of a German tribe, the Usipi, revolted against harsh punishments and other troubles. According to Tacitus, they seized ships, sailed to Germania and were taken and enslaved by the Frisians. However a rumor persisted some were still alive and had returned to Britannia as pirates, wreaking havoc, including cannibalism. We follow Centurion Regionalis Flavius Ferox, the Silure, at first in his duties as liaison to the native peoples and rendering judgments, then later as a fighting man. He still is aided by his faithful scout, the Brigantian, Vindex. An expedition to Hibernia shows us some of that culture and a Hibernian queen returns to Britannia. Sulpicia Lepidina, her husband, and their friends, Aelius Brocchus and his wife are also instrumental in the story. There are other historical figures [which we know by name only from archaeological evidence] which Goldsworthy has given personalities and physical descriptions. We read of a daring rescue of Sulpicia and a final battle in which the pirates are destroyed.


This author I consider the best of the recent historians who try their hand at a novel. Goldsworthy marries the best of both worlds; you know his history is impeccable, along with a good story without "infodumps." Also, the cover was quite stunning and set the mood.


Highly recommended.

[Laura Tenfingers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another exciting episode of the adventures of Ferox, our badass centurion in the far north reaches of the Roman Empire in Brittania.

I love Ferox's character: down and out, jaded, ready to end it all without a care for his life, while simultaneously being duty driven to do right and always going about saving people with his crafty plans. I love a flawed hero that can always come up with a plan (hence my love of Uhtred of Bebbanburg).

And the author does a great job of immersing us in Roman life, you feel like you're there and can really imagine what it was like. Super interesting. Can't wait to read the next one.

[John Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exciting and absorbing book.

Once started, I really could not put this book down. This was a fast moving story, full of intrigue, vicious battles and with a "who dunnit and why" plot at its core. Truly remarkable.

[Silvie Klokgieter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Een Brits-Romeinse centurion, vindt het moeilijk om de vrede te bewaren. Gestationeerd in Vindolanda – een fort aan de noordgrens van Britannia en daarmee aan de noordelijke kant van het Romeinse Rijk – voelt hij de ogen van zijn vijanden op zich gericht.

Ambitieuze leiders zien een kans om hun rijk uit te breiden, terwijl ­mannen dichterbij fluisteren over oorlog en de vernietiging van Rome. En op zee wachten schepen vol piraten en deserteurs rusteloos op het juiste moment om aan te vallen.

Vorige week ontving ik als verrassing dit boek van @boekerij. Ik was nog niet bekend met deze auteur en was benieuwd hoe dit boek mij zou gaan bevallen.

'Mare Liberum' speelt zich af in het Romeinste tijdperk en draait voornamelijk om Flavius Ferox, een Brits-Romeinse centurion. Al redelijk snel in het boek wordt hij aangevallen door krijgers. De spanning is dan dus al enigszins voelbaar. De dreiging van oorlog en het vernietigen van Rome wordt steeds groter.

Ik zal maar meteen eerlijk zijn: ik had behoorlijk wat moeite om door dit boek te komen. Sowieso is dit onderwerp niet meteen iets wat mijn interesse opwekt, maar dat terzijde. Er komen enorm veel namen en termen op je af en daar had ik ook behoorlijk wat moeite mee.

Gelukkig vind je achterin het boek een 'Verklarende woordenlijst' en ook vind je er een tig aantal pagina's met de 'Historische achtergrond'.

Is dit boek dan per definitie slecht? Nee hoor. Het is zeker interessant als je dit tijdperk boeiend vindt, of als je gewoon meer over het Romeinse tijdperk wilt weten.
De auteur weet namelijk wel heel goed de sfeer, dreiging en omgeving op papier te zetten.

Helaas was dit voor mijzelf dus niet zo'n succes, maar dat komt puur vanwege mijn eigen interesse en heeft dus niets met dit boek zelf te maken.

Toch wil ik @boekerij heel erg bedanken voor deze verrassing!

Beoordeling: 2,5/3,0 ⭐️

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Centurion Ferox returns in this action packed Roman military adventure set near Vindolanda (before the Wall was built) and further afield. A particularly nasty bunch of rebels and pirates are out to cause trouble. I really enjoyed the historical detail, which frequently reminded me of the archaeological discoveries of Vindolanda, but the story itself felt rather flat and strained. Review to follow shortly on For Winter Nights.

[Macarena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Segunda entrega de Vindolanda y tengo que decir que me ha gustado incluso más que el primero, que ya era difícil. Novela muy entretenida, llena de acción, y a mi personalmente la pequeña parte de fantasía me aporta, quizás porque la magia, los druidas y las brujas me gustan mucho. El tercero caerá pronto sin duda

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as the first volume in the series. I became confused and lost in the gory battle scenes, and there just wasn’t as much of a story going on.

[Mairita (Marii grāmatplaukts) · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Vindolandas" turpinājumā jaunos brutālos notikumos tiek ierauti jau pazīstamie varoņi. Šoreiz Feroksam un citiem jācīnās pret psihiem pirātiem-cilvēkēdājiem. Man mazliet pietrūka Vindeksa, viņš šajā daļā parādās mazāk. Toties atkal ir papilnam detalizētu kaujas ainu un citu interesantu aprakstu, pat mazliet mistikas un sižets rit raitāk. Skaidrs, ka klausīšos arī trešo daļu un ļoti ceru, ka Feroksam šis stāsts beigsies kaut cik laimīgi.

[Sleepy Boy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Favorites Ferox and Vindex triumphantly return in this follow-up to Goldsworthy's most excellent Vindolanda.

The plot has opened up a bit more; old friends and enemies return but aren't as much a focal point as the first novel.

As with the first, Goldsworthy has an excellent knack for writing both fiction and nonfiction of getting you excited and wanting to know/learn more. I noticed that this isn't spoiler-related, but this book's climax begins with a siege. I realized that the Roman talent for siegecraft was absent in the first book, that book's climax being a significant set-piece battle. I realized last night Mr. Goldsworthy is educating us on how the Romans in each novel did things in their history.

Overall, I enjoyed this one as much as the first, though I enjoyed the plotline of the first with Ferox playing the "detective" a smidge more.

[Ozymandias · Rating 2 out of 5]

The novel is an improvement in many ways upon the previous one. The story is a bit less predictable and contains several elements we don’t really see that often. Ferox is generally fun and the adventure is smaller scale than the previous invasion. The mysterious aspects of the tale worked very well. You have really no idea where this is going or why these guys are a threat until it all comes together. That said, I did have certain issues with it.

As with the previous book, but perhaps even more so, the novel is afraid to take chances. This is true in several ways, but most notably the way that the Romans are just too damned nice (especially Ferox). We are led carefully around problematic issues such as massacres, mass enslavement, and execution by wild beast. In many cases it’s not even clear that these are options. Take the ending: the book makes very clear that the women and children of a particularly vicious enemy are to be left unharmed. You would never guess from that that what this can only mean in a Roman context is that they are to be captured and sold as slaves. Anything else would be unthinkable. But instead you’re left thinking how noble the Romans are.

This coyness also appears in the avoidance of any difficult decisions. Someone inside your camp is murdering people in their sleep and you all know who it must be? Well, you have no evidence so best to just leave it be. Come across a serving girl who runs screaming to give away your position? It’s probably good for the enemy to know of your secret infiltration of his base. Keeps them scared. And what do you do when armed children attack you? Just guess. It’s all so. . . wholesome. The worst swear we hear is “humping” and even that isn’t predominant. A book set in Rome has an easy option if you want to avoid excessive adult language: keep the swears in Latin! But omnes ad stercus is the only example we get of that and if you’re going to be swearing in Latin surely it should be with something ruder than “it’s all going to shit”. Even the similarly wholesome The Last Legion at least gave us temet futue, which I shall not translate here but is certainly worse.

Maybe I’m holding Goldsworthy to too high a standard here. Other military fiction authors are similarly prone to whitewashing the Romans to keep our sympathies with them. Or at least with the protagonists if no one else. But I suppose I expect more when I read a novel by an acclaimed scholar. There is a difference between this book and the novels of Harry Sidebottom and Victor Davis Hanson. Those stories were written to explore the ancient world in a personal way impossible with straight history. These books are just written to be a good adventure yarn.

I don’t know what it is but the more military fiction I read the less interesting I find it. There’s a certain sameness that seems unavoidable and only the best authors can find a way to liven things up and bring that certain extra something that brings a book to life, be it good characters, interesting historical tidbits, or a unique setting or enemy. I don’t mean I find action scenes in general boring. I love good adventure novels. But the long, drawn-out, endless battles we get here just become tedious. The last half of the book describes a siege and well before the finale you just want it to be over.

Which is a shame because I thought the villains and setup were interesting. While I stand by my statement that the Romans are far too nice to everyone the villains are vile enough to make Roman and modern reactions much the same. We’re talking a group of barbarian cannibals who prefer to force others to do their dirty work through horrible (but serious) threats and are acting as basically pirates. That ticks all the right buttons for a memorable enemy, and the identity of these people (taken from one of the more interesting stories in Tacitus’ Agricola) is clever.

But it’s just not enough to keep the book going. Eventually the enemy kidnaps certain someones and this forces Ferox to attack and now it’s personal blah blah blah. Standard revenge fare seen a million times before. It’s unfortunate too. I was 100% onboard until that happened. But 125 pages of besiegement. . . You need a powerful hook to make that work. And we don’t have it. The odd buddy-cop comedy between Ferox and Vindex is rarely seen since they mostly do their own thing. Briganda isn’t a great replacement since she’s pretty quiet. Probably the most interesting character is the poet Ovidius but he serves absolutely no purpose in the story and it’s a mystery why he’s there at all. All that’s left is the fighting. If that’s enough for you then you’ll likely be satisfied. But I wasn’t.

Characters: 5 (Fine but poorly utilized)
Story: 6 (A good beginning that leads to a tedious second half)
Accuracy: 8 (Factually correct but ignores any unpleasantness too effectively)
Rating: 5/10

[Kirsten McKenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another superb historical fiction book by Adrian Goldsworthy. A violent military romp filled with humour, love, revenge and beheadings. Set around Roman Vindolanda and the coast of the United Kingdom.
The historical notes at the back of the book were just as interesting and entertaining as the story itself.
A worthy sequel to the first book in the series.
As I have personally found a couple of the writing tablets whilst volunteering at Vindolanda, knowing that the author incorporates the information from the Vindolanda Writing Tablets into his novels makes it even more special.
If you enjoy historical fiction/Roman history/military novels, then this is the book for you. You don't necessarily need to read before reading , but I recommend it.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Adventure continues for Flavis in this gripping action packed story set in the cold harsh world of ancient Britain!!

[M. Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great tale continuing the story of Flavius Ferox, Centurion of Rome and Prince of the Silures. This time, Ferox is up against a cannibal cult in a brilliant story fashioned from the historical events of the Usipii rebellion. Joining him are his mate "you're not my friend, I just haven't killed you yet" Vindex, whose catchphrase of "we're humped" is growing on me (expletives still somewhat prisilly missing, despite a penchant for grisly gore), as well as a warrior queen (based surely on Scáthach from the tale of Cú Chulain). Also excellent was the reading of the audiobook by Peter Noble. I look forward to Ferox III.

[Jack Neighbour · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another brilliant book following on a couple of years after vindolanda. Loved the characters and found the more nautical theme in this book a refreshing new story.

[Mark Steven · Rating 2 out of 5]

An easy going page turner, but a bit of a Boy's Own adventure, complete with a princess to be rescued from rapacious pirates... Kind of naff in that sense. But if you've had a recent head injury and need something unchallenging, it's OK. I did enjoy the historic detail and perhaps learnt a little something about Roman Britain.

[Keith Currie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Romans v. Cannibals

Based on a few short chapters in Tacitus' Agricola and Germania, Goldsworthy has constructed a scenario in which Roman recruits turned mutineers turned cannibals take over an island off the coast of Scotland, abduct a number of important Romans from the northern part of the province and are hunted down by Flavius Ferox, the hard-bitten centurion from the first novel, Vindolanda.

I found this story a big improvement on the first one, at least as far as its first half, before everything became clear. Thereafter the story became a sustained siege and battle scene, well enough done, but without any real surprises - a bit of a cheat really.


Ferox and his tough friends are still very coy about their use of expletives - part of the amusing charm of the story, I suppose.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5
This one felt a bit clunky to be honest. I found the writing style tricky to follow in places and struggled to flow with it in the first portion and I don’t remember having that issue with book 1 but it kind of evened out as it went on. The attention to detail and setting is amazing like book 1 and AG writes action nicely but this book seemed to plod a bit in places.

I found the whole ‘I’ll get you next time’ situation from Acco (the bad guy from the first book who hasn’t been around this book but pops up at the end randomly) a bit unnecessary and it felt like he was just brought in to keep him in the loop as I guess he’ll be back in book 3. I think this one had a few too many characters to keep track of without giving them enough depth or distinction. Especially the last segment where we’re introduced to 5 new women and some teenage boys with an intricate description of every person. I’m all here for knowing what kind of get up they’ve got on as I’m sure it’s historically accurate with AG but I don’t think it needed an individual description for each person.

I love how AG has extensive historical notes with a list of Latin terms and a solid map. How he weaves a story and turns these names into characters while really sticking to the history is really well done.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of the same as Vindolanda, historian Goldsworthy literally based an entire novel on a single sentence of Tacitus' records.

Flavius Ferox, Silurian Roman centurion of Vindolanda in the Trajan era is once again called upon to save the day when his lady love and her husband are kidnapped again by a barbarian tribe (again).

Not for the faint of heart, from the 50% to the 90% Mark is one long battle and siege so if that's not your thing steer clear. If you're happy to wade through pages and pages of men hacking at each other with bloody swords then this is the historically accurate depiction for you.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Roman Centurion Ferox helps some of the locals when he finds there's a mysterious band of outlaws terrorising and eating people. This was a fab story set in Roman Britain during the emperorship of Trajan.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good. A gift from Peter, who always chooses good books. Cracking yarn about roman life in Britain in first century AD. Lots of hacking off limbs and stabbing through the eye; and the hero is respected for his fighting ability and loyalty but despises the senior leadership. Similar to Michael Arnold's civil war chronicles in those respects.