Dark Blade

Invader #3

by Simon Scarrow

As Britannia's natives continue to resist Roman rule, a new king has been installed to bring them into line. It's the task of Optio Figulus to protect the puppet ruler. But then the king begins a campaign of reprisals against rebel Britons. Whole families are murdered, women raped, children imprisoned. The king denounces their gods and native tongue.

Figulus's unswerving allegiance to Rome falters as he witnesses the atrocities. Just as an assassin is about to strike the new king...

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical

84 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 20, 2014

About the author

Simon Scarrow is a UK-based author, born in Nigeria, and now living in Norfolk. He completed a master's degree at the University of East Anglia, and, after working at the Inland Revenue, went into teaching as a lecturer at City College, Norwich.

He is best known for his "Eagle" series. This is Roman empire military fiction, starting with the second invasion of Britain, and continuing with subsequent adventures in every corner of the empire. The stories are told through the eyes of two centurions, Macro and Cato. To date there are eighteen books in the series.

Scarrow has also written a series of four novels on the Napoleonic wars, focusing on the lives of Wellington and Napoleon.

Reviews

[Mr. Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

As part of the conquest of Britain, a variety of puppet kings were installed to provide a veneer of British rule to disguise the Roman fist. Optio Figulus, a Romanized Gaul, is charged with propping up the Roman puppet king of the Durotriges. The only problem is that the king is a former exile bent on wreaking revenge on all of those who had wronged him in the past. And a blood thirsty vengeful puppet king, an undersized Roman contingent, and fanatical druids adds up to trouble.

This was a short book, part of Scarrow's invader series. Cynically, I think the publisher is chopping these things into smaller novellas instead of releasing them as one big book because somehow they are making more money on them this way. I guess that's OK. I'm not opposed to people making a buck, but I'd be more OK with it if the books were better. No matter the length of the story, you have to care about the characters. I was glad when I finished this book because I just didn't give a damn. I read them clinically. This happened, then that happened. Yawn. (Now, this is not to suggest that novellas can't be done well. Look no farther than the excellent Brian McClellan's Powder Mage novellas for great examples of short stories that pack a punch and make you care about the outcome).

II stars out of V. Am I being too harsh? Maybe. I'm reading these books because generally speaking I like Scarrow's stuff. I'm chalking this up to a bad day. Maybe I was in the wrong frame of mind. Maybe he wasn't at his best. The story was still interesting from the perspective of shedding light on the solidification of Roman rule on Britain. The action was also engaging, but overall not Scarrow at his best.

[Michael Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third of five short parts. Figulus is struggling to keep order while guarding Tenagas the British ruler because he seems to be doing all he can to make his subjects hate him. Worse, the grain supply is running short and the locals can see the Roman soldiers are well fed so rebellion is brewing. There is an attempt on the life of their unpopular king and the assassin is caught alive and on threats of deadly torture reveals where the druids and the rebels are. Figulus and his men get their late and lose soldiers in the hard fought battle but they get the grain store which will feed the locals and stop a rebellion. But what comes out is that there is a traitor among them who is feeding information to their enemies.

[Juri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Erano ben addestrati, ben equipaggiati, disciplinati e soggetti a un durissimo regime di addestramento altrimenti detto "combattimento senza spargimento di sangue".

"E' la prima regola dell'arena, signore. La velocità batte la forza, sempre..."

[Laurence · Rating 3 out of 5]

It'd be a reasonable 3 star book, just split into 5 novellas.

[Phil Syphe · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Dark Blade’, a spin-off from the Eagle series, continues the course of events in Britain after Cato and Macro left.

One of the secondary characters from the Eagle series, Figulus, now takes on the main role. I always liked him as a supporting character, though he doesn’t make for the best of leads. That’s not to say it was a mistake to elevate him, but I think another stronger character would’ve been better, with Figulus in the second main role.

As for the story, I liked it better than the two previous Invader books. The story has more depth, keeping me engaged throughout. The Romans set up a king who's really a puppet ruler.

Figulus, in some scenes, interacts with a female character (a king's daughter), which adds more colour. It's not a girl-meets-boy love story, but it hints at it, which I like.

Battles scenes are exciting, spoilt only be the overuse of 'then', as in 'then he did this, then that happened,' etc. Cut or replace every 'then' and it'd be much stronger prose.

‘Telling’, not ‘showing' is another minus point. When, for example, a character is described as being ‘clearly irritated,’ the reader isn't ‘shown’ anything.

Still, it’s an entertaining read and I’ll be continuing with the series.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Third entry in Simon Scarrow's 'Invader' series of novellas, this therefore (obviously!) takes place after Invader: Death Beach (essentially a Roman version of the Normandy landings from Saving Private Ryan) and Invader: Blood Enemy (which saw Figulus and his men depose the ruler of a British tribe in favour of a Roman puppet ruler).

Having now taken the throne for that ruler, Figulus and his men must become his bodyguards as he immediately sets about implementing a policy of reforms that serve to further alienate his subjects, all the while as the Druids of the Dark Moon tribe continue their policy of armed resistance to the Roman invaders (which includes intercepting the tribes Grain supply).