The Fire Waker

Aelius Spartianus #2

by Ben Pastor

In the winter of 304 c.e., the Roman Empire is divided by Emperor Diocletian into four separate parts. Individual power struggles and manipulations make the once-stable empire a breeding ground for corruption. In the midst of this, Aelius Spartianus, a high-ranking officer and Diocletian’s official historian, is sent to Trier with a sensitive message for Emperor Constantius. En route, he receives a letter from a former enemy telling him of a strange miracle worker named Agnus, a Christian preacher who works in Trier.
Agnus, known as the “fire waker,” has recently resurrected a man from absolute death. In the hiatus from the ongoing religious persecutions, Agnus’s wondrous act incites fury, awe, and speculation. Determined to uncover the truth behind this seeming miracle, Aelius looks for Agnus and his assistant, the deaconess Casta. Before his investigation begins, however, he discovers that the resurrected man has been murdered.
What ensues is a testament to Ben Pastor’s complex skill at interweaving the complicated plots of the Roman government and the treacherous social undercurrents that rise to the surface. Aelius, in pursuit of the truth behind the fire waker’s miraculous ability, finds himself getting closer to the heart of the Empire’s escalating problems: political deception, religious persecution, and whispers of a coup d’etat. As Aelius moves from the city to the battlegrounds, secrets of life and death---and resurrection---are uncovered and challenged, leaving everyone involved changed forever.
Power-hungry emperors, mysterious miracle workers, lovers, concubines, and religious radicals all play their part in this explosive, haunting historical saga. Readers hooked by The Water Thief will welcome internationally renowned and critically acclaimed author Ben Pastor’s newest epic, where she once again brings her thematic skill to bear.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Ben (Maria Verbena Volpi) Pastor was born in Rome, but her career as a college teacher and writer requires that she divide her time between the United States and Italy, where she is now doing research. Author of the internationally acclaimed Martin Bora war mysteries, she begins with Aelius Spartianus a new series of thrilling tales. In addition to the United States, her novels are published in Italy, Germany, Spain, Poland, and the Czech Republic. She writes in English.

Reviews

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this novel was intriguing and I recommend it very highly. Well written, it was a most unusual mystery and solution. I couldn't put it down. The setting was the length and breadth of the 4th century Roman Empire. The author has done meticulous historical research.

Aelius Spartianus receives a mysterious letter from his friend and erstwhile enemy Baruch ben Matthias. The owner of a brickworks in Belgica Prima is supposedly resurrected from the dead by a Christian 'miracle worker' called the 'Fire Waker', assisted by a female assistant, Casta. Aelius goes to find out if this incident truly happened or is it a fraud? Shortly thereafter, the man is then murdered. A Judge Marcellus is murdered and Aelius investigates that death. In the course of the investigation, Aelius is nearly assassinated; only his quick-thinking and soldier's reflexes save him, although some of the plotters are killed. Government officials warn him off and tell him to concentrate only on his historical research on an imperial biography. Aelius plods onward. He becomes entangled in political machinations and senses a treasonous cabal. The Army marches East to fight Persia. Things look blacker and blacker for Aelius....

For most of the book I couldn't connect with Aelius although I admired his intelligence, erudition, persistence, and decency. But about 2/3 of the way through, Aelius became more human upon showing more emotion. There was a more personal story. I liked his strong but gentle mother when Aelius went home to Pannonia on his father's death and her long conversation with her son about women and their treatment. I liked very much the episode in which the author adapted the legend of St. Martin of Tours and the beggar, having Aelius giving his red army cloak to a beggar. The real-life St. Martin was a Roman soldier, serving in Gaul in the 4th century, also a Pannonian like Aelius. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_...
The author used the splendid Roman cavalry helmet found by archaeologists at Kalkriese [Teutoberg Forest disaster] in the novel by having Aelius buy it and refusing to resell it. The assassination attempt was frightening. Aelius escapes an ambush in Pannonia. He undergoes a harrowing time, injured and trying to find his way and to survive in the dead of winter. Besides the narrative and dialogue, there are also letters, Aelius' notes and journal entries. Everything written therein is italicized, as are Aelius' interior thoughts.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always enjoy Ben Pastor for her high moral but complex characters . This work was a bit of a slog , but it had an interesting ending . 3 1/2 stars.

[Carlo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nuova indagine per Elio Sparziano che riuscirà a portare a termine basandosi sull'osservazione e ragionamento.
Buon libro che segue i precedenti.

[Brett Bydairk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow moving mystery, featuring Aelius Spartianus, Roman soldier, historian, and courier of Emperor Diocletian. He is assigned to look into the "miraculous" revival of a dead man by the Emperor, but finds the man newly re-dead upon his arrival at the town. And soon there is another murder, that of a judge who tried a case involving the dead man. Politics, early Christianity and personal grudges all mix together in this historical whodunnit-and-why. Not disappointing but not entirely satisfying.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Awkward prose that doesn't flow, incomplete characterizations, more confusing than necessary, fairly boring. If this wasn't translated from the Italian, then it reads like it was. Not as good as The Water Thief.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book. There are several references to "The Water Thief", so I wish I had read that first.

[Irene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aelius Spartianus as sleuth for Diocletian.

A highly literate novel!

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

This time, three and a half stars rounded down. Love the history side of the story but the mystery is leaving me unsatisfied.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read in Polish, "Intrygantka".