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Invader #1-5
Invader
From the author of the Sunday Times bestsellers Britannia, Centurion and The Gladiator, and co-author with T. J. Andrews of the Sunday Times bestseller Arena, comes a tense, action-packed adventure with the Roman army officer Figulus in the heart of barbaric first-century Britannia.
Roman Britain, AD 44. The land is far from tamed. A puppet king is doing little to calm the hatred of the native tribes and bring them under Roman rule.
Fighting is in Optio Horatius Figulus' blood. His Celtic ancestry is mocked by his fellow soldiers, but it gives him the toughness essential for survival. That toughness will be tested to the very limit when he is sent on a mission deep in hostile territory.
And Figulus understands the Celtic mind. He knows that, even utterly crushed in battle, their warriors routed and the Druids driven from their hill forts, the tribesmen of Britannia will sooner die than surrender.
Figulus fought alongside Macro and Cato in Simon Scarrow's bestselling Eagles of the Empire series. In Invader, he stands alone.
Invader has previously been published in five separate ebook novellas. This print edition brings the complete series together in one volume.
Roman Britain, AD 44. The land is far from tamed. A puppet king is doing little to calm the hatred of the native tribes and bring them under Roman rule.
Fighting is in Optio Horatius Figulus' blood. His Celtic ancestry is mocked by his fellow soldiers, but it gives him the toughness essential for survival. That toughness will be tested to the very limit when he is sent on a mission deep in hostile territory.
And Figulus understands the Celtic mind. He knows that, even utterly crushed in battle, their warriors routed and the Druids driven from their hill forts, the tribesmen of Britannia will sooner die than surrender.
Figulus fought alongside Macro and Cato in Simon Scarrow's bestselling Eagles of the Empire series. In Invader, he stands alone.
Invader has previously been published in five separate ebook novellas. This print edition brings the complete series together in one volume.
369 pages, Hardcover
First published December 31, 2015
57 people are currently reading
335 people want to read
About the author
Simon Scarrow
171 books2,159 followersSimon 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
September 11, 2019
2.5 stars.
This was ok for what it was, but there are some problems here (some of which having a lot to do with sewing 5 novellas together).
The pacing is off (but, again, this is because there are basically 5 stories here mashed together) and I didn't really come to care about most of the characters. I would have liked the characters to have something more to do than shout orders. At one point, a cool female character shows up and I'm all like "oh cool, is a romance coming to break up some of this 'SIR, YES SIR' monotony?", but nope, it's just soldering business as usual.
The main problem, though, was that the structure of the story was so apparent that it became distracting. So, basically, the book goes like this: plot--plot--FIGHT--plot--plot--FIGHT--plot--plot--FIGHT and so on until the end. Now, obviously there are going to be battles, but when you can set your watch to when one is coming, that becomes a problem. As I was reading I was literally saying to myself "It's about time for another battle..." and sure enough, just as I think that, we get: "Holy crap, an ambush out of nowhere! Attack!!!!!". This pacing repeats like clockwork throughout the book and helped make otherwise cool battles into rote yawn-fests. If you had a computer come up with the pacing of a historical action novel, I imagine this is what it would come up with.
This was ok for what it was, but there are some problems here (some of which having a lot to do with sewing 5 novellas together).
The pacing is off (but, again, this is because there are basically 5 stories here mashed together) and I didn't really come to care about most of the characters. I would have liked the characters to have something more to do than shout orders. At one point, a cool female character shows up and I'm all like "oh cool, is a romance coming to break up some of this 'SIR, YES SIR' monotony?", but nope, it's just soldering business as usual.
The main problem, though, was that the structure of the story was so apparent that it became distracting. So, basically, the book goes like this: plot--plot--FIGHT--plot--plot--FIGHT--plot--plot--FIGHT and so on until the end. Now, obviously there are going to be battles, but when you can set your watch to when one is coming, that becomes a problem. As I was reading I was literally saying to myself "It's about time for another battle..." and sure enough, just as I think that, we get: "Holy crap, an ambush out of nowhere! Attack!!!!!". This pacing repeats like clockwork throughout the book and helped make otherwise cool battles into rote yawn-fests. If you had a computer come up with the pacing of a historical action novel, I imagine this is what it would come up with.
January 3, 2018
Enjoyed this very much, especially the second half.
January 4, 2022
stumpfsinniger, mit vielen Denk- und Logikfehlern behafteter Roman, der alles in Gut und Böse einteilt und dazwischen keinen Raum gestattet. Die Figuren haben weder Tiefe, noch einen wirklichen Charakter. Man könnte sogar so weit gehen, zu sagen, die Figuren seien schlicht und einfach dumm. Einzig der ewige Drang zu kämpfen steht im Vordergrund.
June 5, 2016
Optio Figulus, the Roman equivalent of a sergeant, is a veteran of warfare against Celtic warriors in Gaul and Britannia at the age of 19. He is a Gaul, and his language skills come in handy as the heavy-handed conquerors seek to smash native resistance.
Scarrow and Andrews take us into his world with expert and confident ease, skilfully describing the settings and military detail needed to draw the reader into cold and forbidding southern England in the year 44AD.
I was soon absorbed in the adventures of Figulus and his mates as their hobnail boots stomped across the country, and in the mixed feelings of our hero who clearly has sympathy for the natives, but is ultimately a convert to Rome's cause of empire building. A hugely entertaining read.
Scarrow and Andrews take us into his world with expert and confident ease, skilfully describing the settings and military detail needed to draw the reader into cold and forbidding southern England in the year 44AD.
I was soon absorbed in the adventures of Figulus and his mates as their hobnail boots stomped across the country, and in the mixed feelings of our hero who clearly has sympathy for the natives, but is ultimately a convert to Rome's cause of empire building. A hugely entertaining read.
December 29, 2022
Guadagnata la terza stella solo negli ultimi capitoli, è il sesto libro che leggo di questo autore e al contrario degli altri 5 "veloci e avvincenti "nella lettura questo era piuttosto lento, i concetti ripetuti più volte e in alcuni punti sembrava che lo scrittore volesse sbrigarsi a "terminare" una situazione per iniziarne una nuova , in sostanza se avessi letto questo per primo difficilmente avrei proseguito con gli altri della saga
January 28, 2016
It's remarkable how Simon Scarrow can get you to root for the Romans even when they're fighting the Britons. Another great series.
August 3, 2017
I really enjoyed my first dip into a new Scarrow series but I did find some of the descriptions of the fight scenes a little repetitive. There are only so many ways you can describe a sword fight! Still a gripping read but I guessed who was the spy! Reading about Figulus and his colleagues did seem very similar to reading about Cato and Macro but this book was a good fix to keep me going until the next book in the Eagle series.
September 5, 2022
Como sempre, uma boa história é muito bem contada. A simbiose perfeita entre o entretenimento e a aprendizagem. Simon, como sempre: obrigado.
September 3, 2022
La trama non è un capolavoro. Troppe situazioni si ripetono.
La narrazione è scorrevole ed avvincente solo negli ultimi capitoli.
L,autore dimostra sempre una grande conoscenza della macchina bellica imperiale.
Ambientato in Britannia durante la conquista dell'isola.
Il protagonista e un giovane legionario gallico che riesce sempre a risolvere le situazioni più difficili.
La narrazione è scorrevole ed avvincente solo negli ultimi capitoli.
L,autore dimostra sempre una grande conoscenza della macchina bellica imperiale.
Ambientato in Britannia durante la conquista dell'isola.
Il protagonista e un giovane legionario gallico che riesce sempre a risolvere le situazioni più difficili.
March 4, 2020
I am a big Simon Scarrow reader, this was a step down from many of his other works
August 10, 2024
Figulius the goat 🔥🔥😬😬
January 12, 2017
Modern technology gives a writer far more options on how to present their book. They are no longer bound by a yearly cycle of releasing a book in hardback and then waiting a few months for it to be released in paperback. The e-book gives you license to play with the format; how about a set of regular instalments? These segmented books worked for the likes of Charles Dickens, but pleasing a modern crowd used to quick thrills, as well as those used to the longer drawn out format, is not easy. Did Simon Scarrow and T J Andrews achieve their goals in the combined novel ‘‘Invader’’?
Optio Figulus has been assigned to the backend of the Empire where it is wet, depressing and the locals are all mutinous. Basically, this means that the Britain of AD44 is the same as 2016! Figulus is tasked with aiding a puppet King to get his throne back as the leader of one of the most influential tribes. However, this being Blighty, there are Druids to look out for as well as hordes of unhappy locals ready for any excuse to give the Romans a good kicking.
As a fan of Roman fiction, I find that a lot of the books seem to follow a format and Scarrow has not adverse to this. The books open up during some sort of skirmish or battle, you then have a story in the middle and the book ends in another larger conflict. The format works well as you get the grisly thrills at both ends, but also some narrative and characterisation at the centre. ‘‘Invader’’ is made up of five previously published e-books that make up the whole. In the ideal world a reader should not really know this, but you do.
The issues with the book lie with the pacing. Whilst a long format book has two battles and a deep middle; a five part book has more like ten battles and lots of short sharp attempts at a story. In ‘‘Invader’’ you feel that you are never more than ten pages away from another gruesome encounter. For the easily distracted reader this could be a good thing, but for anyone used to a little more story, they will not be as happy. When are numerous conflicts too much? This book shows that if you read battle after battle, they start to feel the same. Figulus comes across so many tribesmen that are described as the biggest he has ever seen that by the tenth battle he must have been fighting a veritable sea of Goliaths.
The usual Scarrow novel has a balance between action and day to day Roman life. The segments in ‘‘Invader’’ that do explore life in the army are interesting, but not as well developed as the ‘‘Marco and Cato’’ books. To some readers the fact that the action is turned up to eleven may be exactly what they want, the gruel almost drips from the page. However, for a truly great action book set in Roman times you require some time to build up the heart of the story, before then ripping it, still beating, from the chest cavity.
The fact that this is a book that is co-written between Scarrow and Andrews leads you to believe that it may not have had the full concentration of the more well-known author. Whether this is the case or not is mute, as the book is not up to the usual standard you would expect from Scarrow; a mere sideshow to his other more well thought through novels. Original review on bookbag.co.uk
Optio Figulus has been assigned to the backend of the Empire where it is wet, depressing and the locals are all mutinous. Basically, this means that the Britain of AD44 is the same as 2016! Figulus is tasked with aiding a puppet King to get his throne back as the leader of one of the most influential tribes. However, this being Blighty, there are Druids to look out for as well as hordes of unhappy locals ready for any excuse to give the Romans a good kicking.
As a fan of Roman fiction, I find that a lot of the books seem to follow a format and Scarrow has not adverse to this. The books open up during some sort of skirmish or battle, you then have a story in the middle and the book ends in another larger conflict. The format works well as you get the grisly thrills at both ends, but also some narrative and characterisation at the centre. ‘‘Invader’’ is made up of five previously published e-books that make up the whole. In the ideal world a reader should not really know this, but you do.
The issues with the book lie with the pacing. Whilst a long format book has two battles and a deep middle; a five part book has more like ten battles and lots of short sharp attempts at a story. In ‘‘Invader’’ you feel that you are never more than ten pages away from another gruesome encounter. For the easily distracted reader this could be a good thing, but for anyone used to a little more story, they will not be as happy. When are numerous conflicts too much? This book shows that if you read battle after battle, they start to feel the same. Figulus comes across so many tribesmen that are described as the biggest he has ever seen that by the tenth battle he must have been fighting a veritable sea of Goliaths.
The usual Scarrow novel has a balance between action and day to day Roman life. The segments in ‘‘Invader’’ that do explore life in the army are interesting, but not as well developed as the ‘‘Marco and Cato’’ books. To some readers the fact that the action is turned up to eleven may be exactly what they want, the gruel almost drips from the page. However, for a truly great action book set in Roman times you require some time to build up the heart of the story, before then ripping it, still beating, from the chest cavity.
The fact that this is a book that is co-written between Scarrow and Andrews leads you to believe that it may not have had the full concentration of the more well-known author. Whether this is the case or not is mute, as the book is not up to the usual standard you would expect from Scarrow; a mere sideshow to his other more well thought through novels. Original review on bookbag.co.uk
June 19, 2020
La Dama del Bosco - per RFS
.
Questo libro, ambientato nel periodo in cui a capo dell’Impero romano c’era Claudio, narra le vicende di un piccolo gruppo di soldati appartenenti alla Seconda Legione, intenti a combattere sui confini a nord dell’Impero contro i temuti Druidi, appartenenti alla tribù dei Durotrigi.
Il protagonista è Figulo, l’Optio (vice centurione) della Sesta Centuria nella Quinta Coorte, appartenente alla Seconda Legione, le cui origini galliche denotano una tenacia e resistenza particolari.
Impantanati in una guerra durissima, dove la morte cammina affianco ai soldati nei campi di battaglia su spiagge e paludi, boschi e fortezze, Figulo, rimasto al comando suo malgrado, si troverà ad aver a che fare con gli intrighi dell’Impero e gli toccherà guidare un piccolo gruppo di legionari al fine di portare a termine le missioni affidategli, cercando ovviamente di salvare la sua stessa vita e quella degli uomini al suo comando.
Questa la trama, che già di per sé è molto carina perché ha diversi colpi di scena, è soprattutto veloce e scorrevole. Non si perde in spiegazioni lunghe e noiose o su usi e costumi, ma nello stesso tempo ci fa immergere nel clima giusto spiegandoci i disagi, le fatiche fisiche e morali e come gli animi dei protagonisti vengano messi a dura prova.
Ma la parte migliore di questo romanzo storico sono i personaggi.
In primis il protagonista, Figulo, la cui crescita si avverte con piacere per tutto il libro. Da legionario senza grosse responsabilità si troverà a prendere decisioni e responsabilità che lo porteranno a rischiare sempre di più la vita e a crescere come uomo.
Ma anche i comprimari sono molto ben delineati nel loro carattere. Alcuni furbi, altri ingenui, chi è avvezzo a combattere e chi si fa forza grazie al carattere del suo Optio. Uomini veri con le proprie debolezze e punti di forza.
Ecco perché è un libro che ho molto apprezzato e che, probabilmente, rileggerò.
Aggiungo che non sono presenti storie d’amore ma di grande amicizia e lealtà, ottimi combattimenti e tutto ciò che può comportare una guerra vissuta in quell’epoca a livello di disagi e di efferatezze, senza però cadere nell’horror o nello splatter.
Consigliato a chi ama gli storici e le avventure, le guerre all’arma bianca e i sentimenti profondi che uniscono compagni di avventura.
.
Questo libro, ambientato nel periodo in cui a capo dell’Impero romano c’era Claudio, narra le vicende di un piccolo gruppo di soldati appartenenti alla Seconda Legione, intenti a combattere sui confini a nord dell’Impero contro i temuti Druidi, appartenenti alla tribù dei Durotrigi.
Il protagonista è Figulo, l’Optio (vice centurione) della Sesta Centuria nella Quinta Coorte, appartenente alla Seconda Legione, le cui origini galliche denotano una tenacia e resistenza particolari.
Impantanati in una guerra durissima, dove la morte cammina affianco ai soldati nei campi di battaglia su spiagge e paludi, boschi e fortezze, Figulo, rimasto al comando suo malgrado, si troverà ad aver a che fare con gli intrighi dell’Impero e gli toccherà guidare un piccolo gruppo di legionari al fine di portare a termine le missioni affidategli, cercando ovviamente di salvare la sua stessa vita e quella degli uomini al suo comando.
Questa la trama, che già di per sé è molto carina perché ha diversi colpi di scena, è soprattutto veloce e scorrevole. Non si perde in spiegazioni lunghe e noiose o su usi e costumi, ma nello stesso tempo ci fa immergere nel clima giusto spiegandoci i disagi, le fatiche fisiche e morali e come gli animi dei protagonisti vengano messi a dura prova.
Ma la parte migliore di questo romanzo storico sono i personaggi.
In primis il protagonista, Figulo, la cui crescita si avverte con piacere per tutto il libro. Da legionario senza grosse responsabilità si troverà a prendere decisioni e responsabilità che lo porteranno a rischiare sempre di più la vita e a crescere come uomo.
Ma anche i comprimari sono molto ben delineati nel loro carattere. Alcuni furbi, altri ingenui, chi è avvezzo a combattere e chi si fa forza grazie al carattere del suo Optio. Uomini veri con le proprie debolezze e punti di forza.
Ecco perché è un libro che ho molto apprezzato e che, probabilmente, rileggerò.
Aggiungo che non sono presenti storie d’amore ma di grande amicizia e lealtà, ottimi combattimenti e tutto ciò che può comportare una guerra vissuta in quell’epoca a livello di disagi e di efferatezze, senza però cadere nell’horror o nello splatter.
Consigliato a chi ama gli storici e le avventure, le guerre all’arma bianca e i sentimenti profondi che uniscono compagni di avventura.
March 10, 2019
I picked this up thinking it was by Simon Scarrow, but it the style was not what I was used to with his Cato & Marco series, and only then did I take a proper look at the cover and saw it was co-authored by TJ Andrews. I'm never really sure why authors do this, just as I'm not really sure who wrote what, so I was sort of disappointed, but I kept reading and before I know I was sucked in, and staying up late to finish 'just one more chapter'. It was like a rollercoaster- started slow, and then off we went. I can see me looking out for the next book in the series.
April 11, 2017
Small things in the writing style were occasionally a little irritating - possibly because two authors were collaborating, however I could ignore these because the story itself was a rollicking yarn. Toward the end I felt that my heart was in my mouth with the tension and excitement. I was sorry when the book ended. I hope we see more of Figulus.
April 12, 2024
Another enjoyable read based in Roman Britain. As I’ve come to expect historical detail, tension, great characters and an interesting story. However, it read like a series of novellas which of course it was. Not bad in and of itself but lost a bit of its punch in the process of extending to one book. Still, highly recommended to anyone interested in quality historical story telling.
August 2, 2023
A very dull and lifeless book mashed together out of 5 stories. I have read worse books and much better books. I found this hard to rate and really it’s a 2.5/5 and it’s just meh.
The characters have no life to them and I don’t really find myself that bothered about whether Figulus succeeds. The pacing of the book is clunky due to it being shorter stories merged together to form a full timeline so it doesn’t flow as one whole written piece.
There’s some really truly awful dialogue and you expect the odd bad line every now and again with Scarrow books but it definitely had more than average here. The whole story follows one extremely predictable thing after the next and I just wanted to get to the end.
The landing on the beaches of Vectis at the start I thought was written really poorly. It had a severe lack of detail and description of the terrain and troop movements of both sides of the battle and robs the reader of any possible picture of what is happening and what the battle even looks like.
This is down there with one of the worst battles I have ever read and I can only guess this part was written by TJ Andrews as I know Scarrow can write action really well. If this is the case I feel bad that Scarrow has his name attached to this shocker of a battle. If not then WTF??
All in all it was just a bit weak sadly.
The characters have no life to them and I don’t really find myself that bothered about whether Figulus succeeds. The pacing of the book is clunky due to it being shorter stories merged together to form a full timeline so it doesn’t flow as one whole written piece.
There’s some really truly awful dialogue and you expect the odd bad line every now and again with Scarrow books but it definitely had more than average here. The whole story follows one extremely predictable thing after the next and I just wanted to get to the end.
The landing on the beaches of Vectis at the start I thought was written really poorly. It had a severe lack of detail and description of the terrain and troop movements of both sides of the battle and robs the reader of any possible picture of what is happening and what the battle even looks like.
This is down there with one of the worst battles I have ever read and I can only guess this part was written by TJ Andrews as I know Scarrow can write action really well. If this is the case I feel bad that Scarrow has his name attached to this shocker of a battle. If not then WTF??
All in all it was just a bit weak sadly.
May 31, 2021
Ok so not as good as a Cato and Macro but still an excellent read. Optio Figulus is a great character. Always good to see the Druids get a good slapping. It does not pay to be a Roman Auxiliary as they are routinely cut down. More fights in this book so after a while the death descriptions can get a bit samey. But Scarrow with TJ Andrews make a good story. Finished with some Bank Holiday sun in Wales.
July 29, 2017
Love the genre and Simon Scarrow does not disappoint. Another ripping Roman yarn. If I am honest, I prefer a story set in an actual historical happening but I enjoyed Scarrow's latest hero Optio Horatius Figulus.
The authorship is shared with TJ Andrews. If you are a serious Scarrow fan do not let that put you off; it works well.
The authorship is shared with TJ Andrews. If you are a serious Scarrow fan do not let that put you off; it works well.
February 22, 2024
I was expecting more along the lines of the Cato series, and was disappointed. Other than the profanity - which may be par for such things nowadays - the book reads like a Scholastic middle school $1 special. Shallow, cardboard characters, formulaic plot, predictable at best, and nearly every chapter ends on a melodramatic note that made me hear "dat dat DUM" in my head.
October 16, 2018
Not quite as good as the Eagles of Empire books by Scarrow but a very readable story or series of novellas which becomes obvious as you get deeper into the tale. Somehow it doesn't have quite the depth of the Eagles books, but this could easily be developed into a series in its own right.
March 18, 2019
Mint minden eddigi Simon Scarrow, amit olvastam, hozza a formát. Nagyon izgalmas, leköt olvasás közben, ugyanakkor érezhetően férfias regény a maga - számomra néha túlságosan is szemléletes - harci jeleneteivel.
March 26, 2019
I enjoyed the book with all its twists and turned, but could tell throughout that it was mainly written by someone other than S.S.
April 15, 2020
I've read several Simon Scarrow books and really enjoyed them but this one less so. The characterisation was less developed and it relied more on blood and guts.
Read
October 15, 2020anothe great historical novel but I miss the two regulars Cato and Macro
October 21, 2020
ok read , nothing special
March 26, 2021
A rip roaring, pacy and action filled romp.
December 7, 2021
Really 3 and 1/2 stars. Generally fast-paced and begging. The second half is a page turner.
February 5, 2023
While a huge fan of Scarrow’s other books, this one is meh. It’s a compilation of e-books into one full novel to tell one story, and it feels like that.
February 10, 2023
Decent enough, but not written as well as the Cato books. Think Andrews was lead writer here !
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews