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Legionary #7
The Blood Road
A tale of adventure and military brotherhood in the legions of Rome
381 The Gothic War draws to a brutal climax, and the victor's name will be written in blood...
The great struggle between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Gothic Horde rumbles into its fifth year. It seems that there can be no end to the conflict, for although the Goths are masters of the land, they cannot topple the last of the imperial cities. But heralds bring news that might change it Emperor Gratian readies to lead his Western legions into the fray, to turn matters on their head, to crush the horde and save the East!
The men of the XI Claudia legion long for their homeland’s salvation, but Tribunus Pavo knows these hopes drip with danger. For he and his soldiers are Gratian’s quarry as much as any Goth.
The road ahead will be fraught with broken oaths, enemy blades... and tides of blood.
Praise for ' The Blood Road':
"Swashbuckling adventure, political intrigue, unexpected double-crosses, and a hero to root for" - Kate Quinn, NEW YORK TIMES & USA TODAY BESTSELLER
★★★★★ "Another winner in the Legionary series" - Hoover Book Reviews
381 The Gothic War draws to a brutal climax, and the victor's name will be written in blood...
The great struggle between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Gothic Horde rumbles into its fifth year. It seems that there can be no end to the conflict, for although the Goths are masters of the land, they cannot topple the last of the imperial cities. But heralds bring news that might change it Emperor Gratian readies to lead his Western legions into the fray, to turn matters on their head, to crush the horde and save the East!
The men of the XI Claudia legion long for their homeland’s salvation, but Tribunus Pavo knows these hopes drip with danger. For he and his soldiers are Gratian’s quarry as much as any Goth.
The road ahead will be fraught with broken oaths, enemy blades... and tides of blood.
Praise for ' The Blood Road':
"Swashbuckling adventure, political intrigue, unexpected double-crosses, and a hero to root for" - Kate Quinn, NEW YORK TIMES & USA TODAY BESTSELLER
★★★★★ "Another winner in the Legionary series" - Hoover Book Reviews
- GenresHistorical Fiction
501 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 29, 2018
180 people are currently reading
108 people want to read
About the author
Gordon Doherty
41 books293 followersI'm a Scottish writer, addicted to reading and writing historical fiction.
My love of history was first kindled by visits to the misty Roman ruins of Britain and the sun-baked antiquities of Turkey and Greece. My expeditions since have taken me all over the world and back and forth through time (metaphorically, at least), allowing me to write tales of the later Roman Empire, Byzantium, Classical Greece and even the distant Bronze Age.
All of my novels are available from good online stores in paperback and eBook format.
Happy reading!
My website: www.gordondoherty.co.uk
My Twitter: @GordonDoherty
My Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GordonDohert...
My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCybC...
My love of history was first kindled by visits to the misty Roman ruins of Britain and the sun-baked antiquities of Turkey and Greece. My expeditions since have taken me all over the world and back and forth through time (metaphorically, at least), allowing me to write tales of the later Roman Empire, Byzantium, Classical Greece and even the distant Bronze Age.
All of my novels are available from good online stores in paperback and eBook format.
Happy reading!
My website: www.gordondoherty.co.uk
My Twitter: @GordonDoherty
My Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GordonDohert...
My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCybC...
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 16, 2018
I had a stack of ARCs waiting for my attention, but I kept sneaking back to "Legionary: Blood Road" every chance I could get: swashbuckling adventure, political intrigue, unexpected double-crosses, and an appealing, world-weary hero made this one a fast, fun romp through late Imperial Rome. Readers unfamiliar with the previous volumes in the series shouldn't be put off; this is an adventure that stands as square as its hobnail-booted hero who leaps off the first page with his swordplay, his quiet competence, and the bulls-eye he carries on his back from a vengeful emperor.
September 8, 2018
3.5/5 rounded to 4. Pavo and the Claudia are in the last phase of the Gothic War. Pavo still is sought by Gratian, the Western Roman Emperor and his evil Spectatores. Fritigern, the Gothic leader, wishes peace, as does the Eastern Roman empire. Pavo, with prophetic nightmares pointing the way through a "blood road" and a spectral king, seeks to make this come about. Also, the Caesar, Valentinian gives him a token to prove his bona fides to the Goths. There are hair-raising escapes and gruesome--too much so for my taste--fighting: Goth versus Roman. Pavo and the leader of the Spectatores face each other in a final swordfight reminiscent of that of Hamlet/Laertes.
This episode seemed more like a "guys'" adventure than some of the others previous. Some of the rescues did seem a bit improbable and I wondered at when Pavo and company escaped once by leaping into a river, how were they able to light a fire and preserve food without everything becoming completely soaked and useless? In spite of any reservations, recommended.
This episode seemed more like a "guys'" adventure than some of the others previous. Some of the rescues did seem a bit improbable and I wondered at when Pavo and company escaped once by leaping into a river, how were they able to light a fire and preserve food without everything becoming completely soaked and useless? In spite of any reservations, recommended.
July 10, 2018
The Blood Road is the seventh book in the author’s Legionary series focussing on the exploits of Tribunus Pavo and his XI Claudia legion. I haven’t read any of the earlier books in the series but this certainly didn’t affect my enjoyment of The Blood Road – quite the contrary. The references to past events sprinkled throughout the book made me keen to catch up on the complete series at some point. [Sigh, wish-list increases by six…]
The dramatic prologue of The Blood Road gives a fantastic sense of the exciting story to come and sets the scene for the turbulent times in which the book is set. The Goths fear the Huns, the Romans of the Eastern Empire under Theodosius fear the Goths and the Romans of the Western Empire under Gratian fear both. It’s a dog-eat-dog world in which position relies on showing strength and ruthlessly cowing (or removing) all internal opposition – if possible, in the most excruciatingly violent way. However, all sides feature the competing forces of ‘hawks’, who advocate war and the total destruction of the enemy, and ‘doves’, who argue for overtures to be made for peace.
Stuck right in the middle of all this mayhem is Pavo. He is haunted by strange, ominous, vision-like dreams depicting a path of terrible suffering – the ‘blood road’ of the title – that he must endure in order to achieve a higher objective. It transpires that achieving that objective will necessitate him leading his XI Claudia legion into danger such as they have never faced before and testing their loyalty to the limit. Okay, so our hero does seem to have extraordinary physical resilience, an amazing ability to escape from seemingly impossible situations and the luck of the devil when it comes to close calls and precarious (often literally) situations. But surely this is what you expect from a battle-hardened veteran of many arduous campaigns and bloody battles. And it makes for great fun wondering just how Pavo’s going to extricate himself from this one, and the next one, and the next one…
Historical fiction fans of all varieties will find plenty to enjoy in The Blood Road. For those who like theirs enlivened by lots of action, the book features a host of skilfully described, exciting, heart-thumping and visceral battle scenes. Those who crave a good helping of historical detail along with a compelling story will enjoy the author’s obviously detailed research into Roman military structures, equipment and tactics. (Thanks to the helpful glossary, I now know my spatha from my pugio.)
There are some great descriptions that bring to life the period and the atmosphere within the embattled cities of the Eastern Empire. ‘It was dog-hot, and the city streets writhed with bodies, pushing and jostling down the main way, converging from the hilly wards, spilling from alleys and finally congregating in a sweating, babbling swarm around the flagged concourse of the Hippodrome. Hawkers and hagglers cried to all and sundry, offering tiny, stale loaves baked with last week’s grain, pots of thin stew and vases of cheap wine.’
Finally, readers looking for colourful characters, especially of the ‘boo hiss’ variety, will have their wish granted. There’s Emperor Gratian, Pavo’s sworn enemy, who likes nothing better than thinking up cruel, and ideally prolonged, ways to put his enemies to death. And there are his sinister agents, of which I will say no more for fear of spoilers except to say – are you absolutely sure that shadow in the doorway is just a shadow? As Pavo confides, “I sense them everywhere: in my barracks, on every street corner, in every shadow.”
Eager followers of the series will be delighted to know that the concluding chapter of The Blood Road sets up the possibility of further instalments. I received a review copy courtesy of the author in return from an honest and unbiased review.
The dramatic prologue of The Blood Road gives a fantastic sense of the exciting story to come and sets the scene for the turbulent times in which the book is set. The Goths fear the Huns, the Romans of the Eastern Empire under Theodosius fear the Goths and the Romans of the Western Empire under Gratian fear both. It’s a dog-eat-dog world in which position relies on showing strength and ruthlessly cowing (or removing) all internal opposition – if possible, in the most excruciatingly violent way. However, all sides feature the competing forces of ‘hawks’, who advocate war and the total destruction of the enemy, and ‘doves’, who argue for overtures to be made for peace.
Stuck right in the middle of all this mayhem is Pavo. He is haunted by strange, ominous, vision-like dreams depicting a path of terrible suffering – the ‘blood road’ of the title – that he must endure in order to achieve a higher objective. It transpires that achieving that objective will necessitate him leading his XI Claudia legion into danger such as they have never faced before and testing their loyalty to the limit. Okay, so our hero does seem to have extraordinary physical resilience, an amazing ability to escape from seemingly impossible situations and the luck of the devil when it comes to close calls and precarious (often literally) situations. But surely this is what you expect from a battle-hardened veteran of many arduous campaigns and bloody battles. And it makes for great fun wondering just how Pavo’s going to extricate himself from this one, and the next one, and the next one…
Historical fiction fans of all varieties will find plenty to enjoy in The Blood Road. For those who like theirs enlivened by lots of action, the book features a host of skilfully described, exciting, heart-thumping and visceral battle scenes. Those who crave a good helping of historical detail along with a compelling story will enjoy the author’s obviously detailed research into Roman military structures, equipment and tactics. (Thanks to the helpful glossary, I now know my spatha from my pugio.)
There are some great descriptions that bring to life the period and the atmosphere within the embattled cities of the Eastern Empire. ‘It was dog-hot, and the city streets writhed with bodies, pushing and jostling down the main way, converging from the hilly wards, spilling from alleys and finally congregating in a sweating, babbling swarm around the flagged concourse of the Hippodrome. Hawkers and hagglers cried to all and sundry, offering tiny, stale loaves baked with last week’s grain, pots of thin stew and vases of cheap wine.’
Finally, readers looking for colourful characters, especially of the ‘boo hiss’ variety, will have their wish granted. There’s Emperor Gratian, Pavo’s sworn enemy, who likes nothing better than thinking up cruel, and ideally prolonged, ways to put his enemies to death. And there are his sinister agents, of which I will say no more for fear of spoilers except to say – are you absolutely sure that shadow in the doorway is just a shadow? As Pavo confides, “I sense them everywhere: in my barracks, on every street corner, in every shadow.”
Eager followers of the series will be delighted to know that the concluding chapter of The Blood Road sets up the possibility of further instalments. I received a review copy courtesy of the author in return from an honest and unbiased review.
August 21, 2018
Usually when I read a book I make a few key notes to help when writing the review. I just wasn’t able to with this book.. because I couldn’t put it down long enough to write even one word. The only way to describe this book is simply tremendous!
It says something about the writer when they are able to keep a series going..and to keep it fresh and interesting.. It just never feels like the end for Pavo will ever come, even though I know one day this great series will draw to an end. That will be a sad day indeed!
But for now at least we have a new book in the series! The Blood Road, book 7 in the series. The situation with the goths is turbulent to say the least but it’s time to draw an end to the war as the western and eastern armies clash with the goths with heavy losses felt on both sides. Emperor Gratian wants to be the saviour but just how much is he willing to sacrifice to ensure glory?
I really enjoyed the warfare in the tale which was easy to immerse myself in and get lost. I’m no historian but I loved the detail of the places, weapons, clothes the author put into the tale. All of which make the story feel real as you can imagine it in your mind’s eye.
Fans of a good battle will love this tale as there’s plenty of detailed battles, and when I say detailed I mean both factual and down right engrossing man vs man to the end type of fights when your heart pumps so hard your chest will burst.
Caught in the middle of everything is Pavo who has made himself quite the enemy in Emperor Gratian and Pavo has to do his very best to stay out of harms way…in doing so he puts everyone he cares about in danger but the only way to stop things is to help end the war! but if you know the author then you’ll already know not everyone will come out of this unscathed.
There’s twists as usual from the author that really do keep you hooked and that ending had me fuming! how could you leave us like that Mr Doherty! ha.
Overall a smash hit of a book that continues to add to an already riveting series! Detailed enough to please fans who enjoy historical details but not so much as to alienate those who prefer the thrill of the plot and warfare. Gordon Doherty always has that knack of writing things exactly how I like it and long may it continue.
Hats off to the author, simply wondrous.
It says something about the writer when they are able to keep a series going..and to keep it fresh and interesting.. It just never feels like the end for Pavo will ever come, even though I know one day this great series will draw to an end. That will be a sad day indeed!
But for now at least we have a new book in the series! The Blood Road, book 7 in the series. The situation with the goths is turbulent to say the least but it’s time to draw an end to the war as the western and eastern armies clash with the goths with heavy losses felt on both sides. Emperor Gratian wants to be the saviour but just how much is he willing to sacrifice to ensure glory?
I really enjoyed the warfare in the tale which was easy to immerse myself in and get lost. I’m no historian but I loved the detail of the places, weapons, clothes the author put into the tale. All of which make the story feel real as you can imagine it in your mind’s eye.
Fans of a good battle will love this tale as there’s plenty of detailed battles, and when I say detailed I mean both factual and down right engrossing man vs man to the end type of fights when your heart pumps so hard your chest will burst.
Caught in the middle of everything is Pavo who has made himself quite the enemy in Emperor Gratian and Pavo has to do his very best to stay out of harms way…in doing so he puts everyone he cares about in danger but the only way to stop things is to help end the war! but if you know the author then you’ll already know not everyone will come out of this unscathed.
There’s twists as usual from the author that really do keep you hooked and that ending had me fuming! how could you leave us like that Mr Doherty! ha.
Overall a smash hit of a book that continues to add to an already riveting series! Detailed enough to please fans who enjoy historical details but not so much as to alienate those who prefer the thrill of the plot and warfare. Gordon Doherty always has that knack of writing things exactly how I like it and long may it continue.
Hats off to the author, simply wondrous.
January 25, 2019
Another excellent read by Gordon Doherty. Recommended.
July 10, 2018
I have known the author for a few years now. Well, I know him in the online sense of the word, and have enjoyed reading his books so much that I even used his name for a character in a book I wrote (and killed him off in a very dramatic fashion) :-) . It is a somewhat sad fact that often when an author has written a series that spans this many volumes, the content loses some of it's vitality; it's level of excellence begins to dwindle. It pains me to say this because it may cause Mr. Doherty's head to swell to an uncomfortable size, but The Blood Road is in no way an example of lost vitality or excellence lost. In fact, I think this actually surpasses his other work, as hard as that it is to imagine.
The Gothic War comes to a head as peace offerings are sabotaged and the XI Claudia is in the thick of the action. So too are Emperor Gratian's special hunter/killer squad of heavies. Gratian has a score to settle with our hero, Pavo, and will stop at nothing to have his revenge. The Blood Road, a mixture of political intrigue, war time maneuverings and battles, and legionary cohesiveness and loyalty, is a taut, thrilling ride taking the reader on unexpected treks and paths as Pavo and the XI Claudia struggle to survive the Goths and the Romans who seek to destroy them. A page turning delight awaits you, my peeps and fellow travelers, so sit back and enjoy a thrilling romp through the Thracian countryside. 5 stars
The Gothic War comes to a head as peace offerings are sabotaged and the XI Claudia is in the thick of the action. So too are Emperor Gratian's special hunter/killer squad of heavies. Gratian has a score to settle with our hero, Pavo, and will stop at nothing to have his revenge. The Blood Road, a mixture of political intrigue, war time maneuverings and battles, and legionary cohesiveness and loyalty, is a taut, thrilling ride taking the reader on unexpected treks and paths as Pavo and the XI Claudia struggle to survive the Goths and the Romans who seek to destroy them. A page turning delight awaits you, my peeps and fellow travelers, so sit back and enjoy a thrilling romp through the Thracian countryside. 5 stars
May 1, 2022
East versus West versus Goths means there are enough tangled ambitions and 'games of thrones' to keep almost everyone at each other's throats. Excellent!
July 17, 2018
Awesome.
Another long tough journey for Pavo, Sura and the Claudia. Hunted by the coward Gratian and his speculatores, Pavo and the Claudia must run and run. He is the one chance for peace between the eastern empire and the Goths of Fritigern. Gratian wants to rule the whole empire and humiliate Theodosius. Will Pavo and Sura overcome Vitalianus and Gratian? Will they get to Fritigern and bring about a true lasting peace? Will the Claudia survive the loss of Pavo? A hectic ride from start to finish. Another great read from Gordon Doherty.
Another long tough journey for Pavo, Sura and the Claudia. Hunted by the coward Gratian and his speculatores, Pavo and the Claudia must run and run. He is the one chance for peace between the eastern empire and the Goths of Fritigern. Gratian wants to rule the whole empire and humiliate Theodosius. Will Pavo and Sura overcome Vitalianus and Gratian? Will they get to Fritigern and bring about a true lasting peace? Will the Claudia survive the loss of Pavo? A hectic ride from start to finish. Another great read from Gordon Doherty.
July 31, 2018
As always, I enjoyed the read.
I like the characters, interesting descriptions and period setting.
Initially moves a bit slow, but once things get going it's a page turner.
I like the characters, interesting descriptions and period setting.
Initially moves a bit slow, but once things get going it's a page turner.
August 14, 2018
Pavo
Another brilliant story cannot get enough of these stories keeps on getting better all the time cannot wait for the next instalment
Another brilliant story cannot get enough of these stories keeps on getting better all the time cannot wait for the next instalment
December 13, 2018
Good stuff, as always from Gordon Doherty. I'd like to see the impossible escapes toned down though. The characters and stories are strong enough with turning these into Roman James Bond films
October 5, 2019
.fantastic
An absolutely amazing page turner.greed betrayal loyalty blood and death keeps you on the edge to the last page.when is the next book
An absolutely amazing page turner.greed betrayal loyalty blood and death keeps you on the edge to the last page.when is the next book
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 24, 2025
The Blood Road
Another volume of this excellent and enthralling series has gone and we are moving forward to a possible climax? I am looking forward to the next episode.
Another volume of this excellent and enthralling series has gone and we are moving forward to a possible climax? I am looking forward to the next episode.
April 29, 2021
I love this series and typically each book gets 5 stars. Only 4 this time though.
Just a bit too much slight of hand. I lost track of the number of times the principal protagonists escaped seemingly inevitable death. After both surviving the Battle of Adrianople two books ago, I would have figured these two cats would have used up whatever was left of their nine lives. Apparently not.
The suspension of my disbelief got stretched a bit.
Just saying ...
Just a bit too much slight of hand. I lost track of the number of times the principal protagonists escaped seemingly inevitable death. After both surviving the Battle of Adrianople two books ago, I would have figured these two cats would have used up whatever was left of their nine lives. Apparently not.
The suspension of my disbelief got stretched a bit.
Just saying ...
August 18, 2024
I picked up The Blood Road after finishing the The Anatomy of Evil to read something less serious.
Politics, ambition, war, and camaraderie fill the tale as Pavo and the Claudia continue their epic journey through the 4th century AD.
An easy read for anyone who likes historical fiction, Roman history, or just wants a solid read. I will pick up the eighth book in the series at some point.
Politics, ambition, war, and camaraderie fill the tale as Pavo and the Claudia continue their epic journey through the 4th century AD.
An easy read for anyone who likes historical fiction, Roman history, or just wants a solid read. I will pick up the eighth book in the series at some point.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews