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Dai and Julia #5-7
The Second Dai and Julia Omnibus
In this second Omnibus edition of their adventures Dai and Julia face murder, kidnap, art theft, sheep rustling and much more...
256 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 5, 2018
3 people are currently reading
6 people want to read
About the author
E.M. Swift-Hook
49 books204 followersE.M. Swift-Hook is the author of the Fortune's Fools dark space opera series and co-author of the alternate history whodunits the Dai and Julia Mysteries.
In the words that Robert Heinlein put into the mouth of Lazarus Long: 'Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards.'
Having tried a number of different careers, before settling in the North-East of England with family, three dogs, cats and a small flock of rescued chickens, she now spends a lot of time in private and has very clean hands.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 1, 2019
Even Better Than the First Omnibus!
More plots and subplots, tauter prose and more sharply defined locales and people - crimes uniquely suited to the Dai and Julia universe. A wonderful companion to bring in the New Year. More Dai and Julia for 2019, please!
More plots and subplots, tauter prose and more sharply defined locales and people - crimes uniquely suited to the Dai and Julia universe. A wonderful companion to bring in the New Year. More Dai and Julia for 2019, please!
August 10, 2020
Imagine a world where Ancient Rome with the togas and the terms and Roman Britain still existed but had evolved into the 21st century with wrist phones, technology and other developments appreciated in the modern world. This is the world of Dai and Julia, two detectives who solve all sorts of crimes such as murder, kidnapping, sheep-stealing and more. And Julia has just given birth to a little girl, so the parenthood issues come in too! There are five delightful stories and crimes to solve. My favorite was Dying to be Fathers in which a kidnapping was the crime.
At first I needed to warm up to the characters a bit, but once I did I loved the story and will purchase more collections. You will too!
At first I needed to warm up to the characters a bit, but once I did I loved the story and will purchase more collections. You will too!
May 29, 2021
The author has come up with a fascinating premise: What if the Roman Empire had not imploded and, instead, was a world power with control over the British Isles? Against that background two very different people, one a Celt and the other a Roman, interact with each other while fighting crime. These stories are police procedurals in the context of what policing would be like in the imaged modern Roman Empire. The two main characters, besides working together, are in love. The characters are well drawn, the plots believable, and the proofreading impeccable. I did wish that there was more description of localities to give a stronger sense of the settings.
May 15, 2021
I thoroughly enjoyed this second collection. The characters are dynamic and interesting, Julia’s occasional moments of ruthlessness make her a wonderfully fun character to read. I struggled a little with the Latin words for the first 10 pages or so, but it settles into an easy rhythm pretty quickly and by page 20 I no longer even noticed them.
The omnibus format is perfect for quick reads, the stories link but don’t depend on each other to make sense.
When does the third omnibus come out?
The omnibus format is perfect for quick reads, the stories link but don’t depend on each other to make sense.
When does the third omnibus come out?
February 20, 2020
If you strip away all the Roman trappings (the togas, the references to the Colosseum, SPQR, etc.), then you'll find a well-developed, traditional procedural not too dissimilar from shows like Law & Order. That makes this a really accessible series, which is good, because you should definitely check out this police procedural set in an alternate present where the Roman empire never fell.
Because the real Roman empire did fall so, so, so long ago, the result of mixing ancient Roman lingo, style, and society in with a wider empire and modern technology is almost closer to science fiction than alternate present. This makes for a delightfully bizarre setting, so much so that a couple of times, when someone mentioned a Fish & Chips place or Londinium (aka London, hehe), I was reminded that this wasn't an alien world.
The titular Dai and Julia are a joy to read about. Dai reminded me often of real-life Nick Offerman; he's manly on the outside, but honest about his emotions and quick to shed a tear. Julia, who begins the omnibus very pregnant and fiery as all hell, was well-rounded (not a pregnancy pun) and had a lot of opportunities to shine. It's hard to decide who the co-authors had more fun writing.
It's kind of a bummer that the first episode (episode 5, as it turns out, but the first in this particular omnibus) has them split apart for so long. After a brief setup, Julia is compelled to go into hiding and she's so pissed about it that she doesn't tell Dai where she ends up going. On the other hand, she's so comically conflicted about it that she sends him risque and flirtatious selfies throughout her safe-housing. They patch things up quickly, and they spend a lot of time together after that. As the episodes continue, so does her pregnancy, until she finally gives birth to their little girl Aelwen.
This omnibus contains episodes 5, 6, and 7, as well as two miniature episodes that, far as I can tell, are exclusive to this collection. These tended to be more personal, and honestly, Dying to be Welcome was probably my favorite of the bunch. Teachable moments, man, teachable moments. The other episodes are varied, original, and mostly self-contained. It's largely free of typical Roman brutality, but still, grab a rain poncho for the finale.
Though mostly well written, Dai & Julia was at first a difficult read. It's front-loaded with a lot of Latin terms that were difficult to pronounce and had a tendency to slow me down. Some of them, like cunnus, were clear in the context they were used, while others, like asclepieion, were difficult for me to pronounce and not immediately clear. (To the book's credit, though, there's a handy glossary at the end!) After a while, this began to feel normal and I sailed over most of it.
The only other issue was that some sentences were especially long and hard to read, forcing me to re-read several passages to keep the thread going. Over all, this was a delightful read that I highly recommend.
Because the real Roman empire did fall so, so, so long ago, the result of mixing ancient Roman lingo, style, and society in with a wider empire and modern technology is almost closer to science fiction than alternate present. This makes for a delightfully bizarre setting, so much so that a couple of times, when someone mentioned a Fish & Chips place or Londinium (aka London, hehe), I was reminded that this wasn't an alien world.
The titular Dai and Julia are a joy to read about. Dai reminded me often of real-life Nick Offerman; he's manly on the outside, but honest about his emotions and quick to shed a tear. Julia, who begins the omnibus very pregnant and fiery as all hell, was well-rounded (not a pregnancy pun) and had a lot of opportunities to shine. It's hard to decide who the co-authors had more fun writing.
It's kind of a bummer that the first episode (episode 5, as it turns out, but the first in this particular omnibus) has them split apart for so long. After a brief setup, Julia is compelled to go into hiding and she's so pissed about it that she doesn't tell Dai where she ends up going. On the other hand, she's so comically conflicted about it that she sends him risque and flirtatious selfies throughout her safe-housing. They patch things up quickly, and they spend a lot of time together after that. As the episodes continue, so does her pregnancy, until she finally gives birth to their little girl Aelwen.
This omnibus contains episodes 5, 6, and 7, as well as two miniature episodes that, far as I can tell, are exclusive to this collection. These tended to be more personal, and honestly, Dying to be Welcome was probably my favorite of the bunch. Teachable moments, man, teachable moments. The other episodes are varied, original, and mostly self-contained. It's largely free of typical Roman brutality, but still, grab a rain poncho for the finale.
Though mostly well written, Dai & Julia was at first a difficult read. It's front-loaded with a lot of Latin terms that were difficult to pronounce and had a tendency to slow me down. Some of them, like cunnus, were clear in the context they were used, while others, like asclepieion, were difficult for me to pronounce and not immediately clear. (To the book's credit, though, there's a handy glossary at the end!) After a while, this began to feel normal and I sailed over most of it.
The only other issue was that some sentences were especially long and hard to read, forcing me to re-read several passages to keep the thread going. Over all, this was a delightful read that I highly recommend.
June 4, 2021
The Second Dai and Julia Omnibus is a creative collection placed in an alternate history where ancient Rome never fell. I have not yet read The First Dai, and I thought it might prove difficult to catch up and adjust to the writing style and sprinkled bits of Latin. After a few pages, it wasn't a problem. While I didn't run into the glossary of terms until I finished with the book, I found it was relatively easy to assume the meanings of the terms I wasn't familiar with. It would have been helpful if it had listed the glossary in the Table of Contents, but the book itself was well-written and entertaining.
Using modern technology in combination with ancient traditions made for an interesting backdrop for the crimes that Julia and Dai worked to solve. The could-have-been world was both imaginative and believable, and it was interesting to see the author's vision of how the Roman world might have evolved. I found both Dai and Julia, as well as several of the supporting characters, to be likable and developed, and that helped pull me into the story. There were many side characters coming and going throughout. Because of the long Roman names, a few of them were harder to keep track of and remember who was who the next time their name came up. So, maybe there could have been a little more clarity with some interactions with these characters, but it didn't overly hinder the reading experience. There were a few minor errors, but nothing distracting. As a whole, I enjoyed the book and found I could have easily read more about Dai and Julia.
Using modern technology in combination with ancient traditions made for an interesting backdrop for the crimes that Julia and Dai worked to solve. The could-have-been world was both imaginative and believable, and it was interesting to see the author's vision of how the Roman world might have evolved. I found both Dai and Julia, as well as several of the supporting characters, to be likable and developed, and that helped pull me into the story. There were many side characters coming and going throughout. Because of the long Roman names, a few of them were harder to keep track of and remember who was who the next time their name came up. So, maybe there could have been a little more clarity with some interactions with these characters, but it didn't overly hinder the reading experience. There were a few minor errors, but nothing distracting. As a whole, I enjoyed the book and found I could have easily read more about Dai and Julia.
July 22, 2019
It took me a minute to suss out the setting…
Ancient Roman times but with modern technology. An interesting and fun alternate reality.
I loved following Dai and Julia along in their adventures to solve these mysteries.
And I thought the the use of ancient Roman terminology was well used. Just enough to get you “in the mood” but not so much it stalled the flow of reading.
You’ll love this collection of “whodunit” stories, because the tales will keep you guessing while you fall in love with the characters.
Get it now.
Ancient Roman times but with modern technology. An interesting and fun alternate reality.
I loved following Dai and Julia along in their adventures to solve these mysteries.
And I thought the the use of ancient Roman terminology was well used. Just enough to get you “in the mood” but not so much it stalled the flow of reading.
You’ll love this collection of “whodunit” stories, because the tales will keep you guessing while you fall in love with the characters.
Get it now.
July 5, 2020
Through a series of short cases, we are welcomed into the lives of Dai and Julia, police detectives in this alternate universe. Here Britain is still under Roman domination, although the date is roughly the 21st century. The story very cleverly weaves a Roman social culture and a modern technology culture, with a whole bunch of Celtic culture thrown in. I loved Julia and admired her cleverness. The stories were united by the underlying personal lives of the two main characters. It reminded be, in an odd way, of the TV series, Foyle's War.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews