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The Deceivers
Roman Late Autumn AD 370 Summoning Canio to his Villa Censorini (Chedworth, Gloucestershire), Caristanius Sabinus, governor of Britannia Prima, informs him that he has been ordered to find a certain ancient figurine of the Underworld goddess Hecate, which he has reason to believe is in Canio's possession. Canio denies that he has it, or that he ever had it - which is half-true. But Sabinus doesn't believe him, and Canio is vulnerable to blackmail. And so, accompanied by a strange woman called Bodicca and a motherless boy calling himself Maximus, he journeys through a land slowly descending into winter, seeking a replica figurine good enough to deceive Sabinus.
304 pages, Paperback
Published April 4, 2019
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July 6, 2022
Engrossing and sometimes exciting further adventures of Canio, ex-soldier and present owner of an opulent villa, along with its staff, in southern 4th century Roman Britain. [I believe the author modeled the structure on the Fishbourne Roman Villa, the ruins of which can be seen today.] Canio is tasked by the present Provincial Governor, or Praeses, to find and to give to him the Hecate figure Canio and two other soldiers had discovered two years previously. One of the soldiers, Peltrasius, is now one of Sabinus' bodyguards and has probably told him of the figure and its supposed magical properties. Sabinus says he wants wants to give it to the Governor of all Britannia, Civilis, the Vicarius. The Praeses wants Canio to find it and bring it back to him--for what purpose Canio speculates on later. Canio; a strange middle-aged woman named Bodicca; and a small boy accompany him on a journey to have a duplicate made, which he hopes will fool Sabinus. After a metalworker creates an excellent copy and the old priest from whom it had been stolen originally, authenticates it, Canio waits till just before the deadline he's been given and presents it to Sabinus. Will it pass muster?
I thought this a logical and gripping continuation of Canio's story; frankly, I wasn't sure where it would go after the last novel in the series. I found the title to be well chosen; most of the characters in their individual ways were "deceivers": through lies, half-truths, misrepresentations and deceptions, both big and small, down to a mosaic floor in one of the inns showing pagan scenes replaced with Christian symbolism and figures. The tree on the cover was not the "stag-tree" mentioned in the novel, but I felt the ochre carried out one of the author's themes: the dying of the seasons. The story even took place in fall. I felt the author expressed this theme in his yellow-leaf metaphor and the ochre carried it out. I thank the author for sending me a copy.
Highly recommended.
I thought this a logical and gripping continuation of Canio's story; frankly, I wasn't sure where it would go after the last novel in the series. I found the title to be well chosen; most of the characters in their individual ways were "deceivers": through lies, half-truths, misrepresentations and deceptions, both big and small, down to a mosaic floor in one of the inns showing pagan scenes replaced with Christian symbolism and figures. The tree on the cover was not the "stag-tree" mentioned in the novel, but I felt the ochre carried out one of the author's themes: the dying of the seasons. The story even took place in fall. I felt the author expressed this theme in his yellow-leaf metaphor and the ochre carried it out. I thank the author for sending me a copy.
Highly recommended.
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