What do you think?
Rate this book
Kannon Dupree #1
Gladiatrix
Nothing like thinking in terms of millennia to stop you focusing on your own problems.
When time travel was invented, everyone thought it would solve their problems. But for 22-year old Kannon, it's about to turn her life upside down.
Left for dead in the Blue Mountains when she was just a baby, Kannon has now discovered that an American Time Marshal, Victoria Dupress, could be her real mother. But Victoria has gone missing in an ancient Rome while investigating the Hierophant, the mysterious leader of the Isis cult.
Kannon desperately wants to find Victoria, but the US National Time Administration is standing in her way...
When time travel was invented, everyone thought it would solve their problems. But for 22-year old Kannon, it's about to turn her life upside down.
Left for dead in the Blue Mountains when she was just a baby, Kannon has now discovered that an American Time Marshal, Victoria Dupress, could be her real mother. But Victoria has gone missing in an ancient Rome while investigating the Hierophant, the mysterious leader of the Isis cult.
Kannon desperately wants to find Victoria, but the US National Time Administration is standing in her way...
582 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 1, 2009
2 people are currently reading
58 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
June 11, 2022
Some books are just too long for their own good. First published in 2009, Gladiatrix is the first book in a sci-fantasy series about a young Australian woman who travels through a unique time portal for an American government agency. I got it from Book Club, the others were a bit “meh “ about it, but I was in the mood for something different and wanted to make up my own mind - also I’m a sucker for time-travel plot lines. This had a great premise, a bold belligerent kick-@rse lead character, and plenty of action - so why has it taken me over two weeks to finish?
Kannon is a martial arts expert who was adopted as a baby after being left for dead in the forests of the Blue Mountains near Sydney. When her friend Des finds a clue to who her birth mother might’ve been, she travels to the National Time Agency in San Francisco, where her possible mother Victoria is a Time Marshall. The NTA is caught up in a political battle between a fundamentalist Christian sect and the followers of the Egyptian goddess Isis, and Victoria is away on a mission to bring back crucial evidence to defuse the situation - but has gone missing. Accidentally transported back to Ancient Rome, Kannon must become a gladiator to find Victoria and unmask conspiracies in both time periods.
If this sounds complicated and far-fetched, that’s because it is. The author has gone for the Doctor Who approach, where the mechanics of Time Travel are taken as read, and characters are suddenly fluent in Latin thanks to some implausible technology. The past is basically just like the present, just smellier, and even if you allow for Kannon’s paraphrasing, the dialogue is ridiculous. It’s 512 pages of dense small print for a story that’s overly padded with contrived and rather ridiculous situations that the heroine has to extricate herself from, and Kannon’s repetitive internal monologue as she obsesses over every decision. On the plus side, the threat of a cheesy romance with a hot Roman doesn’t eventuate - some readers may be disappointed by this.
About a third of the way in, I decided to DNF, so read the last few chapters which persuaded me to go back and continue it. I did end up reading it all, and the story does eventually come together and make a sort of sense, but I resent the time it took. At this point there are two more books in the series, but I’m not invested in the character or interested enough in the next time period featured (1939 Hollywood) to be in any hurry to continue it.
Kannon is a martial arts expert who was adopted as a baby after being left for dead in the forests of the Blue Mountains near Sydney. When her friend Des finds a clue to who her birth mother might’ve been, she travels to the National Time Agency in San Francisco, where her possible mother Victoria is a Time Marshall. The NTA is caught up in a political battle between a fundamentalist Christian sect and the followers of the Egyptian goddess Isis, and Victoria is away on a mission to bring back crucial evidence to defuse the situation - but has gone missing. Accidentally transported back to Ancient Rome, Kannon must become a gladiator to find Victoria and unmask conspiracies in both time periods.
If this sounds complicated and far-fetched, that’s because it is. The author has gone for the Doctor Who approach, where the mechanics of Time Travel are taken as read, and characters are suddenly fluent in Latin thanks to some implausible technology. The past is basically just like the present, just smellier, and even if you allow for Kannon’s paraphrasing, the dialogue is ridiculous. It’s 512 pages of dense small print for a story that’s overly padded with contrived and rather ridiculous situations that the heroine has to extricate herself from, and Kannon’s repetitive internal monologue as she obsesses over every decision. On the plus side, the threat of a cheesy romance with a hot Roman doesn’t eventuate - some readers may be disappointed by this.
About a third of the way in, I decided to DNF, so read the last few chapters which persuaded me to go back and continue it. I did end up reading it all, and the story does eventually come together and make a sort of sense, but I resent the time it took. At this point there are two more books in the series, but I’m not invested in the character or interested enough in the next time period featured (1939 Hollywood) to be in any hurry to continue it.
April 8, 2019
An enjoyable fiction; the time is around about now, only there is a time travelling portal in existence. Our leading lady, Kannon, accidentally goes through it while trying to find her mother (having grown up an orphan in mysterious circumstances) and ends up in Rome circa emperor Augustus.
It was nice to read but not gripping. I suppose my main gripe is that given the title of the book I would have expected a little more actual Gladiating. Or indeed anything about the Arena or Gladiators at all because there was practically nothing on the topic. Kannon is meant to be an excellent Aikido marital artist but I think there are three smallish fistfights and that's it. The one time she goes up against a gladiator she chooses to do it unarmed, which is just every flavour of daft. Yes I know, she has 'Aiki principles' whatever. Myself, I practiced Aiki for a couple of decades including sword work, but whatever Kannon's weird principles are, going up against a dude with a sword and shied, unarmed, by choice is still daft.
In the absence of fighting, the plot concentrates on intrigue, a religious cult and finding mother. The details of Rome are pretty good and the plot mostly hums along nicely, though it is bit stretched out at times, and there is a mystifying amount of running around in the end that seems to serve no purpose and could have been better worked, however I would still recommend it to readers who like the basic precept.
It was nice to read but not gripping. I suppose my main gripe is that given the title of the book I would have expected a little more actual Gladiating. Or indeed anything about the Arena or Gladiators at all because there was practically nothing on the topic. Kannon is meant to be an excellent Aikido marital artist but I think there are three smallish fistfights and that's it. The one time she goes up against a gladiator she chooses to do it unarmed, which is just every flavour of daft. Yes I know, she has 'Aiki principles' whatever. Myself, I practiced Aiki for a couple of decades including sword work, but whatever Kannon's weird principles are, going up against a dude with a sword and shied, unarmed, by choice is still daft.
In the absence of fighting, the plot concentrates on intrigue, a religious cult and finding mother. The details of Rome are pretty good and the plot mostly hums along nicely, though it is bit stretched out at times, and there is a mystifying amount of running around in the end that seems to serve no purpose and could have been better worked, however I would still recommend it to readers who like the basic precept.
May 16, 2010
Review is here:
http://ticon4.com/2010/02/review-glad...
http://ticon4.com/2010/02/review-glad...
May 22, 2009
I read the enewsletter from Voyager when this book was first published and thought it sounded like one I would definitely want to read.
Kannon, who has believed all her life that her parents abandoned her, discovers that this might not be the case and that the woman who may be her mother is a Time Marshal. Kannon ends up in the Rome of 8AD where her mother is working.
I liked the main character, Kannon, at the beginning, but towards the end of the book I got a bit cross because she ALWAYS seemed to know the right thing to do, the best way to save herself, and the best way to save others. Someone so self-assured and with few self-doubts gets a bit grating.
There seems to be a trend in some of the fiction I've read whereby the female characters undermine the male characters' efforts to protect them and keep them from getting killed, which Kannon is also guilty of. I don't understand this. There can be no greater sacrifice than someone willing to endanger his or her life to protect another's, and to belittle that effort is to hold your own life and theirs in low regard.
Having said that, the story comes to a relatively satisfactory conclusion and paves the way for a sequel.
The book is more plot-focused than character-focused, but it's a pretty good read all the same.
Kannon, who has believed all her life that her parents abandoned her, discovers that this might not be the case and that the woman who may be her mother is a Time Marshal. Kannon ends up in the Rome of 8AD where her mother is working.
I liked the main character, Kannon, at the beginning, but towards the end of the book I got a bit cross because she ALWAYS seemed to know the right thing to do, the best way to save herself, and the best way to save others. Someone so self-assured and with few self-doubts gets a bit grating.
There seems to be a trend in some of the fiction I've read whereby the female characters undermine the male characters' efforts to protect them and keep them from getting killed, which Kannon is also guilty of. I don't understand this. There can be no greater sacrifice than someone willing to endanger his or her life to protect another's, and to belittle that effort is to hold your own life and theirs in low regard.
Having said that, the story comes to a relatively satisfactory conclusion and paves the way for a sequel.
The book is more plot-focused than character-focused, but it's a pretty good read all the same.
April 20, 2012
When I read the blurb for Gladiatrix, I thought it sounded a bit like the Ancient Future series by Traci Harding (another story about a 'black belt- girl who goes back in time). I was pleasantly surprised, when I finally read Gladiatrix, to find that is was entirely unique and rather enjoyable.
That Rhonda Roberts has a PhD (in the formation of knowledge systems in different cultures and historical periods), and has travelled extensively, shows in her writing style. Her prose is confident, clear and fast paced, dragging me through to the end without remorse or respite (it was about 2am when I finally finished and could go to bed).
I enjoy the effort Roberts has gone to in making this an interesting intellectual challenge, as well as a fun foray into ancient Rome. There are questions abound, from the standard 'Who is my mother?' made more complicated by the strange circumstances in which our heroine was found (tied up in a cave in Australia aged two), to the more interesting 'What do I have to do to save her?' involving ancient Roman intrigue, gladiatorial bouts, acting in plays and trying not to fall in love with the 'hired' help.
In Gladiatrix, Roberts successfully incorporates Time Travel into a world we almost recognize, an alternate earth where the only noticeable differences are the existence of the NTA (National Time Administration) alongside NASA, and the continued existence of Isis worship in America. I love the way that all of these factors flow through the story without hesitation, as though they have every right to be sitting prominently in the centre of what we thought we knew about Union Square, and time travel for that matter (Roberts bends a lot of the established 'rules- without apology).
I give this book top marks for telling me a story I wanted to read in a way I never could have expected reading it. My only criticism is that I want to read the next one! Seriously! It is unfair to end it like that.
That Rhonda Roberts has a PhD (in the formation of knowledge systems in different cultures and historical periods), and has travelled extensively, shows in her writing style. Her prose is confident, clear and fast paced, dragging me through to the end without remorse or respite (it was about 2am when I finally finished and could go to bed).
I enjoy the effort Roberts has gone to in making this an interesting intellectual challenge, as well as a fun foray into ancient Rome. There are questions abound, from the standard 'Who is my mother?' made more complicated by the strange circumstances in which our heroine was found (tied up in a cave in Australia aged two), to the more interesting 'What do I have to do to save her?' involving ancient Roman intrigue, gladiatorial bouts, acting in plays and trying not to fall in love with the 'hired' help.
In Gladiatrix, Roberts successfully incorporates Time Travel into a world we almost recognize, an alternate earth where the only noticeable differences are the existence of the NTA (National Time Administration) alongside NASA, and the continued existence of Isis worship in America. I love the way that all of these factors flow through the story without hesitation, as though they have every right to be sitting prominently in the centre of what we thought we knew about Union Square, and time travel for that matter (Roberts bends a lot of the established 'rules- without apology).
I give this book top marks for telling me a story I wanted to read in a way I never could have expected reading it. My only criticism is that I want to read the next one! Seriously! It is unfair to end it like that.
December 4, 2018
Brilliant!
Kannon Jarratt was found, as a two year old, in a cave in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, Australia. She was hog tied with wire and it was doubtful that she would have lived much longer. The woman who found her, Yuki, was a Japanese Martial artist who brought Kannon up in the same way. No one seemed to know who she was or where she came from but she never gave up on finding her birth mother. Neither did Des, a retired police sergeant who became a close friend of her and Yuki. As a result of his persistence Kannon found herself in San Francisco at the NTA headquarters. While waiting for the woman who she thinks is her mother, she gets caught up in a terrorist attack and sent back to Ancient Rome. There her training in martial arts leads to her being acclaimed as a Gladiatrix, a female Roman gladiator. The characters in Rome have depth and give the story that bit of something extra that keeps a reader glued to the book.
The story is set in an alternative earth that is similar but also very different to the earth we live in. The depiction of Rome at the time of Augustus Caesar is fascinating with some very memorable characters.
For a debut novel this is very well edited and proofed. I think that anyone who likes Fantasy and SF will like this. I think that the author would attract more readers if she were to put her books on Kindle Unlimited as the book price is high for an eBook.
I was a bit disappointed in that Kannon wasn’t able to use her fighting prowess very often but otherwise I loved it.
Kannon Jarratt was found, as a two year old, in a cave in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, Australia. She was hog tied with wire and it was doubtful that she would have lived much longer. The woman who found her, Yuki, was a Japanese Martial artist who brought Kannon up in the same way. No one seemed to know who she was or where she came from but she never gave up on finding her birth mother. Neither did Des, a retired police sergeant who became a close friend of her and Yuki. As a result of his persistence Kannon found herself in San Francisco at the NTA headquarters. While waiting for the woman who she thinks is her mother, she gets caught up in a terrorist attack and sent back to Ancient Rome. There her training in martial arts leads to her being acclaimed as a Gladiatrix, a female Roman gladiator. The characters in Rome have depth and give the story that bit of something extra that keeps a reader glued to the book.
The story is set in an alternative earth that is similar but also very different to the earth we live in. The depiction of Rome at the time of Augustus Caesar is fascinating with some very memorable characters.
For a debut novel this is very well edited and proofed. I think that anyone who likes Fantasy and SF will like this. I think that the author would attract more readers if she were to put her books on Kindle Unlimited as the book price is high for an eBook.
I was a bit disappointed in that Kannon wasn’t able to use her fighting prowess very often but otherwise I loved it.
June 21, 2017
Absolutely amazing!
I love it I love it I love it.
I usually hate black belt super tough kick ass female characters but I really liked Kannon and thats really unusual for me. Her character was so well written, so real. And there was good development too.
Towards the middle of the book, the story kinda started slowing down, and then Alexander happened... Every girl.. I mean book needs an Alexander...
The plot was so rich, there were great twists that I did not see coming. It was really well written. I'm trying to find and buy the second and third ones but can't find them in my fav bookshops. I usually hate kindles but I'm willing to suffer reading them in e-book format, just because I really enjoyed this one... I literally stopped reading at one point for a week, just because I didn't want it to finish.
I love it I love it I love it.
I usually hate black belt super tough kick ass female characters but I really liked Kannon and thats really unusual for me. Her character was so well written, so real. And there was good development too.
Towards the middle of the book, the story kinda started slowing down, and then Alexander happened... Every girl.. I mean book needs an Alexander...
The plot was so rich, there were great twists that I did not see coming. It was really well written. I'm trying to find and buy the second and third ones but can't find them in my fav bookshops. I usually hate kindles but I'm willing to suffer reading them in e-book format, just because I really enjoyed this one... I literally stopped reading at one point for a week, just because I didn't want it to finish.
December 21, 2012
I really enjoyed this book. I did take a bit to get into it, but was more because of my state of mind than the book. Once I got into it I was hooked. Read until the wee small hours because didn't want to put it down.
I enjoyed the mix of present day mixed with the past blended with the mysteries and questions that needed sorting and answering along the way. I enjoyed the characters and both the heroes and villains were great.
I only have one complaint and that is that, for some unknown reason, my local library has book 1 and book 3, so am unable to launch into book 2 straight away. Person who orders books dropped the ball on that one!
Fun read with right amounts of intrigue, history, violence, gore and romance.
Oh, and glad world didn't end so I got to finish the book =)
I enjoyed the mix of present day mixed with the past blended with the mysteries and questions that needed sorting and answering along the way. I enjoyed the characters and both the heroes and villains were great.
I only have one complaint and that is that, for some unknown reason, my local library has book 1 and book 3, so am unable to launch into book 2 straight away. Person who orders books dropped the ball on that one!
Fun read with right amounts of intrigue, history, violence, gore and romance.
Oh, and glad world didn't end so I got to finish the book =)
November 17, 2010
There were two things I liked about this book: the beginning of the story is set in Sydney and most of the rest is set in Ancient Rome. There’s potential in this series, but I’m used to a lot tighter plotting and faster paced novels. Gladiatrix didn’t always hold my attention.
You can read my full review at Book Thingo.
You can read my full review at Book Thingo.
March 25, 2012
Gladiatrix by Rhonda Roberts requires a large suspension of disbelief. If you can get past that, its actually not a bad read. Set mainly in Australia and Ancient Rome it explores the concept of time travel. Kannon our heroine is a master of martial arts, through a series of events she goes back in time to find the mother she never knew. Lots of action and gross things Romans ate.
Read
December 28, 2015Katharine is a judge for the Sara Douglass 'Book Series' Award. This entry is the personal opinion of Katharine herself, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of any judging panel, the judging coordinator or the Aurealis Awards management team.
I won't be recording my thoughts (if I choose to) here until after the AA are over.
I won't be recording my thoughts (if I choose to) here until after the AA are over.
November 2, 2009
I really wanted to like this book. I read about half-way through before I completely lost interest.
Want to read
November 10, 2014Boo. I got this book at the Lifeline Bookfest thinking that it was the other book with the same title. It still sounds good though, so I'm not too disappointed I suppose.
July 7, 2013
Loved the concept of this book but found it wasn't executed well. I didn't feel connected to any of the characters and found I didn't care about them either.
June 2, 2014
Fantastic page turner, can't wait to get into the next two!!
May 17, 2017
A truly unexpected turn of events... start here and read all three, you won't be disappointed.
November 10, 2025
From HarperCollins: Book Description
When time travel was invented, everyone thought it would solve their problems.
But for 22-year-old Kannon, it′s about to turn her life upside down.
Left for dead in the Blue Mountains when she was just a baby, Kannon has now discovered that an American Time Marshal, Victoria Dupree, could be her real mother. But Victoria has gone missing in ancient Rome while investigating the Hierophant, the mysterious leader of the Isis cult.Kannon desperately wants to find Victoria, but the US National Time Administration is standing in her way…
Not exactly the type of book I would pick up, but in my quest to discover new writers and fresh takes on tired ideas, I read this new release.
Gladiatrix is an interesting book. Old, overused idea with a fresh take. That sums up this book in a few words. But, I liked it. Kannon is 22, when she was a kid, she was kidnapped and taken to Australia, where she nearly died but was stumbled upon by a Japanese tourist, Yuki, who in the end became her adoptive guardian and taught her to be strong via martial arts.
The book opens explosively with a confrontation that (in-between paragraphs) explains a lot of background. Very well done and a great opening scene, it shows Kannon and her martial arts skills and tells us, she can handle herself very well.
There is an assortment of characters that all seem pretty real, like someone I know. I especially liked Des, a retired copper who sees an International news item and notices a resemblance between a Time Marshal (a time machine was built in the 60’s, it’s common knowledge in this reality) and Kannon. A very strong resemblance. And he tells Kannon and in the end she flies from Australia to the USA, to check whether this woman is her mother.
This book has a great idea regarding time travel, one can only go into the past, not the future. When one returns from the past, the past warps back to its original form as if the Time Marshal had never been there. Extremely fantastic idea, I had never considered until now.
Having convinced the National Time Administration of who she is, Kannon is granted an opportunity to speak with Victoria Dupree (but only if the Time Marshal allows it). She is waiting in Victoria’s office when a group of armed extremists attack the centre and start smashing the time machine. They capture Kannon and she is thrown into the time machine and sent back to Rome 8AD.
This is a neat Rome, very real-life like where life is cheap and people are stabbed for being in the way, the poor sectors are exactly that–poor, and Gladiator sport is booming.
Kannon has a translator machine in the form of jewellery. Very Star Trek.
The book moves at a decent pace, though I thought the descriptions were a little on the heavy side, everything was detailed, perhaps a little too much. But I was okay with that. What I was not okay with (and it ruined the book for me) was the translations with the working class. The translations would start off fine and then characters started using: Oi, Ya, ‘e, shit like that. Oh, and shit, crap and fuck translated perfectly as well. I find it hard to believe that a translator would understand a slang term like fuck and translate it perfectly. I once saw a movie based in a similar time where a character called another “A Sponge” — translating (in my head) to: “A Twat”. I thought the translator should have translated: Oh for fuck’s sake into: oh for sponge sake. There was a brief explanation of how it worked nurologically and I may have missed something.
Apart from that, this book is an excellent read and fun as well. Rhonda ties all the streams together very nicely, including the dog she has LOL. That was so neat, the book is well worth your time.
The book is large but I finished it in a week. The pages practically turn themselves.
When time travel was invented, everyone thought it would solve their problems.
But for 22-year-old Kannon, it′s about to turn her life upside down.
Left for dead in the Blue Mountains when she was just a baby, Kannon has now discovered that an American Time Marshal, Victoria Dupree, could be her real mother. But Victoria has gone missing in ancient Rome while investigating the Hierophant, the mysterious leader of the Isis cult.Kannon desperately wants to find Victoria, but the US National Time Administration is standing in her way…
Not exactly the type of book I would pick up, but in my quest to discover new writers and fresh takes on tired ideas, I read this new release.
Gladiatrix is an interesting book. Old, overused idea with a fresh take. That sums up this book in a few words. But, I liked it. Kannon is 22, when she was a kid, she was kidnapped and taken to Australia, where she nearly died but was stumbled upon by a Japanese tourist, Yuki, who in the end became her adoptive guardian and taught her to be strong via martial arts.
The book opens explosively with a confrontation that (in-between paragraphs) explains a lot of background. Very well done and a great opening scene, it shows Kannon and her martial arts skills and tells us, she can handle herself very well.
There is an assortment of characters that all seem pretty real, like someone I know. I especially liked Des, a retired copper who sees an International news item and notices a resemblance between a Time Marshal (a time machine was built in the 60’s, it’s common knowledge in this reality) and Kannon. A very strong resemblance. And he tells Kannon and in the end she flies from Australia to the USA, to check whether this woman is her mother.
This book has a great idea regarding time travel, one can only go into the past, not the future. When one returns from the past, the past warps back to its original form as if the Time Marshal had never been there. Extremely fantastic idea, I had never considered until now.
Having convinced the National Time Administration of who she is, Kannon is granted an opportunity to speak with Victoria Dupree (but only if the Time Marshal allows it). She is waiting in Victoria’s office when a group of armed extremists attack the centre and start smashing the time machine. They capture Kannon and she is thrown into the time machine and sent back to Rome 8AD.
This is a neat Rome, very real-life like where life is cheap and people are stabbed for being in the way, the poor sectors are exactly that–poor, and Gladiator sport is booming.
Kannon has a translator machine in the form of jewellery. Very Star Trek.
The book moves at a decent pace, though I thought the descriptions were a little on the heavy side, everything was detailed, perhaps a little too much. But I was okay with that. What I was not okay with (and it ruined the book for me) was the translations with the working class. The translations would start off fine and then characters started using: Oi, Ya, ‘e, shit like that. Oh, and shit, crap and fuck translated perfectly as well. I find it hard to believe that a translator would understand a slang term like fuck and translate it perfectly. I once saw a movie based in a similar time where a character called another “A Sponge” — translating (in my head) to: “A Twat”. I thought the translator should have translated: Oh for fuck’s sake into: oh for sponge sake. There was a brief explanation of how it worked nurologically and I may have missed something.
Apart from that, this book is an excellent read and fun as well. Rhonda ties all the streams together very nicely, including the dog she has LOL. That was so neat, the book is well worth your time.
The book is large but I finished it in a week. The pages practically turn themselves.
July 24, 2010
Complex and fun. I’ll be keeping an eye out for book 2.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews