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Romanitas #3
Savage City
Imagine a world in which Rome never fell. Now the Empire stretches across the Atlantic, slaves are constructing a giant bridge over the Persian Gulf, and magnetic railways span the globe. But tensions within and without are about to change the face of the earth. Marcus Novius is caught in a massive explosion at the Coliseum which kills his uncle the emperor . . . making Marcus, his heir, the new leader of the Roman Empire. Marcus, the healer Sulien and Una, his sister - and Marcus' own love - have been together through thick and thin, fighting for freedom, fighting for their lives, fighting for justice, and Marcus' ascension to Roman throne was supposed to be the start of something magnificent . . . But Marcus is horribly wounded himself in the explosion, and Sulien is having problems fighting his way through the terrible devastation to be at his friend's - his emperor's - side. And it's not long before Sulien and Una realise life will never be the same again, for the Roman Empire is about to face its most dangerous enemy . . .
448 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2011
9 people are currently reading
210 people want to read
About the author
Sophia McDougall
26 books54 followersSophia McDougall (born 1979) is a British novelist, playwright, and poet, who studied at Oxford University in England.
She is best known as the author of the alternate history trilogy Romanitas, in which the Roman Empire still exists in contemporary times. She is also the author of Mars Evacuees and Space Hostages - sci-fi adventures for children (and everyone else who likes spaceships.)
She is best known as the author of the alternate history trilogy Romanitas, in which the Roman Empire still exists in contemporary times. She is also the author of Mars Evacuees and Space Hostages - sci-fi adventures for children (and everyone else who likes spaceships.)
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
May 10, 2013
The second Romanitas book, “Rome Burning”, ended on a huge cliffhanger so I was keen to see how it was resolved at the beginning of the concluding book in the trilogy. The resolution of the cliffhanger didn’t turn out exactly as I expected it to and the first chapter dealing with this is one of the best and most powerful in the trilogy. The rest of the book follows the aftermath of those events and it does cover a lot of different plotlines ranging in scope from two characters trying desperately to hide from the authorities while travelling across a continent (a plotline MacDougall likes so much that she seems to use it at least twice in every novel) to a World War between the two empires of Rome and Nionia (Japan) while ever-present in the background is Una, Varius and Sulien’s determination to abolish slavery in the Roman Empire.
There are a lot of potentially interesting plotlines in the book, but some of them are more successful. The series has tended to be at its best when it focuses tightly on a small number of characters and this is true again here with the scenes of characters in captivity or on the run among the most effective in the book, particularly in the mid-novel scenes where there are attempts to save a character from being executed in the Coliseum. The Coliseum scene and the trial preceding it is perhaps the highlight of the book. The book isn’t quite as assured when it comes to the storylines involving the war. It struggles to really convey what is happening in the war as a whole and what we see of the overall strategy is sometimes unconvincing while the ordinary legionaries conscripts that play an important role in the second half of the book seem a bit shallow compared to some of the other characters. The war storyline is at its best when showing the claustrophobia of living in a city under aerial bombardment, probably because it allows MacDougall to focus on the pressure it puts on the characters. The world-building continues to be a bit vague, although there are some nice touches such as the Pharos Lighthouse and Great Library still standing in Alexandria and various characters’ confusion at encountering an obscure religion in Ethiopia which uses a cross as its symbol.
The ending of the series is satisfying, although some elements of it do seem a bit rushed and slightly too easy. The bittersweet epilogue is also good at showing that even in victory the impact of the war doesn’t go away.
The characterisation has generally been the strongest part of the series and I’d say that largely continues here despite some occasional issues – Sulien can be a frustrating character to read about and even he seems puzzled by some of the things he does while Drusus continues to feel a bit of a cliché of a self-centred despot. The novel does suffer a bit from the lack of Dama, who was probably the most intriguing character in the first two novels but Una and Varius continue to be interesting characters.
Overall, this is an entertaining conclusion to a series that has always been a bit uneven but has enough good points to be worth reading.
There are a lot of potentially interesting plotlines in the book, but some of them are more successful. The series has tended to be at its best when it focuses tightly on a small number of characters and this is true again here with the scenes of characters in captivity or on the run among the most effective in the book, particularly in the mid-novel scenes where there are attempts to save a character from being executed in the Coliseum. The Coliseum scene and the trial preceding it is perhaps the highlight of the book. The book isn’t quite as assured when it comes to the storylines involving the war. It struggles to really convey what is happening in the war as a whole and what we see of the overall strategy is sometimes unconvincing while the ordinary legionaries conscripts that play an important role in the second half of the book seem a bit shallow compared to some of the other characters. The war storyline is at its best when showing the claustrophobia of living in a city under aerial bombardment, probably because it allows MacDougall to focus on the pressure it puts on the characters. The world-building continues to be a bit vague, although there are some nice touches such as the Pharos Lighthouse and Great Library still standing in Alexandria and various characters’ confusion at encountering an obscure religion in Ethiopia which uses a cross as its symbol.
The ending of the series is satisfying, although some elements of it do seem a bit rushed and slightly too easy. The bittersweet epilogue is also good at showing that even in victory the impact of the war doesn’t go away.
The characterisation has generally been the strongest part of the series and I’d say that largely continues here despite some occasional issues – Sulien can be a frustrating character to read about and even he seems puzzled by some of the things he does while Drusus continues to feel a bit of a cliché of a self-centred despot. The novel does suffer a bit from the lack of Dama, who was probably the most intriguing character in the first two novels but Una and Varius continue to be interesting characters.
Overall, this is an entertaining conclusion to a series that has always been a bit uneven but has enough good points to be worth reading.
July 15, 2011
No one's rated this yet? Really? I can't say much about this book without getting epically spoilery, but this series is awesome, the best modern Roman Empire I've seen. (I have seen more than one. It's an interest of mine.)
August 23, 2018
I finally got around to reading the third and final book in the Romanitas series. This was very much the same as the other two on the series; too long, too dull and a waste of a good opportunity. The idea of a continuing Roman Empire in the present is a good idea that is full of interesting possibilities, throw in the plot points of slave rebellions, and giant Nionia (Japan) and Sinoan Empires you have loads of possibilities. But these three books never seemed to reach a decent conclusion let alone a great one.
This book picks up straight from the last one Rome Burning, where a bomb has exploded in the Colosseum while the emperor and Marcus are there. Here is the main spoiler of the book – the emperor is killed, and Marcus is gravelly injured, and while emperor for just a few minutes signs a decree to end slavery. However, in the aftermath, his evil, mad cousin Drusus takes over and the starts to hunt down Una and Sulien and starts a war with the Nioanian Empire. Una and Sulien go on the run toward neutral territory while still trying to bring about the liberation of the slaves of the Roman Empire.
This was a slog to get through. The writing seemed to lack any edge or energy. The plot is almost all there but lost in the lacklustre writing. Characters lack any decent depth. Drusus is bad, because…he’s bad. That’s about it. Character development for the others isn’t much better either really. Despite getting traumatised in the arena, Una and Sulien don’t really grow much, their grief over Marcus’ death wanes over time. The other characters just seem to be there. None really stand out, and I did get confused by ‘who was who’, I don’t know if this was just me, the similarity of names or the writing, or a mixture all three. Marcus’s Nioanian wife, Noriko, does little other than be under house arrest for most of it. Her brothers leading the Nioanian army didn’t really fill any real role. Sulien does get drafted to fight in America (or Terranova), but this lacks any decent action or what a modern Roman army would be like or a Nionian one. Apparently, there is superweapon, which I first thought might have been referencing a nuclear bomb but is actually some kind of death beam…thing, I didn’t seem to get the details.
I shouldn't write this review without mentioning the super powers that Sulien and Una have. Una has telepathy, Sulien can heal people. This plays almost zero point in this book and most of the series. If powers were not uncommon on this world that’s fair enough, but only these two have powers. Why? Why does no make more of an issue of it? Just a pointless plot point.
The ending seems quick and anticlimactic. Basically, Noriko tells her brother to stop the war, and Una and Suilien go to Rome, with about a thousand escaped slaves, turn up at the palace and arrest Drusus. Who then goes crazy. That’s it. About 1400 pages in three books, ended by a small march in about 100 pages. A big disappointment, but compared to the books, kind of expected.
In the end Una quietly threatens Makaria, the new empress that unless she ends slavery her and the slave ‘army’ will be back. She ends up with Varius; Marcus’ advisor who also was his father’s advisor. His about 50. Una early 20s. Yep.
Killing of Marcus was a brave move, but the book I feel really suffered for it. The writing and its pace lacked any real excitement or enjoyment. Not a terrible book, but unfortunately it was boring. While the idea is really good, this shows that a good idea alone cannot carry a book, or a series of them. I’d be reluctant to recommend this, either to Roman history fans, alternate history fans or adventure fans. I’d have probably have given up after the second book if I wasn’t a stickler for completing book series I have started. A massive missed opportunity.
This book picks up straight from the last one Rome Burning, where a bomb has exploded in the Colosseum while the emperor and Marcus are there. Here is the main spoiler of the book – the emperor is killed, and Marcus is gravelly injured, and while emperor for just a few minutes signs a decree to end slavery. However, in the aftermath, his evil, mad cousin Drusus takes over and the starts to hunt down Una and Sulien and starts a war with the Nioanian Empire. Una and Sulien go on the run toward neutral territory while still trying to bring about the liberation of the slaves of the Roman Empire.
This was a slog to get through. The writing seemed to lack any edge or energy. The plot is almost all there but lost in the lacklustre writing. Characters lack any decent depth. Drusus is bad, because…he’s bad. That’s about it. Character development for the others isn’t much better either really. Despite getting traumatised in the arena, Una and Sulien don’t really grow much, their grief over Marcus’ death wanes over time. The other characters just seem to be there. None really stand out, and I did get confused by ‘who was who’, I don’t know if this was just me, the similarity of names or the writing, or a mixture all three. Marcus’s Nioanian wife, Noriko, does little other than be under house arrest for most of it. Her brothers leading the Nioanian army didn’t really fill any real role. Sulien does get drafted to fight in America (or Terranova), but this lacks any decent action or what a modern Roman army would be like or a Nionian one. Apparently, there is superweapon, which I first thought might have been referencing a nuclear bomb but is actually some kind of death beam…thing, I didn’t seem to get the details.
I shouldn't write this review without mentioning the super powers that Sulien and Una have. Una has telepathy, Sulien can heal people. This plays almost zero point in this book and most of the series. If powers were not uncommon on this world that’s fair enough, but only these two have powers. Why? Why does no make more of an issue of it? Just a pointless plot point.
The ending seems quick and anticlimactic. Basically, Noriko tells her brother to stop the war, and Una and Suilien go to Rome, with about a thousand escaped slaves, turn up at the palace and arrest Drusus. Who then goes crazy. That’s it. About 1400 pages in three books, ended by a small march in about 100 pages. A big disappointment, but compared to the books, kind of expected.
In the end Una quietly threatens Makaria, the new empress that unless she ends slavery her and the slave ‘army’ will be back. She ends up with Varius; Marcus’ advisor who also was his father’s advisor. His about 50. Una early 20s. Yep.
Killing of Marcus was a brave move, but the book I feel really suffered for it. The writing and its pace lacked any real excitement or enjoyment. Not a terrible book, but unfortunately it was boring. While the idea is really good, this shows that a good idea alone cannot carry a book, or a series of them. I’d be reluctant to recommend this, either to Roman history fans, alternate history fans or adventure fans. I’d have probably have given up after the second book if I wasn’t a stickler for completing book series I have started. A massive missed opportunity.
September 3, 2016
I read a library copy but want the paperback edition to match the previous 2 books in the trilogy.
March 22, 2023
Loved the beginning of this (for a given value of 'loved' - it's pretty harrowing, and I would rather it hadn't happened, but it's supposed to be like that!) I'm not that sure about the end, which felt a bit rushed and unsatisfying, and while the Colosseum sequences are gripping at the moment of reading, the repeated escape-attempt-and-then-fail episodes felt a bit pointless with hindsight; the same effect could have been produced with a lot less wordspinning by having the characters never leave Rome in the first place, and only a single successful rescue.
The book as a whole feels a little like a serial adventure being made up in weekly episodes as it went along, all of them exciting at the time but many of them unconnected or not ultimately going anywhere. The whole Terranova sequence in particular, while vividly written, feels very detached from the rest of the book (and putting Sulien into it by simply having him join the army and get arbitrarily shipped over there seems almost contrived; he just happens to be in the right place at the right time to suit the plot).
I think the author's talents are for the claustrophobic small-scale rather than for sweeping continent-wide warfare, which is all pretty sketchy compared, say, to Noriko's attempts to escape the Palace. (And then once she'd got out she didn't seem to face any great difficulties or serve any great purpose, other than smoothing things slightly with the Nionian princes.) Having Makaria was a neat twist - I certainly didn't guess who they were talking about! - but it seems a fairly short-term solution as she is clearly not going to be providing any descendants. And the whole slave rebellion thing seems pretty underwritten for such a major theme that has run throughout the story from the very start.
I read this book in the same breathless rush as the first (and couldn't get hold of the second at all, which really didn't seem to matter much), but ended up a little unhappy and disappointed with the outcome, as opposed to the uplift that resulted from the events of the original. Politically speaking I also have to admit to being uncomfortable with the idea that Mutually Assured Destruction is the route to world peace, which is not put forward as a doctrine but perhaps unintentionally implied!
There are some brave choices made, and some that were perhaps an attempt at realism rather than romance; the Imperial succession scenario is terrifyingly Roman and ruthless. As others have said, Drusus seems a bit of a cipher in this (and Maralah seems as if she ought to be more significant than she really is - unless she was a character I was supposed to recognise from Book 2?) There is a lot of death: assassination and mass slaughter and narrow escape from death and desire for death and guilt over causing death. There is a world where the Library of Alexandria still stands, along with the Pharos, and where Christianity is a weird sect that has clung on in Ethiopia. There are yet more running-away sequences; in that respect, the plot has gone right back to the start, although Una and Sulien have the advantage that they are at least adult now, and no longer need to explain their absence of parents. Their abilities don't really play nearly so much of a role this time, however, after featuring so heavily in the first book.
Overall there was a lot that was very good in it, and much of the rest that I would have been happy to overlook if I had found myself more fulfilled by the ultimate ending. It was just a bit of a let-down.
The book as a whole feels a little like a serial adventure being made up in weekly episodes as it went along, all of them exciting at the time but many of them unconnected or not ultimately going anywhere. The whole Terranova sequence in particular, while vividly written, feels very detached from the rest of the book (and putting Sulien into it by simply having him join the army and get arbitrarily shipped over there seems almost contrived; he just happens to be in the right place at the right time to suit the plot).
I think the author's talents are for the claustrophobic small-scale rather than for sweeping continent-wide warfare, which is all pretty sketchy compared, say, to Noriko's attempts to escape the Palace. (And then once she'd got out she didn't seem to face any great difficulties or serve any great purpose, other than smoothing things slightly with the Nionian princes.) Having Makaria was a neat twist - I certainly didn't guess who they were talking about! - but it seems a fairly short-term solution as she is clearly not going to be providing any descendants. And the whole slave rebellion thing seems pretty underwritten for such a major theme that has run throughout the story from the very start.
I read this book in the same breathless rush as the first (and couldn't get hold of the second at all, which really didn't seem to matter much), but ended up a little unhappy and disappointed with the outcome, as opposed to the uplift that resulted from the events of the original. Politically speaking I also have to admit to being uncomfortable with the idea that Mutually Assured Destruction is the route to world peace, which is not put forward as a doctrine but perhaps unintentionally implied!
There are some brave choices made, and some that were perhaps an attempt at realism rather than romance; the Imperial succession scenario is terrifyingly Roman and ruthless. As others have said, Drusus seems a bit of a cipher in this (and Maralah seems as if she ought to be more significant than she really is - unless she was a character I was supposed to recognise from Book 2?) There is a lot of death: assassination and mass slaughter and narrow escape from death and desire for death and guilt over causing death. There is a world where the Library of Alexandria still stands, along with the Pharos, and where Christianity is a weird sect that has clung on in Ethiopia. There are yet more running-away sequences; in that respect, the plot has gone right back to the start, although Una and Sulien have the advantage that they are at least adult now, and no longer need to explain their absence of parents. Their abilities don't really play nearly so much of a role this time, however, after featuring so heavily in the first book.
Overall there was a lot that was very good in it, and much of the rest that I would have been happy to overlook if I had found myself more fulfilled by the ultimate ending. It was just a bit of a let-down.
August 22, 2019
***ENGLISH REVIEW BELOW***
Ik denk dat het laatste boek het beste was. Ik was niet zeker hoe ver dingen zouden gaan na de aanval op Marcus in het vorige boek, maar ik was blij met wat er gebeurde. Of misschien is blij niet het juiste woord, meer richting tevreden. Ik vond het leuk wat er met Drusus en Makaria gebeurde, en met Varius en Una. De romantiek was een beetje beter in dit boek, een beetje meer geloofwaardig. Ik vond dat het ding met de profetie best goed gedaan was. Ik vond Una nog steeds niet leuk, en de schrijfstijl was soms nog steeds een beetje van-de-hak-op-de-tak, maar alles bij elkaar denk ik dat dit het beste boek van de drie was.
***ENGLISH REVIEW***
I think the last book was the best. I wasn't sure how far things would go after the attack on Marcus in the previous book, but I was happy with what happened. Or maybe happy isn't the right word, more like satisfied. I like what happened with Drusus and Makaria as well, and with Varius and Una. The romance was a bit better in this book, a bit more believable. I thought the thing with the prophecy was pretty well done. I still didn't like Una, and the writing style was sometimes still a bit jarring, but all in all I think this was the best book of the three.
Ik denk dat het laatste boek het beste was. Ik was niet zeker hoe ver dingen zouden gaan na de aanval op Marcus in het vorige boek, maar ik was blij met wat er gebeurde. Of misschien is blij niet het juiste woord, meer richting tevreden. Ik vond het leuk wat er met Drusus en Makaria gebeurde, en met Varius en Una. De romantiek was een beetje beter in dit boek, een beetje meer geloofwaardig. Ik vond dat het ding met de profetie best goed gedaan was. Ik vond Una nog steeds niet leuk, en de schrijfstijl was soms nog steeds een beetje van-de-hak-op-de-tak, maar alles bij elkaar denk ik dat dit het beste boek van de drie was.
***ENGLISH REVIEW***
I think the last book was the best. I wasn't sure how far things would go after the attack on Marcus in the previous book, but I was happy with what happened. Or maybe happy isn't the right word, more like satisfied. I like what happened with Drusus and Makaria as well, and with Varius and Una. The romance was a bit better in this book, a bit more believable. I thought the thing with the prophecy was pretty well done. I still didn't like Una, and the writing style was sometimes still a bit jarring, but all in all I think this was the best book of the three.
May 8, 2019
Very good conclusion to the series
July 19, 2013
As this series progresses, there is less of the mystical element. This final volume begins with the attempt by the dying Emperor Marcus to abolish slavery and ends with . I liked this better than the second volume, the author found a renewed momentum.
December 23, 2014
(Please see my review for Romanitas)
August 8, 2023
My heart my heart my heart.
March 10, 2014
Gaaaah! Loved the series up until the ending...I hate it when an author goes wrong like that. Takes the characters and makes you just want to slap them...grr.
April 17, 2015
lang gewacht op deel 3, maar het slot stelt teleur
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews