Ancient & Medieval Historical Fiction discussion

This is the discussion thread for the Novemeber 2014 group read of The Siege by Nick Brown.

I just read The Queen's Gamble, which has the same story-line. While I only gave this book 2 stars I was intrigued by the history and may be in for this read.

I'm assuming this is the book Sabrina is referring to The Queen's Gamble

oh no sorry - it's A Queen's Gamble byMelissa C. Kirby

Thanks Sabrina. :)

Sabrina wrote: "I just read The Queen's Gamble, which has the same story-line. While I only gave this book 2 stars I was intrigued by the history and may be in for this read."


It is sometimes interesting to read two different perspectives on an era by two different authors, close to each other.
I did that recently and found it quite fun.

I'd like to read this one--another slant on this era since I already love the Agent of Rome series--but I'll have to wait until it comes out in paperback at a decent price. Sigh.

Don't you mean reread? :) Since this is one of your favourite Roman reads.

Reread for The Siege but
I'll have to wait for A Queen's Gamble until it comes out in paperback. :(

Terri wrote: "Sabrina wrote: "I just read The Queen's Gamble, which has the same story-line. While I only gave this book 2 stars I was intrigued by the history and may be in for this read."


It is sometimes in..."

I agree! A Queen's Gamble had Queen Zenobia as the villain (and she very well may be, I don't know enough about the era to confirm) but I thought she was a bad*ss and liked her. Would love to see how this books portrays her. Also, the cover for The Siege is sweet!

Have this one from the Library, and it is in the chamber. Really looking forward to getting this one started. I am in the mood for some Roman action fiction right now.

My library has this one, but it only has it in 'large type' :[
Checked for it when I was at the library on the weekend and it wasn't there. If I manage to fit this one it will be later in the month. After I finish our medieval group read.

Read the first 3 chapters and I am enjoying this so far. The characters and the situation both interest me. I am going to read some more right now :)

Does it read like one of those Roman adventure books where the priority is mimicking modern day British soldiers.

Terri wrote: "Does it read like one of those Roman adventure books where the priority is mimicking modern day British soldiers."

So far I would say no. Not trying to hard to be 'Roman', which is also a good thing (such as dropping obscure references the protagonist probably would not know, but shows of the authors scholarship), but there are no anachronisms in language or behaviour that has taken me from the story. An example of that happening is a previous group read The Afghan Campaign, that one jarred me.

Terri wrote: "Does it read like one of those Roman adventure books where the priority is mimicking modern day British soldiers."

Oh, goodness no! I'm not finding this in my rereading. Cassius has a thinking head on his shoulders which you can see from the first chapter.

Jane wrote: " Cassius has a thinking head on his shoulders which you can see from the first chapter."

Yes. It was clever. :)

Is anyone other than Daniel and me reading this book? Is anyone out there?

My library didn't have this one, and I couldn't find a reasonably priced copy :(

Darn!!

Jane wrote: "Is anyone other than Daniel and me reading this book? Is anyone out there?"

I managed to get a second hand copy so I'll be starting this at the weekend

My library doesn't have it either and I still have a zero dollar budget for books right now.

Jane wrote: "Is anyone other than Daniel and me reading this book? Is anyone out there?"

I am, or more accurately I have. I used my school's interlibrary loan for it. With any luck I won't have to explain to my adviser how it's useful for surface chemistry research.

I finished it last weekend and am still trying to get my thoughts together beyond noticing that it has a kind of high military to everything else ratio for my taste. That's just personal preference though, and I think it's very well-written.

Beth wrote: "Jane wrote: "Is anyone other than Daniel and me reading this book? Is anyone out there?"

I am, or more accurately I have. I used my school's interlibrary loan for it. With any luck I won't have t..."

This particular one has a military siege as the main story and how Cassius has the smarts to direct the defense of the fort. His being a member of the "Grain Men" [i.e., the Intelligence Service] leaves the author more scope for different kinds of plots that take Cassius all over the Empire, and are not strictly military in nature. [I've read all in the series.]

I will only read it if I can get all my other books read in November.
The library has a copy, but it is large type. Which I hate to read as it 'dumbs down' writing to my brain.

If I get to it, it will be late November.

Jane wrote: "Beth wrote: "Jane wrote: "Is anyone other than Daniel and me reading this book? Is anyone out there?"

I am, or more accurately I have. I used my school's interlibrary loan for it. With any luck I..."

That is useful to know. Thanks.

And, I like about Cassius--although he can be annoying [he's a patrician after all], he displays human emotion like sadness, fear, not complete confidence in himself all the time... he's not a superman.

Cassius's personality is a strong point of the story.

I have finished, and have really enjoyed this story

It was hard to get a hold off though, I had my librarian hunting for it.

'Cassius's personality is a strong point of the story. ' I would agree, all the characters have a interesting personality, but I must find out more about The Praetorian.

Will you go on with the series, Daniel?

Jane wrote: "Is anyone other than Daniel and me reading this book? Is anyone out there?"

I feel lonely

Terri wrote: "Will you go on with the series, Daniel?"

If I can track them down, that was a bit of a go :P

edit: I have one of my libraries working on finding book 2 for me right now

Daniel (Devourer of Books) wrote: "Jane wrote: "Is anyone other than Daniel and me reading this book? Is anyone out there?"

I feel lonely"

So do I. And I LOVED this book so much!!! I so wanted other folks to discover it! I like how Cassius gets the guys to work together. Daniel, I think you'll like The Imperial Banner even more.

I think the problem is that it is hard to find.
When I suggest books in the polls, sometimes I have to take gambles on books that are hard to find. So many books out there that are well liked or have a decent reputation, but aren't available in many libraries outside of the UK and Australia.

This means if people want to read them, they have to buy them. I have noted that group readers don't really like to buy their group read books that often. hehe. ;D
*looks guilty*

Normally, I would try to buy it, but that one is just too expensive for my budget. Used copies were even more expensive than new ones.
What I found odd was that neither Dawn's or my library systems had a copy.

i will usually buy one of the pol winners to expand my eBook library. These cost a bit over my 'cap' at Kobo.

I find it's easier for me to put the $4.95 my library charges for Interlibrary loans towards buying the book. I try to buy only ones I'm pretty sure I'll reread in future as with this whole Agent of Rome series.

eBooks -- I'm not even interested. If the book's not in paperback at a fairly reasonable price, I just do without.

I have lucked out. interlibrary is free for me.
I used to be a real book fanatic, but when I found I could synch my ebooks between a reader and my phone, and thus always have my book on me, I got into ebooks in a big way. I do still like dead tree books too, and always have one of those on the go as well.

Darcy wrote: "What I found odd was that neither Dawn's or my library systems had a copy. ..."

There seem to be only 4 copies in the entire province. And my ILL's are currently taking 4 months, which is by far the longest I've ever had them take.

So this will be another contender for catching up on the listopia!

I'm about half way through this one now, have to say I'm liking it but not yet loving it. The first part was quite good but I got a bit frustrated with the repetition -he's young, his beard is rubbish, the other soldiers are twice his age, by the way he's young. However, I do agree that the character of Cassius develops well and the setting is a really interesting one. So still hopeful.

Finished! I did have mixed feelings about this one but overall I enjoyed it, here is my review anyway

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Imperial Banner just came in from my library, looking forward to reading it.

Read your review, Pamela. Sounds like real war. 1% fighting or battle, the other 99% sitting around waiting for nobody knows what or moving from place to place and nobody knows why. ;)

Is it like that, this book?

Terri wrote: "Read your review, Pamela. Sounds like real war. 1% fighting or battle, the other 99% sitting around waiting for nobody knows what or moving from place to place and nobody knows why. ;)

Is it like..."

Yes there is a lot of waiting about, although to be fair there is also quite a lot of focus on making preparations, and building up the characters

Unfortunate that this one proved too difficult for members to source. It is always the danger with obscure titles and titles not yet released in the US.

Hopefully it will get released in the US and members will always have this thread to come comment in if they read the book.

Hi guys, thanks for choosing The Siege for your monthly read. I'm sorry that it's not more widely available but there will be regular giveaways in the new year.

The Siege

I now have my library looking for book 3, I am really getting into this series.

Nick wrote: "Hi guys, thanks for choosing The Siege for your monthly read. I'm sorry that it's not more widely available but there will be regular giveaways in the new year."

Thanks for stopping by Nick. I'm sure we'll be reading your book more as we all track it down. It got some very good ratings from a few members who got their hands on it.

Daniel, really glad you're enjoying the books and hope the others don't disappoint.
Dawn, thanks very much. Indeed, most reviews have been very positive.

Hi Nick,
Welcome to A&M. Lovely to have you here.

You may have seen earlier in the thread, unfortunately for me, my library only had it in large text (the special edition for those with poor eyesight). I have a real problem reading big text as books read like a children's book to my brain.
I want to get to your book though. The feedback by those who read it have made me think it may be worth my while even though Roman fiction is not really up my alley. :)
I just have to psych myself up to reading it in large text!

RE giveaways
When they come up please feel free to mention them here in this group read thread (the group read may have finished, but the thread stays open forever and people will continue to post in it)...and/or post the giveaway in either thread in this folder: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...
These are the two threads for giveaways, freebies and on sale books in either paper or audio or ebook. These threads get lots of visitors, so posting giveaways or sales in them is well worth the time.

Or, if you are unsure when the time comes, where you should post a giveaway or sale, you are always welcome to contact me and I can help you out.

Regards,
Terri