You know that whole "don't judge a book by its cover" thing? Yeah, well, I totally did. In a heady bit of book buying when I graduated from college and got a full time job, I may have celebrated by overindulging in a Books-a-Million and grabbing anything that struck my fancy. I may or may not have read the book blurbs. After all, I was young, financially independent, had a whole life ahead of me to read--who cared how many books I wantonly threw into my book basket? Life was a library, baby, and I was going to spend it all in the stacks.Tragic mistakes were made that I'm still paying for 7 years later.For example, Emperor, a book that I feel must shoulder some of the blame for underwhelming me because of its blatantly misleading cover. There's a statue of Julius Caesar on the front pictured over what is clearly Rome. You might think that this is what the book is about. As did I. We're both mistaken because the book takes place in Britain and focuses on the rule of Claudius, Hadrian, and Constantine. It's the literary equivalent of being roofied and waking up next to an ugly book. Emperor revolves around a prophecy passed down from one family's generation to another in Britain around the time of Roman rule. Unable to understand the enigmatic message in its entirety, each generation uses it to its own ends: during the reign of Claudius, it is mistakenly believed to vouchsafe Britain against conquest by Rome; during the reign of Hadrian, it is used to gain the family profit by manipulating the emperor into building an ill-advised stone wall to protect his empire in Britain; and during the time of Constantine, it is used to make an assassination attempt on the emperor's life.Consisting of three interlocking narratives that necessarily skip forward in time with only loose connections to the previous tale, the reader never really gets to know any of the characters--which is a shame because many of them could be fascinating if given more depth. Baxter writes with authority about the time periods involved, but the novel is billed as an alternative science fiction history. Without a historian's understanding of the time period, it is difficult to ascertain which parts are alternative and which are authentic. And the science fiction bit is definitely AWOL. There's some very brief philosophical debate about the nature of time (is it linear, or do the past, present, and future coexist at the exact same time?) and about whether or not the prophecy was sent by someone in the future (known only as the Weaver) attempting to change the past, but nothing that I would classify as "science fiction." The novel would have been far more successful for me if it had been a straight historical fiction (really the alternative part is virtually nonexistent and seems to stem entirely from the prophecy, which never really changes events) and focused on one of the three narratives presented. Baxter has the ability to bring the past to life in a real and satisfying way, but the lack of payoff in terms of the novel's presentation and in its use of the prophecy as an unnecessary device to explore the past make it a tedious read. While I will not read the other books in the series, I would not entirely rule out reading another Baxter novel.So, the moral of the story is: the next time a cute little book starts making eyes at me from the shelf, I'm damn sure going to take the time to read the blurb before I take it home with me. Cross posted at This Insignificant Cinder
It's hard to sum this book up in just a sentence or two, so hopefully once you've read through this review you'll have a clearer idea of what I think of it.What we essentially have here is a book that is split into sequential segments looking at subsequent generations of a family through time from the early days of the Claudian Conquest of Britain in AD43 right the way through to the decay of Roman Britain and influx of Saxon hordes in the early fifth century. Each segment is roughly a century or two further on in time than the last but has a thread running through all of them both in the form of them being descendants but also this whole notion of a prophecy which is set down at the start of the book.This is the first book I've read by Baxter and what's clear from the start is just how evocative an author he is. For the most part the characters feel incredibly real, almost tangible at times, and you find yourself absorbing them into your brain so that even when you're reading about their descendants, you're seeing the familial link to the previous character as if you're standing outside of time observing them all; a point of reference used for at least one of the characters in the book.The thing that lets the book down for me personally is that of the prophecy itself. While it is undeniably an interesting element in the story, it is exactly that. Just an element. With all the build up at the start of the book, I anticipated it bearing far more provenance to the story but it doesn't. It's rather like the Grail in Bernard Cornwell's Grail Quest series in that it's what he's looking for but only actually forms a very small, almost incidental, part of the story that wouldn't really change without it.The quality of the story tapers off gradually with the last two groups of descendants meaning the book feels like it's going out not with a bang but a whimper, though there is a nice little element at the end to bring it full circle. I don't need to write a spoiler as by the time you get a page into the last section, it'll be fairly obvious.There is an element throughout the book also where the author tends to be far more preoccupied with schooling the reader on all the background history and specifics, rather than actually setting the scene or making it particularly immersive. At some points it feels a little like reading a history book that's taken a narrative twist, rather than a novel with historical elements to it.Overall though an interesting fun read that probably won't stay with you very long but you'll enjoy it as you go through. Far from essential but I've read worse books out there and the rich vein of detail & potential in the characterisation means I may well end up trying to track down the sequel, if there was one.
What do You think about Emperor (2007)?
A historical novel following two indigenous families from the point of time the Romans expansion into Britain after Caesar through Constantine. The families are linked together by a prophecy. I found the book to be very entertaining if a bit shallow, particularly the dialog and story development. The leaps in time and space with the families continuing to find each other is a bit of a reach. It was particularly hard to believe that in one case, after one family had been doomed to 2 centuries of slavery, a member of the other family found the last surviving descendent slaving in a mine. I suppose it was the 'prophecy' that allowed that to occur. It is a great story, if I was the editor, I would have suggested that the book should have been a series, so that each point in time could have been fleshed out and developed. But then again, would anyone read it?
—Betsy
The alternate history that begins with a prophecy in post-Roman Britain.In fairness I must say that this is not at all my kind of thing. Alternate history is usually lost on me because my knowledge of actual history is so weak, and empires, wars, epic concerns of that sort simply don't interest me. I do also think that the book is flawed, though; it's very tell-y, with more conversation than action -- I mean, even when a woman is screaming through a life-threatening birth, or when invading ships are landing, still what's on center stage is people endlessly talking while you're being told what they feel and what they want. Locus poll: #17 SF book of 2007.
—Res
This was one of the hardest books to finish, but I'm glad I did. The first 3 times I tried to read it I got caught up . This is an epic without the length. The story is about one families survival through the time of Rome's occupation of Britain. It starts with Agrippina and Cunella and their ill-fated love and it goes on through their two families through the next 400 or so years.The story is told in parts which makes it easier to read once you get past the initial 60 pages which seem to drag. After that the story picks ups.Its supposed to be an alternate history but I believe anything like that is coming in the future books. What the story does deal with is the Prophesy that started at Nectovalin's birth and how its affected the two families involved. By the end of the book, the prophesy is renewed with a new baby in the family.I have to admit the writing while good got to be a bit much. I'm not sure its over descriptive as some others that have read the book have said, I just found that you didn't really get involved much with any of the characters long enough to become attached to them. It just jumped from one set of events to another.The hardest part of reading this book for me was trying to figure out how each name of either characters or places were pronounced. I think that was part of the reason why I spent such a long time reading the first 60 pages. When I finally was able to get past that I could read on.Its not a great book, but it is compelling enough to make me want to find the next 4 books in the series when I have more time to read.
—Andrea Guy
