Harry Sidebottom is a fellow in ancient history at Oxford. His expertise shines though this book of historical fiction. The book is set for the most part during the Sassanid siege of Dura Europos (thinly disguised as the City of Arête. In the third century AD, the Roman Empire was in turmoil as civil war tears Italy apart and emperor follows emperor in rapid succession. The protagonist is Marcus Clodius Ballistra, a barbarian prince. In 255 AD the Persian Sassanid Empire attacks Rome’s eastern territories, Ballistra, now a Roman citizen, is appointed to post as dux Ripae. In charge of the defenses along the banks of the rivers Tigris and Euphrates all land between, he is empowered to hold the lands of the Empire. The novel is a master class in ancient warfare. The information appears to be historically correct and the story is skillfully constructed. The characters are well defined and realistic and illuminate the different nationalities and passions prevalent in the empire at the time. The siege of Dura Europos was one of the greatest sieges in history. I read this as an audio book download from Audible. The book was narrated by Stefan Rudnicki. Did you hear the one about the Englishman, the Scotsman and the Irishman who went off to fight for a declining superpower against religious fanatics in the East where they were under-resourced and written off as expendible, yet achieved wonders against incredible odds? Well then, meet Ballista the 'Angle', Calgacus the 'Caledonian' and Maximus the 'Hibernian'. I was initially put off reading this book because of the title which conjured up another cash-in series of violent and inaccurate novels set in antiquity and also because the author appeared to have recruited friends and colleagues at Oxford to write glowing sound-bites for the hardback cover. After beginning to read it I was also irritated by the classical knowledge displayed rather too heavily, the Greek and Latin terms in italics followed by English translation. Yet the novel is not bad at all, especially when we finally get to the siege. There are loose ends (who killed Scribonius? why did Acilius Glabrio perfume Ballista's bath?) and the denouement is rather unconvincing, but the test of a novel for me is whether I would read another book by the same author. In this case, yes, I would.
What do You think about Fire In The East (2008)?
I quite enjoyed these books 1 & 2, only trouble is Ballista is a rubbish hero
—aline
Like the character of Ballista, and delighted to see a new Roman series
—zubaram
