The second installment in the fictional biography of Julius Caesar as envisaged by Conn Iggulden has all the elements of a summer blockbuster.There is war, war, more war, a little bit of sex, war and some political intrigue as ingredients. As with the first installment of this series, the author throws any and all vestiges of historical accuracy to the winds and creates a swashbuckler of a tale.The last we saw Iggulden's Julius Caesar, he was on board a Roman ship bound to patrol the maritime borders of the republic. The story line in this book starts from Caesar's capture by pirates and ends with the defeat of the slave revolt led by Spartacus. There is a lot of Roman history crammed into these pages that almost every other chapter covers a huge quantity of detail about the life of Caesar. The chapters are structured in such a way that it tells multiple stories other than that of Caesar. There is the story of Crassus and Pompey, Marcus Brutus (an entirely fictional character who as far as signs indicate will prove to listen to 'et tu Brute ?' somewhere along the series), the fall of Sulla and of the story of Alexandria. There is also the insertion of a tiny boy into the fray. A little street urchin who Julius adopts into the household and whose name is Octavian. The rest as the saying goes is history !The author revels in the battle scenes. Whether it is Caesar's lithe outfit battling the pirates or the Greek King Mithradates or the might of Rome against Spartacus, the battle scenes are top notch. They are crisp, polished and very brutal and form the mainstay of this series. Iggulden does touch upon the political intrigue of the senate and the power games but it is fairly obvious that it is the military aspect of Rome that attracts him more. Beyond the character of Caesar, no one much goes through a lot of development in this book. While Julius matures from a gritty young man to fine field commander, Brutus still retains his sulky image. The other supporting cast more or less remains where they start off. The inevitable conclusion being that Caesar is the hub and only the hub is developed while the spokes stay the same. As a lover of history, I am appalled by the degree with which the author veered away from the reality. He has Sulla assassinated by a supporting character, has Marcus Cato commit suicide in a public forum, has Caesar defeat and kill Mithradates and to top it all off includes a scene where Caesar and Spartacus meet and talk rather amiably. The facts tell us that Sulla retired and lived on to a healthy old age, Cato was a thorn in Caesar's flesh for a long time into the future, Mithradates was defeated and killed by Pompey and no recorded history exists which places Caesar at the battles against Spartacus. In the closing notes, Iggulden does mention that he overlooked all these facts to come up with a rollicking good tale which he undoubtedly does. All that I hope is that someone does not read these tales and believe that this is how it all happened ! All considered, it is a travesty of history but a fantastic entertainer.
Iggulden defies the "sophomore curse" with the second of his Emperor novels.I liked the first (The Gates of Rome) enough to rush right out and buy the next three, so clearly, it was working for me. I had, though, to recognize its lack of depth -- and I think I even used "popcorn" in a description to friends.The Death of Kings is a full-blown meal, easily sating my needs.The core characters of Gates (Caesar and Brutus) are still at the forefront, but many of the secondary characters -- and many new ones -- take much larger roles. The battles are bigger, the personalities stronger and the passion, mostly for Rome, runs rampant. Plus, there's Spartacus and Pompey and names even a non-history buff like me can drop.And yes, detractors point out the historical inaccuracies. But it's fiction, and Iggulden even outlines some of his major discrepancies in an author's note. Even better, he cites a strong nonfiction source for folks who want to know more. I can't remember the last time I read a *history* book for pleasure, but I'm likely to try Christian Meier's Caesar when I wrap up the series. I have to wait, see, so I'll be spoiler free. Art mimics life and all that.
What do You think about The Death Of Kings (2005)?
This book continues the Ceasar saga started in 'Gates Of Rome'. It has the same looseness with the historical facts that is bound to endlessly annoy people who care about historical facts. The story progresses through Ceasar's capture by the pirates and it continues to build Brutus as a heroic but tragic figure. The book ends with the revolt of Sparticus, again very much at odds with the historical record. If you've gotten this far, you've been sucked in by the readability of Iggulden's writing and the building rivalry between the two 'brothers'.
—Phil
This is a pretty solid book in terms not only in it's size - 677 pages for a paperback! -but in how much action and story there's contained in it's pages, to the extent that by the time you get towards the end of the book it feels almost nostalgiac looking back even as relatively close as halfway through the book.It's yet another example of Iggulden's expert humanising of real people from history with none of the irritating pomp & pretentiousness so prone to historical fiction authors writing about the Roman period. Far from feeling like almost two thousand years ago, it feels far more like you could step right out of your life and into the shoes of any of the principal characters.Arguably the most accomplished and well-rounded novel of the Roman period that I've read so far.It's fairly obvious thing to say but as this is part of a four book series, I'd advise you to start at the beginning of the series rather than skip ahead to this book. As great as it is, you'll appreciate it far more if you read it as a sequel.
—Paul
It has been some time since I have delighted myself with such a good series of historical fiction books (probably since Massimo Manfredi's last releases) but I must say I have missed it.Conn Iggulden builds his story around Caesar's childhood and the events that have shaped him into one of the most iconic Roman generals in history. This second book of the series takes us from the Northern African shores to Greece and to the Italian peninsula as we follow Caesar's rise to power and prominence.Main strong points:Great characters and very good plot progression.A vivid depiction of the Roman way of life.An incursion into Julius Caesar's early years providing interesting insight into the man himself.
—Alex
