Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 Amazing debut! January 4, 2009
This book is really outstanding. An excellent plot with outstanding characters in very gritty settings. Beats Conn Iggulden's Emporer series hands down!
I can't wait for the follow up!!
 Get over it! November 12, 2008
5 out of 10 found this review helpful
Read Wallace Breem or William Alteri or Iggulden first.As one reviewer has pointed out,the trouble with this book is that it relfects too much the way roman history is taught in the British educational system.Somehow the Brits have never gotten used to the fact that the Romans conquered Britain.Not only that,but the Romans did not like the uneducated savages they found there.So they proceeded to build roads,houses,towns,bridges,waterways,baths,etc and to teach the locals how to read;write,count;knit,medicate,cook,make wine etc to bring them up to the standards of Roman civilisation.But the British educational system has never gotten over the fact that the Romans conquered Britain and so continues to portray the Romans as "bad","corrupt" and so on.And blithely ignores everything they did for this island.Look at a roadmap of the UK today,and the only straight roads you will see are those built by the Romans.So,while there are interesting parts to this book,it is all laced within the overall themes of Romans bad,corrupt, etc etc.The Romans were actually the only civilisation at a time of ignorant,crude,barbarism.And they brought to Europe a legacy in every domain of our existence,which is still around today.We owe them a great debt,and thus the theme espoused by this writer holds no water(also brought to us by the Romans).
 Lightweight but sometimes insightfull November 7, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
'The Forgotten Legion' consistently presents a victum's perspective:Romans are always bad; the Gauls, Etruscans and slaves are always 'good'. This approach contrasts strongly with McCullough's 'Masters of Rome' series. The novel may be useful for engendering empathy--being a slave of Rome was probably, for many, as bad as living ones last days in Auschwitz. It can also be useful for understanding why Crasus failed and does introduce many themes readers can persue in greater depth in other literature. Kane is, however, a light-weight. In comparison to to Plutarch, McCullough, Steven Saylor, Howard Fast and Robert Graves, he has not done enough research on the characters about whome he writes. For instance, the gladiators seem implausible. The same goes for prostitution and haruspixeri.
 More Please September 5, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Excellent read. Fast paced, ideal for commuters. Highly recommended for anyone who reads for personal pleasure without getting drowned in distracting details.
Simply Stunning - Wilbur Smith meets Gladiator August 31, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I have been waiting for this book for a long term having heard about the author's struggle to find a publisher for the book via a friend of mine who knows him.
Quite simply, it is a fabulous book. As previous reviewers have mentioned, it is obvious that an awful lot of research has gone into this book, and the writer's natural style of mixing both historical fact and gritty fiction meld together to form an exciting story that I found "unputdownable".
I eagerly await the remaining books in this series and would keep an eye out for further books from this budding new author...
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