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Tuesday November 30, 2010

Books in November

  • The Triumph of Caesar Steven Saylor [read by Peter Wickham]
    BOM-TriumphofCaesar.jpg I was a bit surprised (and pleased) that Saylor has written a further Roma Sub Rosa novel. I thought we had seen the last of Gordianus in Egypt in The Judgement of Caesar. As the earlier novels progressed rapidly through history, I always felt that Saylor planned to continue the sagas perhaps by focusing on other members of Gordianus' family, but this never fully developed. I think Gordianus proved to be more interesting than any of the others. However, our hero is certainly getting on a bit now, and the style of the novel seems affected by that fact, (which is interesting in that the author himself is not so very ancient). This is a way of saying that I did find the pace a bit slow and the basic plot a little weak, but as usual the historical detail is very interesting in itself, and clearly where Saylor's interest and expertise lie.
    I think that may be the overriding reason that we have not moved to later periods in history with G's sons or daughter. And - presumably to keep a plausible lifespan for Gordianus, while avoiding a chronological dead-end for the series - the next novel is said to be a "prequel that will take the young Gordianus to the Seven Wonders of the World".
    I look forward to it.

  • Scarpetta by Patricia Cornwell [read by Lorelei King]
    BOM-Scarpetta.jpg So - I plod on reading the Scarpetta series - always a good read (if you like crime thrillers - not so good if you don't). You can see from other notes on these books, I have some reservations about the portrayal of the heroine. However, in this book I seemed to discern a change. Kay seems to have become much more human, and I had a greater sense of warmth from all the characters - as if a study in black and white had suddenly been tinged with colour. I think the analogy works well as the black and white depiction stands on its own artistic merit as well as colour adding interest.
    Looking back on the series and Cornwell's other novels I think she has quite simply adopted different writing styles and that alters how I feel when reading. The most notable is writing in the third person and yet in the present tense. You (I) would imagine that writing in the present tense would add to the tension and immediacy of the action, but the use of the third person makes for a sense of icy detachment, as if you are watching the characters and the plot unfold through a pane of glass.
    In this book we return to third person past tense ("normal"!) and the characters suddenly seem more alive. So I'm looking forward to her next couple of books which seem (from excerpts I have read) to continue with this style.

Posted by Christina at 9:24 AM. Category: Books of the Month

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