Arms of Nemesis

Rating:
Summary: BETTER THAN ROMAN BLOOD, VERY GOOD.
Review: I enjoyed this book very much. Yet I found the main character's way of addressing slavery to be very out of keeping with the time the book was set in. A Roman man would have thought nothing of the slaves' plight, but it is a modern historical fiction piece after all. Worth reading, decent mystery. If not for the Roman setting and historical detail though, I'm not sure anything would stand out about his mysteries.

Rating:
Summary: Agreeable Assignment
Review: I had to read this book for a class about Roman Civilization and I read it in one sitting. Very enjoyable, kept me guessing until the end.

Rating:
Summary: Gordianus heads to the coast...
Review: I'm not sure why this book is called "Arms of Nemesis: A Novel of Ancient Rome" since nearly the entire story is located in a villa near modern Naples, not Rome. Regardless, this second book in the Gordianus series has all the goodness we expect from Saylor: good story, compulsively readable prose, and good bits of Roman-era history thrown in.

In this book we have Gordianus, our favorite Roman private eye, hired to find the murderer of a caretaker of a seaside villa. The murderer is presumed to be one of victim's slaves, and so as punishment the villa's owner threatens to kill all slaves at the estate. This comes at a very ticklish time when southern Italy was grappling with slave unrest, courtesy of Spartacus. The story is generally believable, and we are treated with a host of curious characters. Very enjoyable.

However my only gripe with the novel is its heavy references to homosexuality, complete with a romance between a military officer and a slave. While Saylor does handle this subject with panache and good taste, I am not convinced all this gay context reflects Roman history - Saylor makes no mention of it as part of his historical references. However I do know Saylor has a previous life of a writer of gay erotica (under an assumed name), and so I fear the gay subplot and copious references to naked men might reflect wishful thinking on the part of Saylor on how things might have been, but not as how they actually were.

Bottom line: a well-written historical novel with fine characterisations. Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Gordianus heads to the coast...
Review: I'm not sure why this book is called "Arms of Nemesis: A Novel of Ancient Rome" since nearly the entire story is located in a villa near modern Naples, not Rome. Regardless, this second book in the Gordianus series has all the goodness we expect from Saylor: good story, compulsively readable prose, and good bits of Roman-era history thrown in.

In this book we have Gordianus, our favorite Roman private eye, hired to find the murderer of a caretaker of a seaside villa. The murderer is presumed to be one of victim's slaves, and so as punishment the villa's owner threatens to kill all slaves at the estate. This comes at a very ticklish time when southern Italy was grappling with slave unrest, courtesy of Spartacus. The story is generally believable, and we are treated with a host of curious characters. Very enjoyable.

However my only gripe with the novel is its heavy references to homosexuality, complete with a romance between a military officer and a slave. While Saylor does handle this subject with panache and good taste, I am not convinced all this gay context reflects Roman history - Saylor makes no mention of it as part of his historical references. However I do know Saylor has a previous life of a writer of gay erotica (under an assumed name), and so I fear the gay subplot and copious references to naked men might reflect wishful thinking on the part of Saylor on how things might have been, but not as how they actually were.

Bottom line: a well-written historical novel with fine characterisations. Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Gordianus heads to the coast...
Review: I'm not sure why this book is called "Arms of Nemesis: A Novel of Ancient Rome" since nearly the entire story is located in a villa near modern Naples, not Rome. Regardless, this second book in the Gordianus series has all the goodness we expect from Saylor: good story, compulsively readable prose, and good bits of Roman-era history thrown in.

In this book we have Gordianus, our favorite Roman private eye, hired to find the murderer of a caretaker of a seaside villa. The murderer is presumed to be one of victim's slaves, and so as punishment the villa's owner threatens to kill all slaves at the estate. This comes at a very ticklish time when southern Italy was grappling with slave unrest, courtesy of Spartacus. The story is generally believable, and we are treated with a host of curious characters. Very enjoyable.

However my only gripe with the novel is its heavy references to homosexuality, complete with a romance between a military officer and a slave. While Saylor does handle this subject with panache and good taste, I am not convinced all this gay context reflects Roman history - Saylor makes no mention of it as part of his historical references. However I do know Saylor has a previous life of a writer of gay erotica (under an assumed name), and so I fear the gay subplot and copious references to naked men might reflect wishful thinking on the part of Saylor on how things might have been, but not as how they actually were.

Bottom line: a well-written historical novel with fine characterisations. Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: This novel will tear at the conscience of the reader.
Review: If you are tempted to glorify the empire of Ancient Rome, you won't be after reading this novel. A sense of urgency pervades the book, from the moment Gordinius is hustled aboard a ship to visit an estate in the south of Rome to the very end when Gordinius is brought news of the fate of those he met. The primary plot of Arms of Nemesis focuses on the fate of a few -- those slaves who will all be killed unless the murderer of the master is found. Its backdrop is the great slave revolt led by Spartacus and romanticized by the silver screen. Gordinius struggles on a personal level with the concept of slavery and how it affects him as a Roman citizen. The choices he makes are personal, yet Saylor never attempts to impose modern values on this ancient detective. The decisions he makes are within the context of his current morality and philosophy. While many of his contemporaries tell Gordinius he is wasting his time to save the lives of these hapless slaves, he still pursues justice for both slave and master. Saylor reveals the relationships between masters and slaves and how even the kindest of relationships can have bitter endings for both parties. while solving the mystery, Gordinius learns more about the cults found among the women of Rome and in doing so, teaches much to the reader. "Arms of Nemesis is a book well worth reading, and one that will haunt the reader's heart and conscience for a long time to come.

Rating:
Summary: Gordianus Unravels Gordian Knot of a Murder
Review: O.K., I freely admit it, I love Gordianus the Finder. How could you not? He's wise, witty, occasionally cranky, and always believably human. And, he holds the rare reputation of being the last honest man in Rome. In this tale of murder on the shores of Baie, Steven Saylor takes our favorite Finder to the pleasure villas of the Roman rich, showing us yet another fascinating facet of Roman life in the 1st century. The overseer of Marcus Crassus' villa is murdered just as the Spartacan slave revolt is heating up, and two slaves are implicated. Gordianus must find out the truth before all 100 household slaves are put to death in the gladiator's ring. Like all of Saylor's Roma Sub Rosa series, this is gorgeously researched and written. READ THIS!

Rating:
Summary: Suspenseful, edge of your seat fun!
Review: Ok, I gave it four stars because of some of the adult material in the novel (plus the fact that I'm more of an Agatha Christie/Hercule Poirot person and I'm not really into mystery novels), but above all, it was a good read. I had to read this for my Ancient Roman history class at San Diego State University. The story revolves around a dead government official, Marcus Crassus, and the issue of Roman slavery (apparently, they were no different than the slaveowners in the antebellum South).

Enter Gordianus the Finder and his sidekick, Eco, his adopted (and mute) son. The two must solve the case of the murder of the government official before something worse happens. The end of the book will surprise you! If you're looking for a good read, this is it. I stayed up until midnight reading "Arms of Nemesis."

Rating:
Summary: A Slave to Historical Mysteries
Review: Saylor has a surer footing than he did in his first book, though it's still not a "tight" novel. Gordianius plays Batman to Eco's Robin but at a leisurely pace.
Saylor is at his best in describing the unforgettable horrors of slavery which underlie the plot. True, it's viewed through 20th/21st century eyes, but we're talking a novel and not a treatise.
Saylor's gay message tends to intrude in his novels. His male-male relationships are complex, but each novel has one canned male-female scene repeated virtually verbatim from his first book. Bethesda, though, is a wonderful character.
I admire the research put into the books. While the books aren't yet full literary strength compared to Ellis Peters, I suspect Saylor puts in months of research for any given novel.
Keep them coming, Steven.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Mystery and an Excellent Look at Late Republican Rome
Review: Saylor has a well-researched mystery that combines suspense with exotic locales about the Mt. Vesuvius region. Interwoven with the story are perspectives on Spartacus's revolt and on the Roman who crushed it, Marcus Crassus. Avoiding the grandeur of Rome, Saylor concentrates on the brutality and inhumanity of this classical civilization. His description of the treatment of galley slaves is both profoundly disturbing and yet enlightening. (Who says we haven't made social progress?) While republican ideals originated in Roman political institutions, you can't help but feel and taste the contrasting depravity portrayed in the slavery accounts, gladiator contests, and military practices described by Saylor. Yes, you will be entertained by a good mystery, but your thinking about the atrocities of the "Roman Way" will also come to the forefront. Crassus's perverse moral righteous infused with his ambition will be a personality that stays with you.