Catilina's Riddle

Rating:
Summary: Another excellent novel from Steven Saylor
Review: "Catilina's Riddle" is packed with intrigue, information and excitement. As usual, Steven Saylor makes a first class job of marrying history to mystery, and the result is a challenging and informative book. Tantalisingly, Gordianus continues to refer to previous cases which are not represented by books, but there is apparently a collection of short stories to explain all these to his followers - I look forward to receiving my copy. I heartily recommend this book to all who are interested in Roman history and archaeology, as well as to mystery fans.

Rating:
Summary: A good read...
Review: "According to Cato..." This historical allusion begins Steven Saylor's most ambitious novel, Catilina's Riddle, focused around the Catiline conspiracy of 63 B.C. and involving once again the hero of the Roma Sub Rosa series, Gordianus the Finder. Catilina's Riddle finds Gordianus in the beautiful Etruscan countryside, having recently acquired a lavish farm from the will of his friend Lucius Claudius. Gordianus has fled the dangerous mysteries of the city with his wife, Bethesda, and two of his children, Meto and Diana, but soon finds that even in the countryside there is chaos and murder to be dealt with. When Marcus Caelius, a young protégé of now-consul Cicero, comes to ask him for a favor on behalf of Cicero, the Finder can only guess that something is up. For Marcus Tullius Cicero, a clever and brilliant orator and lawyer, never fails to involve himself in political intrigue, even though he has already captured the highest elected office in Rome. This time, however, Gordianus has no concept of the mess that he is getting himself involved in when he halfheartedly assents to having the radical populist senator Lucius Sergius Catilina reside at his lovely farm. Cicero suspects Catilina of conspiring against the state-in other words, threatening to usurp his own power. The Novus Homo (New Man) wants Gordianus to be a pawn in his scheme to discover the conspiracy and then to suppress it. Little does Cicero know that Catilina will be able to gain the sympathy of young Meto and later, even Gordianus. Gordianus must decide where his true allegiance lies-with the power of the Republic or the enemy forces that come to overthrow it. Meanwhile, he must solve the mystery of the corpses without heads that somehow keep appearing on his farm. Someone wants him off of the land; the question is, who? Gordianus suspects one of the Claudii, the neighboring family whose land surrounds his own and who feel that the land ought to stay in the family, not parceled out to strangers. In Saylor's third book, Gordianus again finds himself in the midst of deception and mystery, fighting to keep his family safe and the peace of the Roman state intact.

As always, Steven Saylor's style of writing is engaging and lively, keeping the reader interested as Gordianus finds himself traveling from the countryside to Rome and back. The Catiline conspiracy is definitely the most adventurous undertaking for Saylor so far, and he handles the politics masterfully, incorporating famous speeches and events smoothly like any historical novelist. For instance, the election scene is depicted on the Campus Martius and both Cicero and Catilina are seen giving speeches and debating against each other.

Saylor's real strength, however, comes in his ability to flesh out historical figures such as Cicero and Catilina. From the point of view of our protagonist, Gordianus, these are real men with real troubles. Each one wants what is best for the Roman Republic; the problem comes in that each one feels that he alone is essential to the state. Both men are powerful figures; one possessed with pure political genius, the other a charming representative of the people. Saylor manages to make them both likable men, so that Catilina even in his devious schemes remains a nice guy who only desires to gain power.

Rating:
Summary: Dark Holes in the Earth Abound, yet Corpses Lay Unburied
Review: "Catilina's Riddle" follows "Arms of Nemesis" in the Sub Rosa Series by Steven Saylor. Yet the two books show numerous differences.

"Arms of Nemesis" featured a son that would not speak, while "Catilina's Riddle" has a son that will not stop talking. "Arms of Nemesis" deals with arms; of war and of squids and of young lovers, while "Catilina's Riddle" deals with the heads of... well that is the mystery. In "Arms of Nemesis" women seduce men with beauty, in "Catilina's Riddle" men seduce other men with power. (This fact might catch unaware those not knowing that Saylor also writes gay erotica under the name of Aaron Travis.)

Still 'Catilina's Riddle" is a good book. Saylor has a veritable silver mine of a series, one that hopefully will keep producing for many more books. Though the rapid aging of the main character from book to book is worrisome, hopefully Saylor will go back and tell us of other adventures of The Finder. Or perhaps one of the sons is going to take over... we await.

Rating:
Summary: Another excellent novel from Steven Saylor
Review: "Catilina's Riddle" is packed with intrigue, information and excitement. As usual, Steven Saylor makes a first class job of marrying history to mystery, and the result is a challenging and informative book. Tantalisingly, Gordianus continues to refer to previous cases which are not represented by books, but there is apparently a collection of short stories to explain all these to his followers - I look forward to receiving my copy. I heartily recommend this book to all who are interested in Roman history and archaeology, as well as to mystery fans.

Rating:
Summary: Character development
Review: "Catilina's riddle" was an extremely interesting book which kept me interested page by page. The detailed characters allowed me to actually get into the book rather than just read the pages. Gordianus was a very different char. for his time. He treated his family and friends , even slaves, with the respect and love they deserved. He admired everyone until they gave him a reason to lose respect. Although he was somewhat of a smart character, I didnt think the book did a real good job of expressing this. The intro. made him seem extremely smart and somewhat of a detective master. If so then why couldnt he figure out the "headless body" case which was placed practically under his nose. Gordianus seemed to lack strong opinions for his new acquaintances which led him in the direction of first appearance judgements. Catilina "seemed" to be a good char. so Gordianus put full trust in him and even laid down his life to show respect towards him. I believe Gordianus' char. is what kept me interested throughout the book. I never knew what his next move was. He seemed somewhat unpredictable.

Rating:
Summary: Drags more than some others in the series
Review: 17 years have passed between the story in this novel and "Roman Blood". Gordianus again is involved with Cicero and yet very little interaction occurs between the great orator and the "Finder". In fact, this novel is far more a "life in Gordianus' house" than a mystery of any sort. Sure, Saylor does a good job of making everyday life realistic but I was expecting more of a mystery, more intrigue, and more insights from Gordianus who seems highly out of place both in plots around him and in his own family at times. Yet, it is much better than the Falco series.

Rating:
Summary: Drags more than some others in the series
Review: 17 years have passed between the story in this novel and "Roman Blood". Gordianus again is involved with Cicero and yet very little interaction occurs between the great orator and the "Finder". In fact, this novel is far more a "life in Gordianus' house" than a mystery of any sort. Sure, Saylor does a good job of making everyday life realistic but I was expecting more of a mystery, more intrigue, and more insights from Gordianus who seems highly out of place both in plots around him and in his own family at times. Yet, it is much better than the Falco series.

Rating:
Summary: NOT SAYLOR'S BEST...
Review: Although I'm a big fan of Steven Saylor, this book seemed too slow for me. The "mistery part" of the plot is weak and predictable.

Nonetheless, the scene in which Catilina tries to seduce Gordianus in his sauna, while Meto is hiding nearby is absolutely remarkable. I enjoyed every single word of the dialogue. Gordianus' response will remain in my memories for a long long time...

Rating:
Summary: Body without a head
Review: At first, I really didn't know if i was going to like this book or not. This type of book isn't normally the kind that I read. But since I had to read it for Latin, I gave it a chance. For me, it started out slow, but as soon as the plot got going, I really liked it. The aspect of the book that I liked the most was the fact that Gordianus kept trying to get away from the deception and crimes of the city by moving to the farm, but the city and crimes followed him there and brought him back. He realized that he loved Rome and was too caught up in it to get away. There are many different plots and schemes that Saylor tries to put into one book and I think that he accomplished it very well. There were some slow points in the book and at times I felt like I just wanted to give up reading it because it was boring, but I gave it a chance and I wanted to keep reading about who was putting the bodies on Gordianus's farm. The ending (which i will not reveal) really surprised me. It's not like a typical mystery where you can guess the killer in the opening story, I had to keep reading to find out who it was. From this book, I not only learned a lot about Roman culture and society, I learned a lot about life experiences that even reflect my own, because we are the ones who write our own book.

Rating:
Summary: An adventurous mystery
Review: Catalina's Riddle is a Roman mystery. I had to read this book for a latin class that I am taking. I must admit that when my teacher first told us we had to read this long book, I was not excited. But once I started reading it, I simply could not put it down. It was not like most other novels that you have to read in highschool, it was actually exciting. Steven Saylor does an excellent job of keeping the reader interested in the book. While he tells a wonderful mystery, he also mangages to describe much about the Roman civilization. I learned a lot of details that I had never known about Rome before. But the best part of the book, was the mystery part. I love mysteries and if you like them too, you will surely enjoy this book!