The Tribune: A Novel of Ancient Rome

Rating:
Summary: A weak attempt to tell a Roman Empire Adventure
Review: 'The Tribune' is a weak attempt to tell a story of suspense, mystery, murder and political intrigues with the Roman Empire as a background. Some people - even some critics - commented that this book made for the Roman Empire what 'The Name of The Rose', written by Umberto Eco, made for the Medieval Age. That's really an absurd consideration. In fact, 'The Tribune' is one of these books which offered to its readers a compelling start but by and by the story misses the point and you really feel that the author loses his pace and objective along the way. The plot is developed with a peasant and unsatisfactory twists and turns and, in the end, the outcome proves that Mr. Larkin doesn't know what to do with his own premises. Anyway, if you're not a very critical reader, maybe you can find some amusement with this book. But if you really want to read a good ficcional account of the Roman Empire or some other great Ancient Civilization, I recommend you to take a look at 'The First Man in Rome' by Cullen McCullough or 'Gates of Fire' by Steven Pressfield. Compared with this two titles, I'm sorry to say that 'The Tribune' is just an ordinary stuff.

Rating:
Summary: I came, I saw, I desired a refund
Review: Ah, a bona fide bad book, I was starting to fear that I'd lost my touch for picking the very worst novel on the shelf. First off, the publishers should only be charging half price, as they've very kindly spoiled the first 200 pages for you with their description- and if they can succinctly set up all those plot threads in just a few paragraphs why does it take Larkin so tediously long?

The Tribune leads you to believe it had a lot of story potential at one time, until the author decided to essentially novelize a bad tv movie, complete with requisite character clichés. It's got blood, sex, swords, and horses and it will still bore you to tears with the relentless predictability that it offers. Will Lucius win over his Celtic troops? Are all characters that disagree with him villains? Will that annoying, precocious kid end up saving the day? Gee, you think?

Most annoying is the overall writing style. Larkin confuses honor with brains and gives Lucius one but not the other, making him righteous but not smart or even remotely likable; the character is incapable of talking about his horse without the preface "My Spanish mare, Dancer", until you start to wonder if he's reminding you or himself. The two big 'surpises' are completely cheesy, with the main villain describing his entire plan in ridiculous detail to the captured hero and then some divine intervention (literally) to get the story out of the dead-end it had been written into; the last two pages should be torn out and destroyed, unread, upon purchase. The dialog and ensuing melodrama of the love story is straight out of a bad bodice ripper and the sex as written would take about a minute and a half in real time, from foreplay to finish; I felt very sorry for the one-dimensional heroine. Battle scenes, ostensibly the whole point of writing military fiction, are confusing messes where you have no sense of where people are, how the terrain is set up, and what exactly is happening.

The Tribune combines the worst bits of its genre and the end result is a bland collage of triteness, with plot twists on par with Scooby-Doo and all the historical accuracy of an episode of Xena: Warrior Princess.

Rating:
Summary: The Tribune is a Five Star Page Turner!
Review: From the opening prologue, this book grabs your attention. I'm not really a fan of the Roman period, but I found the book very interesting -- great plot with intriguing characters. I can't wait for the sequel.

Rating:
Summary: Don't expect Saylor or Davis here
Review: I could not even get through the first two chapters of this book, and I will read almost ANYTHING. It is very slow and does not drive the imagination like other works set ancient Rome. I for one will wait for Marcus' and Gordianus' next adventure!

Rating:
Summary: I dug it
Review: I enjoyed this book. The plot and characters kept my attention, and the story was entertaining. I have read Patrick Larkin's other books, and at first I was skeptical about getting into something that was not set in modern times, however after reading The Tribune, I was pleasantly surprised. I guess all books don't need to be about Army Rangers, Intel, MiGs and stolen plutonium. Good Stuff. Can't wait for the next one.

Rating:
Summary: Mystery, history, a little romance...a great summer read
Review: I loved The Tribune!! This book was given to me..not my usual read -- I often shy away from historical novels -- however this one not only kept my interest and attention, I didn't want to put it down. The Tribune is extremely well written and well researched. There may be a slightly higher appeal to Christian readers -- although I have given the book to several non-Christian friends who seem to equally enjoy it. It's got mystery, history, some romance. There is a very good review of the book from Romantic Times for those who want more details.

Rating:
Summary: Very Enjoyable Historical Fiction
Review: I really liked it and am looking forward to the next Patrick Larkin book. Hopefully a sequel!

Rating:
Summary: A good story and a fast, enjoyable read.
Review: I'm fortunate to have read the novel before reading the reviews. Sometimes too much is given away in reviews and the entire story and plot are blurted out by the reviewing critics. At any rate, The Tribune is an enjoyable, fast moving tale about a man of honor, the Roman Tribune Lucius Aurelius Valens. I thoroughly enjoyed the 392 page novel, especially the ending, and I'd like to see a continuation of the story depicting the times after Valen's discovery. I liked it, 4.5 stars.

Rating:
Summary: Unfocused and unreal
Review: The best part of The Tribune is the military detail on the responsibilities of a tribune commanding a regiment of light cavalry in the Roman Near East. The author, Patrick Larkin, also knows how to keep a plot moving. Aside from that I found little of interest in the book. Although the characters wear armor and kill each other with swords and javelins and so on, their mind set and values are almost completely modern. One of the chief pleasures of historical fiction -- a sense that the past was another world, inhabited by people with different morals, assumptions and ways of seeing and thinking -- is totally lacking.
The narrator, Lucius, is stodgy to the point of being wooden. He is also so unconvincingly high-minded as to seem a Christian saint before Christianity. Lucius agonizes endlessly over moral dilemmas, few of which seem likely to have preoccupied a real Roman tribune of cavalry circa 30 A.D.
The most interesting character, the Emperor Tiberius's adopted son Germanicus, disappears in the second half of the novel and dies off stage, and although he has been Lucius's protector and hero his death has next to no impact on the young tribune. None of the issues and people that dominate the first part of the book are at all important by the ending.
The prose is no better than serviceable; the dialogue (here comes that word again) wooden. Larkin's characters are types, not individuals. Lucius, for example, is given a wise older doctor as traveling companion, becomes best buddies with his second-in-command, a stalwart young Gaul, and is aided by a precocious youth, whose role is spoiled brat with a heart of gold.
Worse, characters are divided into good guys and bad guys, with the bad guys really bad and the good guys uncompromisingly good. Readers will not have to strain to decide in which camp the various characters belong. Look in vain for human ambiguity or complexity. One character in particular, the twelve year old, Paulus, is simply unbelievable. His speech and behavior would be far more plausible as a touchy and rather narrow but also highly intelligent and basically decent adult. That, of course, woul ruin the irritating one-to-one Biblical analogy Larkin is at such obvious pains to set up.
The Tribune can't decide what kind of book it wants to be. It starts as a historical novel and ends as rather clumsy propaganda for Christianity. Lucius, for example, is run through by a sword thrust but has his life saved by, no kidding, an actual miracle right out of the New Testament. We are also supposed to believe that God twice speaks directly to Lucius in dreams, influencing the plot. I prefer my historical novels straight, thank you.

Rating:
Summary: Potenially Awesome Series
Review: The Tribune is a murder mystery in ancient Judea. The brilliance of Larkin is that he weaves true historical persons with his fictional characters. This is what makes the Tribune such an unusual book. Most historical novels do not have major interactions with fictional/nonfictional characters. The Tribune has major interactions of this type. Larkin's main character interacts with Caesar Germanicus to Yeshua (Jesus). I can see a great potential for the Tribune turning into a great fictional/historical series like the Sharpe series by Cornwall. The Tribune is a fast, easy, and fun read. I hope Larkin is considering future works with this character in this setting.