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Summary: An extremely entertaining, thought provoking book!
Review: A.D. 62 Pompeii is a must read for all interested in ancient Roman history. The author Rebecca East brings first century Pompeii vividly to life, so much so that I could do nothing but "be there" from the beginning to the end of the book. The use of story telling gave the book wonderful impact and the stores and poems the author selected could not have been better or more appropriately placed.
I have always dreamed of "traveling back" to my favorite places and times in history. Thanks to Rebecca I was given that opportunity through a most enjoyable and thought provoking read. I will be the first in line to buy her next novel!
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Summary: An engaging time-travel novel
Review: A.D. 62: Pompeii is an engaging time-travel novel about a twenty-first century woman who is sent to first century Pompeii when a time travel experiment fails to work as planned. Adopted into a wealthy family as a house slave, Miranda manages to improve her lot through telling stories, yet the master's wife becomes jealous and plots vengeance against her. Superbly written, A.D. 62: Pompeii is a compelling and imaginative saga of romance, adaptation, and adventure.
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Summary: A..D. 62; Pompeii by Rebecca East
Review: Having been interested in Roman history since childhood I jumped at the chance to read Rebecca East's historical fantasy. I was not disappointed. Ms. East creates some memorable characters in Miranda, a 21st century scholar who participates in a time travel experiment and is sent back to Ancient Pompeii and Marcus Tullius the Roman Patrician who ends up owning the stranger from far away. The author shows some inovation in creating characters out of actual people who are documented to have lived in Pompeii at the time.
This book follows a tight timeline and is a quick read. While it leans toward an older child or a teen, it is an enjoyale ook for all. I especially enjoyed Marcus Tullius', a noble man if there ever was one in Rome, increasing curiosity over Miranda's "precognition" and knowledge of tales and songs unknowable.
From a historical point, while many novls deal with the home life among the elite in Rome, this novel gives a nice feel for life for a slave in provincial ROME. I highly reccomend it to anyone with an interest in Pompeii; it gives a human face to the city that will later suffer a major disaster or is interested in an introduction to Roman Family life. It is a story the whole family can enjoy.
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Summary: Scholars are not necessarily good writers
Review: I am very disappointed in this book. By no means did the quality of the writing or storytelling live up to the reviews, and in a genre with such heavy hitters as Gabaldon and Rutherfurd, it falls so very flat. The details about daily life and Roman customs are interesting (and I assume accurate), and the premise for the storyline is very compelling, but the writing skill necessary to deliver a true page turner just wasn't there. In addition, the editing is incredibly sloppy, and any grammar-conscious reader will find it difficult to follow the weak storyline between cringes and flinches over punctuation and passive construction.
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Summary: Fascinating Time Travel Tale!
Review: I LOVED this book! The tale of Miranda time traveling and landing in Pompeii fascinated me. The historical detail and accuracy is written with such ease that it never gets bogged down. And what could easily have leaned toward science fiction doesn't. Rebecca East's first novel is like a breath of fresh air! Do yourself a favor: get this book and curl up with it for a real reading adventure.Rebecca, please write another novel soon!!
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Summary: Very good entertainment
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It shows that the author has done extensive research into the area and culture of the time. It's a great read for a Sunday afternoon curled up in front of a fire, when you need something to take you away from the hectic pace of contemporary life. Very unique!
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Summary: I Loved This Book !
Review: I usually don't like time travel books, but this one looked interesting enough I decided to take a chance. Am I glad I did. I had just finished reading another book about Pompeii, so I was still in that reading mode. This book is interesting and not one of those bodice rippers I always associate with time travel. Miranda is the kind of heroine I admire-- she is strong, with a mind of her own. The book ends well, with just enough of a tease to make me hope for a sequel. As a matter of fact, I went to Rebecca East's website and e-mailed her to set my mind at rest about one little item she had not accounted for at the end of the book. She wrote back and assured me the item was still around--- so I am pretty sure she is going to continue the story. If not, it is enough to stand as is, but I sure hope she brings Miranda back.
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Summary: Interesting concept, poor execution.
Review: I was debating back and forth about whether to dish out $23 for a soft cover book, but finally my interest in Roman culture won out and I bought it. Well, I've finished reading this novel, and was not very impressed by the quality of the writing. The plotline is, as the other reviews have said, highly original. Miranda is a Harvard graduate student who reluctantly volunteers to go travel back to Roman times and soak up the culture for research. However, unlike a Michael Chrichton novel, Ms. East does not go into how the time travel technology actually works. What I found particularly irritating about this novel is the amount of repetition and over-simplification bulit into the plot and prose. For example, around p. 3 the heroine Miranda remarks that a friend commented on her "pre-Raphaelite hair". This sentence is repeated mid-way through the book, almost word for word. Likewise, the novel goes off on these tangents in which Miranda tells a fairy-tale to her rapt Roman household members. Each time, she begins with "And this how I told it:". After a while, the cumulating repetitions numbed my brain and pricked my impatience. I also found the narrator's smug attitude towards the reader irritating. Everything is dumbed-down for us. For example, Miranda speculates at one point that the nearest city is Neapolis--then, in brackets, she tells us that this is modern day Naples. Well, duh. It makes me wonder what kind of an audience Ms. East was writing for--adults? Or 7th graders? I think Ms. East demonstrates a lot of creativity in the character of Miranda, the time travel plot, and in the cast of supporting characters. However, there is a marked lack of sophistication in the quality of the prose.
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Summary: Michael Grant is more interesting
Review: I was debating back and forth about whether to dish out [$] for a soft cover book, but finally my interest in Roman culture won out and I bought it. Well, I've finished reading this novel, and was not very impressed by the quality of the writing. The plotline is, as the other reviews have said, highly original. Miranda is a Harvard graduate student who reluctantly volunteers to go travel back to Roman times and soak up the culture for research. However, unlike a Michael Chrichton novel, Ms. East does not go into how the time travel technology actually works.
What I found particularly irritating about this novel is the amount of repetition and over-simplification bulit into the plot and prose. For example, around p. 3 the heroine Miranda remarks that a friend commented on her "pre-Raphaelite hair". This sentence is repeated mid-way through the book, almost word for word. Likewise, the novel goes off on these tangents in which Miranda tells a fairy-tale to her rapt Roman household members. Each time, she begins with "And this how I told it:". After a while, the cumulating repetitions numbed my brain and pricked my impatience.
I also found the narrator's smug attitude towards the reader irritating. [...]. For example, Miranda speculates at one point that the nearest city is Neapolis--then, in brackets, she tells us that this is modern day Naples. Well, duh. It makes me wonder what kind of an audience Ms. East was writing for--adults? Or 7th graders?
I think Ms. East demonstrates a lot of creativity in the character of Miranda, the time travel plot, and in the cast of supporting characters. [...]
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Summary: Michael Grant is more interesting
Review: It's no wonder this book is through a vanity press. It reads like a text for Classics 101. If the characters were more real and the Miranda weren't so repetitious in what she had to say, it might have been more interesting. (...) This author automatically seems to assume that her readers must be the dumbest creatures on earth. Not everyone is a classicist but please. . . This book needs a good editor and an injection of style. There were so many points I felt like I was reading a term paper I was going to quit reading. Or it was like I was reading a bad splice of Pliny's letters,Cena Trimalchionis, and my text from my Roman Law class a couple of semesters back. Though I will say that this author did her homework. At least her facts were for the most part accurate if the story was a little less than interesting.
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