Rating: 
Summary: What College Did She Go To?
Review: That's the main question that arises from my reading of Household Gods. Somehow, we are to believe that Nicole Gunther-Perrin, our main character, managed to get all the way through law school and presumably pass the bar without having once been exposed to a class in world history. Are we, then, to blame her ignorance on the woeful inadequacy of the Indiana University Law School's graduation requirements?Maybe, maybe not, either way, our protagonist feels that life in ancient Rome would be an improvement over present day Los Angeles because of it's gender equality, it's social egalitarianism and it's old fashioned HUMANE VALUES! Go figure. The first part of the book is basically a catalogue of the humiliations and crises that, occurring in rapid succession, lead our chubby, embittered little heroine to send a desperate prayer to two bored ancient gods who, in response, plop her in a 2nd century Roman outpost called Carnuntum. The descriptions of life in this malodorous and lice ridden city are terrific and since I have nothing to judge them by I can only assume that they are somewhat accurate. Throughout the authors do a wonderful job of making the ancient Roman characters likeable and familiar without giving in to the temptation to make them more "modern" in outlook. For instance, Umma's "boyfriend" Titus, while clearly a nice guy retains his unfortunate penchant for beast matches, gladiatorial games and stale urine. The only problem with this portion of the book was that darned Nicole/Umma character. Arrogant, self righteous, and relentlessly judgmental, Nicole reacts and OVER reacts to everything in Carnuntum that isn't up to the strictest standards of the surgeon general BUT, and this is a big but, she doesn't do a darned thing about it! It takes her two thirds of the way into the book to take the darned initiative to BOIL the water that she and her Roman family drinks. Indeed, throughout the book she utterly fails to use what little specialized knowledge she has constructively, and it is made plain that her main interest in caring for her Roman children stems from the fact that one of them will be her ancestor. The fact that the main character is a heartless cow, however, should not be allowed to detract from the book's many good points. Household Gods IS a fascinating and imaginative book and definitely worth a look.
Rating:
Summary: Eye-opening look at real life in 2nd Century Rome
Review: Nicole Gunther-Perrin is a recently divorced lawyer in present-day Los Angeles. Her life seems to be falling apart. Her husband left her for a blond bimbo. Her daycare provider just quit. And she has been passed over for a partnership at her law firm, while the man she has just collaborated with got his partnership. And one of her bosses suggests not too subtly that a bit more "cooperation" would help her cause. Everything in our world seems slanted against women. So she makes a half-hearted prayer to the plaque featuring the Roman gods Liber and Libera to send her back to Ancient Rome, where, she imagines, women had equal status with men. And they comply. The book starts a bit slowly. Nicole indeed has been treated unfairly, but the authors make clear that she's brought a certain amount of her troubles on herself. (For instance, she is very rude to her daycare provider.) Thus, at the onset, we are presented with a rather unlikable protagonist. She winds up in 2nd Century Rome, in the body of her ancestor Umma. Umma is the owner of a tavern, and the mother of two children, as well as the mistress of a slave. Nicole as Umma starts out viewing her fellow Romans from her rather priggish 20th Century viewpoint. For example, she doesn't drink. Thus she's horrified that she owns a tavern. But one night spent on a chamberpot after drinking the local water without benefit of alcohol cures her of that prejudice. Nicole grows rapidly as she spends time in the provincial town of Caruntum, and as she grows, the reader's sympathy for her is engaged. She is quickly disabused of her silly notion that Rome in that time was an egalitarian society. But she remains anti-slavery, even as her prejudices against other Roman habits, such as corporal punishment of children, and drinking wine, diminish in the face of reality. The book becomes a catalog of misfortunes. The authors seem to take unholy enjoyment in heaping ever more serious inconveniences upon their protagonist. She faces minor troubles such as head lice, and chamberpots instead of toilets, and 2nd Century dentistry, and the persistent odors of that time, and the lack of variety in her diet. This would almost be funny, except soon she faces major problems: plague, war, and the threat of rape and starvation. Nicole's story in Caruntum is involving, as she comes to terms with her new life. Especially interesting are the people she meets: her slave Julia, who takes delight in her secondary profession of prostitute; her children Lucius and Aurelia; Umma's lover Titus Calidius Severus, so puzzled when Nicole rebuffs him, but so much more civilized in his fashion than many of the 20th century men Nicole has become disgusted with. We even get a brief glimpse of the Emperor, Marcus Aurelius. This is a long novel, but after a slow start it becomes very absorbing. Nicole's struggles seem real, and her personal growth seems earned. The depiction of life in 2nd Century Rome is believable and fascinating. I recommend this novel to anyone interested in a real look at a historical period quite different from our own.
Rating: 
Summary: Engaging but ultimately disappointing
Review: I am a big fan of Harry Turtledove's alternate history books, so (as a lawyer myself) I looked forward to his take on modern lawyer meets ancient Rome. The story was engaging--Tarr and Turtledove are both good writers--but I was disappointed by the depth of the characters (or lack thereof) and what seemed a pretty unimaginative ending. I wanted to like Nicole (the protagonist), but I found it very difficult to do so. Despite spending about a year in ancient Carnuntum, her character never really softened even as she matured. In particular, I found it very difficult to find much sympathy for her lack of engagement with the characters she meets in 2nd century Carnuntum. She also seemed to give very little thought to what would happen to Umma, the woman whose body she was inhabiting, if she got her desperate wish to return to the 20th century. Finally, and most puzzling, many of the details of 20th century life seemed poorly researched. I am not a California attorney, but Nicole's understanding of the law of agency of her own time seems spotty at best, and I am sure that the sisters of the Delta Delta Delta sorority would be surprised to hear their organization referred to as a fraternity (as in an organization that admits men, not simply a reference to the fact that all sororities are fraternal organizations). Still, the book is a good read, and Nicole's change of perspective concerning her life in the 20th century is a welcome theme to a reader who sometimes suffers from similar failures of perspective himself. It's far from Turtledove's best work, but it's a step above a lot of the dreck that passes for science fiction or historical fiction these days.
Rating:
Summary: An amazingly detailed reality of Ancient Rome.
Review: Household Gods is the kind of book that stays with you long after you have sifted through the last few pages and put it away. I still find myself revisiting the issues that were explored by the authors and considering how I would have reacted in each situation. I caution readers not to expect a romanticized view of Ancient Rome, rather the authors go into exacting details, many of which are onerous, to weave the reality of Ancient Rome. In the end, this book is a statement of how we all feel about the time in which we live and how easy it is to idealize another, perhaps simpler, time. The protagonist was not always likeable, but always believable. She represents any one of us, or aspects of everyone we know. The ending is a just one in a book that focuses on reality and not fantasy.
Rating: 
Summary: Try to get through the first 50 pages...
Review: I couldn't get through the first 50 pages, rooked into a purchase by the name of Harry Turtledove on the cover. I like Turtledove's treatment of alternative history and thought "this is a convenient way to try another author I don't know. If she is associated with an author I like, all the better." I read the beginnings of this book, and I soon was hoping it would improve. I never got past the first awful day in the life of the principle character. It was the cartoonish and misandrist depictions of men that clued me in. I was overwhelmed by the gender-conscious, race-conscious, bitter, and mean-spiritness of the protagonist. I put down the book when "patriarchy" first surfaced. If you value these references in your fictional writing, by all means, buy this book. I think all the above poisoned a theme and story of potential.
Rating:
Summary: A Book of Complaints
Review: This is a book for women who blame men whenever they they don't get what they want. It's a surprise to learn that Harry Turtledove has so much male self-hate.
Rating:
Summary: They don't teach history like they should.
Review: I enjoy historical fiction immenseley, but I am giving this book three stars.It is a very interesting book- Nicole gets what she wants- almost. As the protagonist she is a very shallow character. The other characters seem as narrow and almost cookie cutter. The life of drugery was accurate; her experiences were very accurate although we only had small glimpses into the neighbors lives and interactions. This would have been better if we could have seen more of the city and its workings.A few trips to the baths and the market was not enough.I would have liked closure with Umma. She had a lot to catch up on when she returned. There were just too many loose ends.A better read is Down the Common although this is not fantasy. a
Rating:
Summary: Not worth the time or money
Review: This book was awful. I detested the main character so much, that it was an effort to get through the book. She was such a whiny, selfcentered, just plain... person that I couldn't find a single thing to like about her. I find it very difficult to believe that an educated person would have no clue whatsoever as to what life would be like 2000 years ago. A person's got to be pretty ignorant to have no idea that (gasp!) things were even more sexist in the past than they are now, and, imagine this, people and places were dirtier then than they are now...Nicole was so self centered that the only thought she gave to her two children left behind in the future was 'Oh gee. Hope they're ok, maybe they will make my ex-husband's life hell.' And that was just as an afterthought. Aside from the worthless main character, the authors of this book decided to take the easy way out and not give any sort of explanation about what happened to the person whose body Nicole inhabited...This book was not well thought out all, and there wasn't even much of a story. I love historical fiction, especially when it deals with Ancient Rome, but this book was a huge disappointment. To read a real historical novel, try anything by Sharon Kay Penman or one of Margaret George's books.
Rating: 
Summary: Household Gods
Review: I haven't enjoyed a story this much in quit a long time. The only slight fault I find with the book is the protagonists over reaction to each new experience she encounters in her new surroundings. Read it and Enjoy a great story.
Rating:
Summary: engaging tale based on good research
Review: This is the story of a SoCal yuppie who wishes a little too hard for the 'good old days' and gets them, warts and all. The strengths here are the depth and accuracy of research, the interesting and complex characters, and the many little touches that show that Tarr and Turtledove really gave serious thought to life in an ancient Roman provincial town. I don't see how anyone who enjoys ancient Roman fiction could go wrong here, and those with no experience in the genre will get some worthwhile grounding in the non-military aspects of second-century provincial Roman life. (Special kudos to the authors for not simply plopping the protagonist in Rome, which would be the easy way.) So what's not to like? Well, rather, what's to like a little less. For someone so intelligent, the protagonist has an extremely difficult time letting go of her cultural assumptions and expectations. It's still believable, if one assumes her to be pretty narrow-minded, but she's awfully bright to take such a long time to realize that the rules are different 'here'. The whole 'a conservative is a liberal who's just been mugged' political bent is taken a little too far (though some of it is germane to the protagonist's experiences). The ending is no great surprise nor is it especially climactic. The negatives don't even come close to outweighing the positives of the book. You are much likelier to enjoy it if you have an interest in ancient Roman fiction or if you've got a strong appreciation for attention to historical detail.
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