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Summary: A great book for when you feel sorry for yourself
Review: I really liked this book as a great escape novel. It helps remind yourself that the grass is not alwqays greener on the other side of the fence. That and one must be careful for what you wish for.
I rank this up with the novel Lest the Darkness Falls and a good rainy day book to read for pleasure and enlightenment.
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Summary: Colonial House meets the Roman Empire
Review: This is like reading the diary of one of the recent 'go back in time' type reality shows. Nicole (the main character) reminds me of the people who go on those shows and try to take their 20th century ideals with them. Yes, to an intelligent person with a basic knowledge of history she is woefully ignorant about roman life (especcially since she is a lawyer who has travelled in europe), yet so are some of the people they picked for the Colonial/Frontier House shows.However, Nicole's constant 'holier than thou' attitude does get a bit annoying.
All in all this book is an interesting read, especially for fans of said reality shows and historical fictions.
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Summary: I loved it until I read some of the bad reviews!
Review: I am a time travel fan, so I picked up this book based on that aspect of it alone. And maybe that's why I really enjoyed it! Some reviewers rate Nicole, the main character, as a whiny uncaring person. Okay, maybe she is, but she is a well developed and well written character. You can easily slip into how she's feeling and reacting to all the situations. In the course of the book, she gets sucked back to ancient Rome. The authors have done a fabulous job of bringing ancient Rome to life! Sure, the gal may have thrown her brain out the window, not remembering history and being not too cautious with local food, but SHE WAS JUST SUCKED BACK INTO TIME! I think that gives her a little reasoning to not be reacting completely logically or level headed.So, in other words, if you like time travel, more specifically enjoy reading about time culture shock, this is a fantastic book to read. If you like well developed characters, read this book, I knew I was going to like it before she went back to Rome by the character development alone. MORE IMPORTANTLY, dont let the reviewers that whine about the main character ruin it for you. I was able to get lost in the story until I checked to see what people had to see about it. A fantastic collaboration and a nice addition to the historical time travel fiction!
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Summary: The ONLY Turtledove book I ever enjoyed
Review: I have tried many times to get through the downright awful alternative histories of Harry Turtledove. There are now so many and they are all so similar that seem to run together. We have Civil War, WW1 and WWII series and prequels and sequels and sequels to the previous sequels, ad nauseum, ad infiniturm. You think, My God, won't this thing ever end? But this time (most likely due to the presence of a helping hand) the writing is more crisp, the plot more lively, the characters MUCH more real. The prose does not wander nor wonder as is the usual case. A contemporary woman stares at a statue of Roman gods and wakes up in Rome. The daily life, struggles, trials and tribulations are played out before the reader. We see Rome through the eyes of the misplaced 20th century woman who, in the end, surprises the Emperor with her knowledge of writing. It's rather silly that she speaks Latin, especially since 90% of Romans spoke Greek at the time - the lingua of the masses. But this is a fictional story and we should give some literary license. The love affair - always total disasters in Turtledove's hands - this time is charming and rather innocent. Her adjustment to Roman life (she operates a restaurant) is superficially easy but again that allows for a good story. It is only too bad that Turtledove did not ask for help on his numerous other works.
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Summary: Intriguing story, annoying protagonist
Review: Harry Turtledove and Judith Tarr team up to write a historical novel with an overlay of time-travel atop it. Late 20th century Los Angeles lawyer Nicole Gunther-Perrin is stressed, stressed, stressed. She's a divorced mom of young children, her ex traded her in for a younger model, her babysitter quits with no notice, and she's been passed over for partnership in her law firm while a male colleague gets credit for her work. The firm's senior partner hits on her, then tells her she won't succeed if she's uncooperative. In short, she is having the Day From Hell. She's also a very unsympathetic character. She shows little concern with her own children. She's indifferent to why her sitter quit (sitter's mother in Mexico is sick). She's resentful toward those who succeed, and fails to see how her attitude and reactions affect how those around her will treat her. She's a bigot, generalizing about whole classes of people based on the actions of a few. After the Day from Hell, Nicole makes a plea to a plaque of two Roman "Household Gods" (smaller deities who helped with more trivial matters). Liber and Libera haven't been worshipped in more than a thousand years, so they honor her request to send her "to a simpler time." And then Turtledove and Tarr toss her into 2nd century Carnuntum, frontier Roman Empire. This city is near the Danube river (near present day Vienna), but far from Imperial Rome's center. Her attitudes run smack into her new reality. Won't drink? Surprise: you own a tavern! And a slave to run it! Oh, and she's a part-time prostitute, and you get to keep the money! And your kids ignore your requests unless you spank them! Any chance of returning home? No way. Everyone's petitioning the gods here, the line is always busy. Nicole is stuck here as Umma, widowed tavern-keeper. Life is difficult, painful, and monotonous. No electricity, little hygiene, no butter, no coffee, no antibiotics, no anasthaesia, no Tampax. And did Nicole think men were sexist pigs? Now she's stuck where women are second-class citizens by LAW. Bad enough? Okay, the barbarians are invading. That comes either before or after the plague. The details of day to day life are terrific, from attending Roman-style public baths to dealing with head lice. The story stays compelling despite Nicole's limitations. And in the end, while she has become a stronger person, she still isn't someone many of us would care to sit with for a spell. No matter. She doesn't end up anywhere as obnoxious as she started, so that's an improvement. While Nicole does learn from her experiences, her intial unpleasantness is hard to get over. Her ignorance of history and science don't serve her well when she arrives in Carnuntum, either. Perhaps this is why so many reviewers detest Nicole; the obvious audience for this book are SF fans, and they don't think much of scientific illiterates. How long does it take Nicole to figure out she ought to boil her water if there isn't any sanitation? Well, the typical SF reader would be doing so within 15 seconds of smelling the chamber pots dropped into the street. It takes Nicole about eight months. But not everyone thinks like an SF reader; there are lots of people like Nicole who manage to earn a law degree without remembering any history or science. She isn't unrealistic at all, just unlikeable. That shouldn't be a reason to downgrade the book; the story succeeds despite her.
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