TITLE: Gods and Legions: A Novel of the Roman EmpireAUTHOR: Michael Curtis Ford
STARTED: February 15, 2009
FINISHED: March 3, 2009
PAGES: 382
GENRE: Fiction
FIRST SENTENCE: [From the historical note] Of all the great figures of antiquity, few are so compelling yet enigmatic, few so admired yet vilified, as Flavius Claudius Julianus Augustus, the man known to history as Julian the Apostate.
SUMMARY: [From barnesandnoble.com] He fought to become a warrior. He dared to become an emperor. He lived to become the most powerful man in the world.
In the year, 354 A.D., Julian, a sheltered scholar and pacifist lives in peace-until a summons from Emperor Constantine the Great changes the young man's life forever. Dispatched to Gaul to help reclaim a beaten Roman territory from German barbarians, Julian displays a surprising and brutal genius for survival against impossible odds. Emerging as an unlikely hero and adored by a legion of zealots, his untapped ambition is ignited-to reign as the new emperor. It's a position of power that'll test the loyalty of his friends, stir the ire of enemies, and cast an ominous shadow over his mad, and most magnificently impossible conquest of all
THOUGHTS: Yawn.
This could have been bad ass. It was rife with the possibility of awesome battle scenes, gritty description, and vivid detailing of life in a Roman army. I got nothing but boring facts. I'm all for facts. But Ford just lets them drivel out instead of having them support an awesome story. Also, he was far to excited to share the history he learned.
This wasn't a novel. It was a sad attempt at writing a screenplay. I honestly think Ford was writing for the movie rights.
RATING: 3/10 [Poor, Lost Interest]
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