• EMPEROR: The Death of Kings, Book 2 (Unabridged)

  • By: Conn Iggulden
  • Narrated by: Robert Glenister
  • Length: 17 hrs and 57 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (812 ratings)

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EMPEROR: The Death of Kings, Book 2 (Unabridged)  By  cover art

EMPEROR: The Death of Kings, Book 2 (Unabridged)

By: Conn Iggulden
Narrated by: Robert Glenister
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Publisher's summary

Abandoned after months of captivity, Julius Caesar gathers recruits that he will forge into a unit powerful enough to gain vengeance on his captors. But soon a new crisis threatens: a gladiator named Spartacus.
©2004 Conn Iggulden (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about EMPEROR: The Death of Kings, Book 2 (Unabridged)

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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Very Bad History

What would have made EMPEROR: The Death of Kings, Book 2 (Unabridged) better?

This is a good story the only problem is that the history is so bad it makes the book annoying. If you know nothing of Roman history the story is very good but if you know anything about Roman history the book is basically unreadable.

Has EMPEROR: The Death of Kings, Book 2 (Unabridged) turned you off from other books in this genre?

No

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Good fiction but TERRIBLE history

Is there anything you would change about this book?

This book could have been written in the same style with out changing the history so dramatically. It seems that the author didn't like some of the Roman figures such as Sulla or Cato changing their ages and personalities to be evil bad gross men. As well as placing Caesar in places he never was. It seems that the author didn't bother to get more than a high school education on the subject before he wrote this story.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good story, but Poor history

If you read historical fiction to learn, not just be entertained, this well-written story will cheat you. I enjoyed the first volume & decided to give this one a try, despite reviews that said it was seriously misleading or just wrong about too much of the history. Unlike some reviewers, I knew little about this history before starting this series. So, I enjoyed listening to it most of the way through. I did notice then that events & relationships seemed almost too perfectly suited to a good story to be actual history. So, remembering the critical reviews, I paused before the end of the book to check out the history.

It wasn't just poetic license to fudge a little bit, in my view. I felt seriously misled about major figures and their relationships, so that my understanding was skewed. I don't want to be a spoiler, so I will just suggest a couple of things to check out. Was Marcus really taken in by Gaisus's parents? Or might he have lived with another figure of the time who becomes important in the narrative later? What was Octavian's living situation really like when he lived with his widowed mother?

If you don't care how accurate the history is, even if the inaccuracies are not minor, it is an enjoyable read. This author is a very good storyteller. I had been looking forward to working my way through this series and his other series. However, because a big part of my pleasure in reading historical fiction is to learn history, I won't read more because I don't trust him.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Very Entertaining!

This is the second book in a four part series following the life and times of Julius Caesar and his contemporarys, such as Brutus and Pompeii.

Conn Iggulden does a great job of bringing the time period to life. He may take a lot of liberties with the historical facts, but it is always intended to drive the story on in a more interesting way. This is historical fiction after all!

Emperor: The Death of Kings takes place at the beginning of Caesars career and Political life. I found it more interesting than the first book because of the political intrigue involved.

The narrator does a great job of bringing the characters voices to life. Some may find his use of English accents a little strange, but nevertheless it works.

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3 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Fairly decent historical novel

I enjoyed this one (the second book) more than the first book. The character of Caesar is more interesting and the politics of the Senate are well described. Parts of the plot seem too simplistic though.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful tale

Once, ancient history was torrid current events. This tale tells of Caesar's early career including his role in the Spartacus slave rebellion, and is packed with great characters. Voicing the flawed heroes, depraved villians and the odd innocent bystander the narrator gets it just right too. The others in this series are definitely on my listening wish list.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Perfect Historical Fiction

There’s a scene where Julius Caesar and Brutus meet Spartacus before the battle. I’m pretty sure that’s completely made up but it’s entertaining. I love entertainment over accuracy

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Artistic Liberties pay off in this case

Conn Iggulden takes a lot of liberties, i think. but the narrative and storytelling style that he employs is fantastic and makes it such a journey.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Better Than Book 1

I enjoyed 'The Gates of Rome' thoroughly but I thought the senate backstabbing, in-depth background politics, along with all the different trials Caesar had to go thru made this book more interesting. The amount of pain & joy must have been a complete adrenaline rollercoaster if even half of it is true. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole "swaytonious" underlying, small problem he dealt with comparably speaking was funny & it made me think about all these old Roman names, don't know why lol, haven't met too many swaytonious's in my life or octavious's... for such a dominant culture that survived almost 4 times longer than the US has been around it seems that have effected every part of our major social systems except the names. Not giving any spoilers away but the conversation that swaytonious & his father have was the funny part because it really puts into perspective how many layers, like an onion, these historical stories have. I'm sure the same thing still exists today but at a different level only in tech base not motive (money & power), but when u read about it in past times it at a much primal & raw level.

I personally think after reading the first the first 2 Emperor series books they are a bit better than the Khan series but when u write at Conn's level its a matter of taste not quality. This review comes far later than when the book was released because I only moved to enjoying historical fictions after reading some Cornwell & than going thru all the different major empires that have great stories to build on. Cheers to Caesar who realized quickly he who rules the mob can hold great power over any empire, the same still holds true today, is that a good or bad thing?

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Entertaining fiction, complete historical farce

The fiction is well written and the narration is pleasing, but the history is a complete farce. It confuses battles, participants, locations, makes up deaths for dubious purposes, and mischaracterizes a host of major actors. In short, it is fiction that loosely uses names of famous people and real events, but it is not close to actual events.

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