Semper Fidelis

A Novel of the Roman Empire

By: Ruth Downie

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

Back at his post as a doctor in the 20th legion in Roman-occupied Britain, Ruso uncovers a new danger even closer to home than the neighboring barbarians.

As mysterious injuries, and even deaths, begin to appear in the medical ledgers, it's clear that all is not well amongst the native recruits to Britannia's imperial army. Is the much-decorated centurion Geminus preying on his weaker soldiers? And could this be related to the appearance of Emperor Hadrian?

Bound by his sense of duty and ill-advised curiosity, Ruso begins to ask questions nobody wants to hear. Meanwhile his barbarian wife Tilla is finding out some of the answers -and is marked as a security risk by the very officers Ruso is interrogating.

With Hadrian's visit looming large, the fates of the legion, Tilla, and Ruso himself hang in the balance.

©2013 Ruth Downie (P)2013 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Downie injects a modern who-done-it twist into the imperial action." ( Kirkus)

Enjoyable

Like the other books in the series the plot was very good and the reader did a class A job. He has a wide range of voices and does a smoth nariation.

Loved it.

Poor, long suffering Ruso, I think I am a little in love with him despite his penchant for finding trouble.

Not as Good as Earlier Books in this Series

I have read all the books in the series and this is definately not one of the best. I found it dragging in spots. I have really come to dislike Tilla. The story centers about the Centurion Geminus and the death of many native recruits to the 20th Legion.

I think the problem for me in this series is that Tilla is becoming more, and more implausible as a character. I just find her activities in assisting Russo in the murder investigations not really true to the times. Yes Roman soldiers did occasionally marry a "native" woman during their time in Britain but this woman would never have been allowed the freedom to wander around the Fort and snoop the way the Tilla does. Actually at times I find Tilla quite annoying.

The mystery of the deaths of the young recruits is quite a good one, and I suspect not an unusual occurrence. But the laxity of some of the commanders I found difficult to believe. The Roman Legion, even in Britain, was still a pretty well-organized and disciplined machine. But one never sees this in the book. Instead we are given a picture of sloppy, slovenly bunch of recruits and commanders.

Why doesn’t the BBC make a series based on these?!

I think the “Medicus” books would make a wonderful series! I love them, and just think of the costuming, the period sets, using actual archeological sites with some clever effects. Something like the Doctor Blake Mysteries set 2000 years ago. How could this not be a success? Anyway, in the meantime I’ll have to use my imagination and enjoy Simon Vance’s wonderful readings of these books. Mind you, if anyone did make a series, I’d first read the books and then see how the film version matches up to what I imagined. These are absolutely delightful books. But I can’t imagine you reading the reviews of this volume and not already being a fan. And if you are not yet a fan, start with the first in the series. And have a great time!

Great series every time you listen!

This entire series is fantastic. Historical fiction, romance, and a great ongoing story. The narrator is truly perfect for this series, more than any other I've ever heard him do. I've listened to the whole series twice and will listen again.

Wonderful tale

I have greatly enjoyed all of Ruth Danny’s books, and this one is no exception. It is wonderfully fascinating but is thorough and entertaining. Loved it.

I think this is the best that I’ve read!

Love this series. This book in the series is really good. I actually couldn’t predict who did it. I love, love Tila!! I will definitely keep reading this series.

Nowhere Near As Good As Previous Books

I'm not sure how this one got released because it isn't even close to being in the same league as previous books in the series. The characters that I have come to love, Ruso and Tilla, are just "blah" in this one, as is the storyline. Where is the witty banter between them, not to mention the chemistry? They do spend a great deal of time apart (it's almost written as two different, though somewhat intertwined, storylines), but when they are together, there's just......nothing. Where is the cleverly-written plot? Yes, there were some "interesting events" that Ruso had to suffer through, but for the most part I never got the sense that he was in any real danger. The setting is a training base for new recruits, which I guess doesn't really lend itself to riveting storytelling. I found the plot to be uninteresting and a bit confusing. It didn't hold my attention at all. Maybe I missed some important bits because of this, but at times I found it difficult to follow what was going on. In the end, I didn't really care about why Geminus did what he did nor about what happened to him because of it (don't want to leave any spoilers).

As usual, Simon Vance does a terrific job. He is one of my favorite narrators, which is the ONLY reason I even listened all the way to the end.

If you are a fan of the Medicus series, I suggest giving this one a miss. I was quite disappointed in this book. So much so that I may not continue with the series unless the next one is considerably better.

meh

Everything goes wrong until something unlikely and unbelievably wonderful happens, then everything is right.

Also, the humor is decreasing in this series; I enjoyed 1-3; #4 began a descent into redundancy and #5 slid away with it. All of that would be better if it was accompanied by the humor sprinkled into the first books; the humor was absent.

It is cozy

It is cozy. The narrator sounds like someones grandpa. It gets scary for the main character (tense engaging) at times but usually not for too long.