Terra Incognita

A Novel of the Roman Empire

By: Ruth Downie

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

It is spring in the year 118, and Hadrian has been emperor of Rome for less than a year. After his long and reluctant investigation of the murders of a handful of local prostitutes, Gaius Petreius Ruso needs to get out of town. With that in mind, he has volunteered for a posting with the army in the far reaches of Britannia - a calmer place for a tired man.

But the edge of the Roman Empire is a volatile place; the independent tribes of the North dwell near its borders. These hinterlands are the homeland of Ruso's slave, Tilla, who has scores of her own to settle there: Her tribespeople, under the leadership of the mysterious Stag Man, are fomenting a rebellion against Roman control, and her former lover is implicated in the grisly murder of a soldier. Ruso, once again unwillingly pulled into a murder investigation, is appalled to find that Tilla is still spending time with the prime suspect. Worse, he is honor-bound to try to prove the man innocent - and the army wrong - by finding another culprit. Soon both Ruso's and Tilla's lives are in jeopardy, as is the future of their burgeoning romance.

Terra Incognita shines light on a remote corner of the ancient world, where Ruso's luck is running short - again.

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend us your ears: listen to the first book, Medicus.

©2008 Ruth Downie (P)2008 Tantor

Critic reviews

"A lively sequel to English author Downie's historical mystery Medicus....Immensely satisfying." ( Kirkus Reviews)
"Who would guess that life and death in the far reaches of the Roman Empire could be so darn funny?" ( Library Journal)

Good sequel -- excellent narration

If you could sum up Terra Incognita in three words, what would they be?

decent sequel

What about Simon Vance???s performance did you like?

Simon Vance is an excellent narrator. His voices for each of the characters are pitch perfect--not too over the top but unique so that you know throughout the book who is speaking. I love his narration of these Ruth Downie books and it's why I intend to listen to all of them in order.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. Ruso and Tilla make an excellent romantic duo, but they are not together much in this book. Instead, Tilla is off doing her own thing. I found that a bit disappointing since the beauty of the earlier book was the romantic tension between the two.

This book has some moments where I felt Ruso was out of character. He questions a suspect to a murder by dunking the man's head in a barrel of water. Ruso it seems to me is supposed to be the hero of the story and better than that--he's a doctor and will not beat his slave when they disobey him. Aside from that this is an interesting murder mystery and the characters are believeable.

Any additional comments?

I look forward to Persona Non Grata, the next book in the series. I'm very glad Simon Vance is narrating all four.

Love these Medicus books

A murder-mystery in ancient Rome, or at least an outpost of it. Love the characters, the story, and the attention to detail of life 2000 years ago in the Roman army and its interactions with the "natives." Great read. Re the performance, the accents of the Romans are more proper and erudite vs the accents of the natives of Britannia (Northern Britain, Scotland,) which are reminiscent of today's accents from those places, even though it's all in current-day English.

Well Written

As with the first of this series, Terra Incognita is very well written and engaging. I appreciated the meticulous research into a period that is most difficult to document. Downie's narrative and dialogue runs true and Vance's narration, as always, brings the characters to life. If I had one complaint it would be the interminable length of the books, though I see no way the stories could be told more concisely and still have brought ancient Britain so brilliantly to life.

Better than the first!

Well written and the mildly combative relationship between Russo and Tilla is adorable. As someone who has read or listened to a number of books in this sub-genre of Mystery Ruth Downie does a wonderful job

This scratches my itch for Roman Britain

Growing up, Rosemary Sutcliff’s The Eagle of the Ninth and Ann Lawrence’s Between the Forest and the Hills firmly cemented Roman Britain as my favorite setting and time period for historical fiction. 30-some years later, it persists, and I stumbled across this series on here purely by chance. I tentatively burned one credit on Medicus and was immediately drawn back into that strange but familiar world. The characters, the scenery, the long-suffering Russo’s development through his many and diverse trials and tribulations, all this and so much more beautifully narrated by Simon Vance weave a story that will draw you in and hold you.

Great historical novel of Rome

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Very much so. If you have listened to or read the SPQR series by John Maddox Roberts and enjoyed you will enjoy this as well. This is more centered around a Roman Doctor Russo who was stationed in Briton. Ends up solving crimes for the empire. He also marries a "Barbarian" Briton woman, but she's really the best thing in his life and he knows it. You have to read this series in order just like any other series or it will not make sense.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I really love both Russo and his wife Tilla. In many ways she makes Russo more earthy and realize what is really important.

Have you listened to any of Simon Vance’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Simon Vance is one of my favorite narrators, when I'm looking at a new book I see who's narrating and since he's in my top ten I usually will take great interest in purchasing. He brings emotions and each character to life.

Any additional comments?

I think Ruth Downie is has done very well in this series and her research about Rome in
Briton is also very good. If you want to read great novels by great authors on the Roman Empire the three top are Robert Graves, John Maddox Roberts and Ruth Downie. They all have separate areas in their books but all are well researched with time lines and what was happening. I have most of the books by all three authors. I guess that is a major hint that I love historical novels

Even Better Than The First

I think this is the book I will tell people to read when recommending the series and I will be recommending the series. The first book had some few parts that needed a little polishing (still was a GREAT read) but this is near perfection. It has everything I like in a mystery, adventure, intelligence, wry humor, great characters, a noir feel, and writing compelling enough to keep you up way past your bedtime. Downie is particularly skilled in her characters and keeps them believable to period while still appealing to modern sensibilities. I am a history buff so I love the Roman/Britania backdrop but even if you hate historical books you'd like this. The story is compelling without any moments where you'd be embarrassed when if someone strolls in while your listening. (As opposed to say Pillars of the Earth which could frequently be embarrassing in the many long and explicitly sexual moments) Simon Vance reads this so well you forget him completely and dissolve into the story. He's also less nasal in this than in other books which some reviewers havent liked. He's one of my favorite narrators. This would be a great book for a car trip, especially one where you are worried about falling asleep. I should know as its 430 am right now but I couldn't stop listening. I only wish there were more than 4 books in this great series.

CSI Brittania

This book is the second in a series of 4 (so far) books by Ruth Downie about Gaius Russo and his slave/lover Tilla. I enjoyed the first book (Medicus) very much and plan to download other books in this series. Russo is a Roman doctor in Roman occupied Brittania and something of a detective. I enjoyed the crime solving aspects of the book, similar to modern whodunnits, but mostly I enjoyed learning about the Roman culture and doctoring skills of the time period (sometime during the second century). The narration of the book is very good. Overall, this is a great listen as is the first book in the series.

Great writing

Great writing and narration, enjoy the characters and the historical details. Recommend this Roman mystery series.

This series is amazing!

The characters are engaging and entertaining, and I can’t wait to see what will happen next, so on to the next boot in the series!