Roman Blood: A Mystery of Ancient Rome

the story is good if not a little repetitive as a series. narrator wasn't my favourite but not everybody can be george guidol

My rating would be 7/10. I liked the flavour for the times - not so foreign to today. I would have liked a more gripping story, with a main character that was more interesting, less perfect. But it entertained.

No

It seemed to be a contrivance, whose sole purpose was to show off the author's scholarship (which seems considerable).

Virtually any true voice actor on the planet. At best, Scott Harrison is a reader, but not a very good one at that.

Certainly disappointment, as I am a fan of Rome and Roman history, and was looking forward to a good read.

I'd like to try another Saylor story, read by someone else. If for no other reason than to see if my adverse reaction to the former is prompted by the latter.

I purchased 'Roman Blood' when it first came out in hardback, as well as almost all Saylor's other books. I wanted to re-experience his stories in audio now. However, I find Scott Harrison to be a poor choice to read any stories, except perhaps some of the Audible Kids titles. His voice is juvenile in tenor, as is his attempt to portray different voices for different characters in the story. He has no sense of proper emotion for the scene, and mispronounces various words scattered throughout the story. He lacks the maturity and dignitas for stories who ancient loci and personae demand them. I recommend sewing Harrison's renditions of Saylor's books in a sack and throwing them in the nearest Tiber or appropriate substitute.

This book is really nothing more than Sam Spade deposited in ancient Rome--a detective sniffing out clues and avoiding thugs in the gritty backstreets of a great city. The protagonist even has a devoted and efficient female slave who fills the Effie role. The author has done a great deal of research, but, like the hero, it feels like a veneer on the story rather than an integral part of it, unlike the exquisite scholarship of "The Egyptian." The main weakness, however, is the reader. Very poor choice for the material, as he has no aptitude for character voices.

All those old movies where high ranking Romans speaking with cultured English accents have set the standard long ago for historical Roman dialogue. This series too needs to be read by a person with a cultured English accent.

Saylor crafts his detective mysteries in the nooks and crannies of Roman history. Learn a bit about Julius Caesar or Cicero and Roman culture while reading a detective novel! I have read them all and enjoyed them immensely.

The description of daily life in the Subura.

It would be hard to pick just one.

Several.