Legionary

De: Gordon Doherty

Narrado por: Simon Whistler

The Roman Empire is crumbling, and a shadow looms in the east....

376 AD: the Eastern Roman Empire is alone against the tide of barbarians swelling on her borders. Emperor Valens juggles the paltry border defences to stave off invasion from the Goths north of the Danube. Meanwhile, in Constantinople, a pact between faith and politics spawns a lethal plot that will bring the dark and massive hordes from the east crashing down on these struggling borders. The fates conspire to see Numerius Vitellius Pavo, enslaved as a boy after the death of his legionary father, thrust into the limitanei, the border legions, just before they are sent to recapture the long-lost eastern Kingdom of Bosporus. He is cast into the jaws of this plot, so twisted that the survival of the entire Roman world hangs in the balance...

©2013 Gordon Doherty (P)2014 Gordon Doherty

interesting historical novel

I enjoyed this novel but stumbled a bit with mispronunciations and wrong use of tenses. It could use a good editor and preview listener.

Decent book, stellar performance

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

I would recommend this audiobook to anyone who loves a good adventure yarn and would enjoy following the travels of a boy battling for his life across the tapestry of a lush but brutal history.

What other book might you compare Legionary to and why?

Hard for me to say, as I'm not much of a historical fiction reader. If anything, though, I would say this reminded me of Louis L'Amour's "The Walking Drum." Lots of action, shallow characters, plenty of fun.

Which scene was your favorite?

I enjoyed the bar scene in who Pavo drunkenly escapes a thrashing by kicking his far superior opponent in the privates -- not because of the cheap comedy, which wasn't bad, but because it encapsulates the sense of rowdy, slapdash, seat-of-your-pants action that typifies the story.

Any additional comments?

Simon Whistler's narration of this tale is a joy. His English accent gives it a sense of Old World majesty while his enthusiasm is infectious. He clearly enjoys the material (or he's very gifted at faking it). I would love to listen to more books read by him.

Slow start, but gripping by the end

Where does Legionary rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

For story, somewhere in the middle. For production, kind of low. It is possible to hear some of the edits and "punch ins" and certain words are pronounced differently at different times.

What did you like best about this story?

The drama built well, the author handled suspense well. Good pacing after a somewhat clunky beginning.

What does Simon Whistler bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Simon's voice and dramatic reading ability are both quite nice. Again I found the production quality somewhat lacking and that distracted me from the story at times.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Blood, Guts, and dust

Any additional comments?

Some back story is delivered too quickly at the beginning. The protagonist goes from young child to young adult quickly, and later allusions to his past that weren't really brought up earlier. But I found that the story became much more coherent and enjoyable as it went on.

I think the author handled two juxtaposed narratives well: the main protagonist is a grunt soldier caught up in the intrique of generals and emperors. The stories of both "higher" and "lower" rank characters are well told and well mixed.

I enjoyed this novel

I was never a big fan of the historical type fiction, but since i listened to this i think my tastes may have changed. I found the story-line intriguing and it all flowed very well. I think the narrator did the book justice and i will definitely look for more from both the author and narrator.

Rousing historical fiction.

The narrator was excellent. The story seemed a little slow going at the start, but soon picked up speed.