Sunday 27 May 2012

Emperor: The Gates of Rome - Conn Iggulden

(Harper Collins, 2003, 624 pages)

I’ve know of Conn Iggulden for many years, but for whatever reason, never got around to reading any of his work until now. The Gates of Rome is, I believe, his first novel, and opens the Emperor series, which follows the lives of Gaius Julius Caesar and some of his closest associates. I was a little unsure what to expect, but when the book introduced me to the future Roman emperor covered from head to foot in mud, I decided it was probably worth reading on.
With his father often absent in Rome, there’s plenty of opportunity for young Gaius and his best friend Marcus – fostered by Gaius’ family after his father’s death – to engage in various escapades (and get into several scrapes on the side) as they roam the family estate. But all that changes when the boys turn ten, and Gaius’ father hires the sour ex-gladiator Renius to toughen them up, and train them in the art of killing – not to mention surviving in the very dangerous world that is Rome. The novel charts their progress, and the ways in which their lives are intertwined with so many others, as both setbacks and triumphs conspire in the formation of the eminent men they will one day become.
Iggulden’s prose is spare but sturdy, and if it sometimes borders on the inelegant, the pace of the book doesn’t let you notice it for long. The characters aren’t described in huge depth, and Iggulden could easily have slipped into stereotypes – larger-than-life Marius, loyal Tubruk, cranky Renius – but this doesn’t happen, with the major players in the main being powerfully drawn. Marcus and Gaius made engaging protagonists, and in particular I found their youthful antics great fun. Occasionally I did feel that their characterisation was a little uneven – perhaps because at times Iggulden seems to be trying to make them simultaneously equal and complementary – but I guess this could just as well be showing the uncertain steps taken in growing up and finding your identity.
Iggulden is, of course, well-known for his somewhat laid-back approach to historical accuracy, not being afraid to modify things as it suits him. Some of this he acknowledges in the Historical Note at the end of the novel – some of it he doesn’t. If you’re keen on historical novelists sticking to accepted fact, then you may have problems with the novel. Although I suspect that – depending on how it’s done – it might bother me in later instalments, it didn’t cause me much of a problem here. Neither did the very subtle ‘magic’ element, which was focused mostly on healing and foresight.
There were some aspects of the novel I did have reservations about – changes in character relationships that seemed implausibly rapid; events that had a whiff of contrivance; and above all, the placing of information dumps in dialogue. But on the whole, I found the book a quick, enjoyable read – although I fully admit that I’d read the next one as much to find out what happens to that delightfully crabby old git Renius as to Marcus and Gaius.

14 comments:

  1. Fast, enjoyable, entertaining is pretty much whaty I thought of the series when I read them. They remind me of a sort of action film in book form, or of John Buchan/Rider Haggard-style adventures but with togas. I did find the divergence from history got to me as the series progressed, though.

    I'm now trying to think what happened to Renius, and can't remember! It's a while since I read the series.

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    1. Gosh, it's been too long since I read any Buchan or Rider Haggard! King Solomon's Mines was a big favourite of mine when I was a nipper, and I loved The Thirty-Nine Steps when I finally got round to reading it.
      I thought the pacing of Gates worked well, though sometimes it felt a little bald; but considering I approached it with trepidation, overall I was pleasantly surprised. I admit to being ambivalent about reading the rest of the series because of the divergence from history, though I'm now even more intrigued about Renius, so maybe I'll give it a go.

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  2. Likewise! The BBC did a radio dramatisation of Greenmantle a few years ago so I went and re-read the book and it was just as good as the first time round. Something about the storytelling has a life of its own.
    I'm not sure whether Renius' fate was anything very intriguing; I just can't remember at all. I think by then I was wishing he had just written a fantasy in the first place without attaching historical names to it.

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    1. I don't think we have any more of the Hannay titles, so I might just have to go and look them up in the library. More reading for the summer! Re the storytelling having a life of its own, that's definitely what I remember about The Thirty-Nine Steps. Many of the scenes were so vivid that I can still visualise them clearly now, not having read the book for some years - as if I actually had witnessed them. Brilliant stuff!
      Funny you should say that about Iggulden - it's what I was beginning to think towards the end of Gates. It's not quite accurate enough to be historical fiction, but neither is it alternative enough to be alternative history. I can see there might be considerable appeal in doing something different with well-known historical figures, but I agree that if that's the case, fantasy/full-blown alternative history would probably be less disconcerting.

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  3. Likewise with Greenmantle; one of the things that prompted me to go and look for the book again was that the radio adaptation had missed out some of the vivid scenes I remembered from years previously.
    Have you read Ben Kane's Forgotten Legion series? They are also set in Rome in the Late Republic and have the same sort of larger-than-life action-film feel as Iggulden's series, but the main characters are all fictional, which worked better for me.

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    1. I've not read any of the Forgotten Legion series, no, but it's been on my reading list for quite a while. With all the study texts, I haven't really felt I could tackle much else (hence the paucity of reviews here!), but as of one o'clock this afternoon, that study is over - so with any luck I'll be getting to read those novels soon. I've been waiting long enough! ;)

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  4. Hope you enjoy them, if you read them. I'll be interested in your thoughts. Hope your studying went well :-)

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    1. All in all, I think it's gone fairly well. :) (Although I'll have to wait until August to see if anyone agrees with me, at least as far as Thursday's exam went! ;)) It's nice to have finished, though - much as I've enjoyed many parts of this degree (James Joyce being a notable exception!), I feel I've really neglected other interests, especially in the last few months - so it's good to feel I have the opportunity to catch up now. If I can get hold of those novels, I'll certainly post up some thoughts about them. At the moment I have a bit of a book backlog - I've just started Hawk Quest by Robert Lyndon, which I got way back in February. Have you read that one at all?

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  5. Good luck!
    Yes, I've read Hawk Quest. I thought it was terrific. I'll be interested in your thoughts.

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  6. Thanks. :) Well, I finished Hawk Quest yesterday. From the reviews I was expecting a cracking read, but I wasn't prepared for just how compelling it was! I often had to make myself put it down. ;) I'll try to get a review up in the next few days. :)

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  7. Oh, I will look forward to your review! What did you think was the best bit? It's a hard-fought contest, but I think my vote would go to Greenland.

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    1. Too hard-fought a contest for me, really. :) I definitely have a preference for the journey that took place beyond Britain, though. I enjoyed the Greenland section a lot; but I wouldn't want to encounter those cliffs!

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    1. Or that! Hoping to get the review up tomorrow. :)

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