Customer Reviews

Eagle's Prophecy

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Scarrow's sixth novel featuring the adventures of the grizzled centurion Macro and his able sidekick Cato takes them out of their comfort zone of the Augusta II in Britannia and plonks them in Rome. It was only a matter of time before we saw how Scarrow would deal with Rome and he neatly avoids it by having a quick trip to the races where their remaining monies are lost in a cloud of crash dust one hundred feet from the finish line and describing a squalid room in the the Subaran district. Other than a final visit to the imperial palace to see Narcissus, Scarrow avoids the place entirely.

It's a few months after the heroic efforts of `The Eagle's Prey'. Macro and Cato finds themselves penniless, out of commission and still under an execution order unless they obey Narcissus and lead a covert operation off the Ravenna coastline to recover three missing scrolls of immense value to the Empire that have been stolen by a group of pirates lead by the Greek, Telemachus and his son, Ajax. Thrown into the mix is the ever unctuous and viperish Vitellius, who has been appointed Prefect of the Fleet. The immediate antagonism followed by military ineptitude in a battle at sea results in a heavy loss for the Roman fleet and Vitellius' attempt to blame Cato in official dispatches. Cato's rewriting of the dispatch results in Vespasian's arrival on the scene to direct a proper assault on the pirate's lair, ensuring Cato and Macro are firmly thrust to the fore as the leaders and saviours of the Delphic scrolls.

During the course of the novel the scheming Vitellius somehow manages to land on his feet (and presumably Scarrow will eventually have him meet his historical destiny come A.D 69), Macro finds his long lost mother and also the marine that stole her away from his father (there's a nasty oedipan twist at the end) and Cato continues to mature into a fine leader of men. The paternal relationship between the two characters perfectly suits the rough and ready nature of Macro to his intellectual junior and as a pair they are formidable indeed.

This latest effort by Scarrow shows just how far his writing has come. His novels have gradually gained more and more bulk, substance of character, action and plotline. Action sequences are longer, more descriptive and thus possess more reality to them. Our two main characters have grown with Scarrow and possess immense likeability, his plotlines are clean and crisp and, above all, gripping. Reviews of his earlier novels complained about historical naivity and factual inaccuracy but that doesn't matter with Scarrow (unlike Iggulden). These novels are quite simply superb.

Read them.

This book is a very enjoyable read, but not quite as good as some of the others in the "Eagle" series, which are some of my absolute favorite books. The action is, as always, very well described, and the plot moves along well. There are a number of convenient coincidences in the plot that make it a little less believable than most of the previous novels. Nevertheless, I highly recommend the book and will eagerly read the next installment.

Scarrow has turned in another solid work. While not as good as some of his other Macro and Cato adventures, this one packs a fair amount of intrigue, action, and harrowing escapes.

Scarrow seems to stretch at points, having characters do things that seem to contradict expectations, but overall has delivered a fun story. The focus is on Cato for most of the story, with Vespasian figuring prominently later in the book. I recommend it as a quick summer read.

I read this one because I like adventure and because I know that a lot of folks are keen on the Roman thing though I'm not myself. Still, I wanted to see what all the excitement is about. Rome never seemed like anything but history's heavy, to me, and I wanted to understand why it exerts such a hypnotic pull on so many readers. After following Scarrow's two centurions, Macro the brawler and his clever but inexperienced young pal, Cato, I am still left wondering. The story takes our heroes from a rundown tenement in Rome, where they are camped out as they await a new assignment, to Ravenna and the Adriatic fleet in pursuit of pirates who have scored a valued prize which our heroes' secret sponsor and, possibly, nemesis wants back at all costs. The two down-on-their-luck centurions find themselves under a possible death sentence with the only way out being to redeem themselves by serving their "patron's" imperial purposes.

Following Macro and Cato we get a close up look of what it might have been like to have been a Roman soldier though it seems awfully like what it might be like to be a British one, given the many Britishisms that infect their speech. Less endearing is the sometimes comic bickering of our two heroes who seem as much like an old married couple at times as they do a couple of pals. On the road to Ravenna, Mac and Cat stumble into a bit of trouble when another of their old nemeses shows up as their superior on their special mission and they rescue a merchant who appears in dire need of succor. By the time they hit Ravenna they're ready for anything and they soon get it as they take over as officers of the Roman marines. Scarrow gives a very nice look at what the Roman navy might have been like and the somewhat drawn out struggle with the pirates is well done. But I found it hard to feel any affinity for these Romans who torture and slaughter their enemies and enslave or crucify the survivors. Even the finer sensibility of young Cato does little to mitigate the sense that we are reading about the bad guys, not the good guys. Indeed, I felt more sympathy for the pirates, only sparingly portrayed, than for the Romans assaulting them.

Still, the book was a relatively easy read and moves along at a nice clip. If you like fiction about imperial Rome this one will probably please you. It just wasn't my cup of well watered wine.

SWM

author of The King of Vinland's Saga

If you enjoyed the previous titles in this running series you won't be disappointed here. Cato and Macro are re-united with their nemesis Vitellius who is once again out for self fullfillment. Unlike the books in the earlier parts of the series Cato and Macro take to the sea to battle a pirate fleet that has been crippling the trade routes that keep the Roman Empire running. Cato and Macro are put under the leadership of Vitellius and are ordered to eliminate the pirate threat. However eliminating the pirate threat is only a cover up for what their real mission is. As usual Cato and Macro will be thrown into situations of impossible odds making it rather difficult to put the book down. A must read if your a fan of the running series.

I have read all of mr. Scarrow's books, and maybe the last two from the series (The Eagle in the Sand and this one) are the best so far, even though I enjoyed them all. Maybe it's because the plot is not taking place in Britain, as usual, but maybe it's just because you simply have to like Macro and Cato more and more with each new book.

Some critics have said that mr. Scarrow's books have plots like comic books because of the non stop action, but I have to disagree. His books are thoroughly researched, and characters of Macro, Cato, Vespasian etc. are not two dimensional, but are gaining in depth in each sequel.

Besides, along with first rate action, one can see how mr. Scarrow compares politics of Ancient Rome with politics of today's world, and how he tries to make us understand not only moral values of the time, but pros and cons of an expansionist policy of a Roman Empire as well.

If you like novels about ancient Rome run and buy this book. You'll not be able to put it down till you're finished.

Macro and Cato are back at it, having survived the Celts in Briton they've returned to Rome for reassignment. Rather than being assigned to a legion however, Narcissus (knowing what was to happen to Cato) calls the boys in to work on a special task for Rome (to "forgive" their transgressions against Rome); with Vitellius (you can read about Vitellius in Under the Eagle: A Tale of Military Adventure and Reckless Heroism with the Roman Legions). It seems there's some scrolls that predict the future of Rome and her emperors that's in the hands of some pirates and Narcissus needs a couple of centurions he can trust (or are desperate) to recover the scrolls.

This is a good one. Mr. Scarrow seems to have raised his game with Macro and Cato joining the Marines and fighting pirates. While the marines aren't as good as legionnaires (just ask Macro) this is a solid story with a good mixture of political intrigue and action. As seems to be the case with Vitellius, he's in things for himself; preparing to sell Macro and Cato or even Rome to the pirates for his greater glory. Mixing this with the intrigue Narcissus breeds makes for a good read on political intrigue alone. When we add the action that Macro and Cato seem to breed (btw water doesn't slow them down) you have an excellent read before you. While neither of the boys are experienced at sea, each of them commands a ship (interesting that land officers are given command of a ship, tells you about the expected fighting style) and as expected Cato picks up naval tactics quite well while Macro leads by example. The pirates are a nice vehicle for the story, enabling Mr. Scarrow to set his story differently than he has in the past. This difference refreshes the storyline, showing us that Macro and Cato have grown off of each other and become better officers because the two recognize that they're better together. For me this could be the best in the series to date. I'm very impressed with Mr. Scarrow's take on Roman naval actions agrees with my readings and when you merge that with Macro and Cato's normal abilities in combat, it makes for a great read. Call this one 5 stars.

I really enjoyed this book. Macro and Cato are waiting for a commission together in the Subura section of Rome. My husband loved this book because of the "Pirates"~they capture Mark Antony's secret box and the scrolls inside it~well, I don't want to give anything away! Rose

Fantastic addition to the series. A must read for all Cornwell, O'Brien, Whyte, and other historical fiction fans.

Other great book of Simon Scarrow about our friend Macro and Cato. I really enjoy with the clearly description about enviromente surrounding Macro and Cato. It looks like yourself would be into the novel. Magnificiente writing style by Scarrow.