The Emperor's Games [Mass Market Paperback]

Damion Hunter (Author)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 369 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1st edition (January 12, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345298276
• ISBN-13: 978-0345298270
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #320,990 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The thrilling conclusion to the Centurion trilogy., July 26, 1999

By 

Linda A. Malcor (Lake Forest, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Emperor's Games (Mass Market Paperback)

This final book in the Centurion trilogy continues the high quality of research behind the first two books. Excellent details on life in the legions in ancient Rome. An absolute must-read. The works would make an excellent miniseries. At the very least, the novels should be reprinted.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brothers serve Rome, and survive Pompeii's death!, November 12, 1997

By 

Caius Fabius "caiusfabius" (Oklahoma United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Emperor's Games (Mass Market Paperback)

Respecting each others abilities, the brothers each serve the Emperor in their own way. One commands a marine unit fighting pirates, while the other becomes important to the son's of Vespasian. At the same time, these warriors have another battle, at home. Well written and one you'll read over and over.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wish there were more, but...., July 14, 2009

By 

T. R. Newcomb (California) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Emperor's Games (Mass Market Paperback)

The title 'The Emperor's Games' is a double-entendre referring both to the great games that open the novel and the central plot, which is driven by the Emperor Domitian's games of power. This, the third and final book in the Centurions cseries is both at once the most fascinating and the most frustrating. Fascinating in that it introduces some old friends from the first book and opens new windows into the brothers' lives and frustrating in that this was clearly not intended to be the conclusion of the series. However, for whatever reason, there were to be no books published after this one and therefore the ending is not satisfying. I believe this to be the main reason why 'The Emperor's Games' gets much lower ratings than the two previous volumes in the series. Of course, the fact that this one is so much harder to find and much more expensive plays a role as well!

Corrues and Flavius (the two sons of retired Roman general Appius Julianus) have risen to fairly senior positions in the Roman Eagles by this time - Flavius is one of Emperor Titus' most trusted aides and Correus is a senior centurion, commanding an entire Roman fleet. Correus has also married his little British princess Ygerna (from Book Two) by this time and one of the early subplots of the book is the struggle between Ygerna and Correus' half-sister Julia (who served as surrogate mother to Correus' son when his real mother Freita was murdered) for Felix' affections.

However, the brothers fall afoul of a corrupt and ambitious Roman senator Marius Vettius, who sets out to destroy the Julianus family. Although Appius himself is too wary and careful to fall into danger, the senator manages to threaten everyone else in the family, especially after Titus' unexpected death and the succession of his brother Domitian. There is also a fascinating subplot between the widow of the German war-leader Nyall Sigmundson (from Book One) and Flavius himself. Several familiar characters from the first book also re-appear.

The book follows the same format as the earlier volumes, as author Amanda Cockrell is an interested and highly sympathetic observer both of the Romans and of their German adversaries. As in the earlier books, she writes well and manages to draw compelling portraits of virtually all her characters. Even though the Romans are clearly the heroes of the tale, the Germans are presented in an favorable light.

The biggest complaint with this book is that it does not end with any sort of resolution for any of the major characters. there are some sub-plots (particularly with the German war-leader Ranvig) left unresolved and none of the main characters are brought to any kind of conclusion. This leaves the reader with a faintly sour taste as it is obvious there will not be any more volumes in this series and yet the characters are all left hanging. One wonders what happened to kill the series, as it was plainly a decision that was made after the book was written, as otherwise Cockrell would have brought more conclusion to the characters - she is too good a writer to do otherwise. However, there is nothing wrong with the story, and the writing maintains the same tone and level of the previous two volumes in the series.

Fans of the series should definitely read this book, as it furthers the character development of virtually all the main characters. However, be prepared for the frustration of ending this book while not knowing what happens next.