Customer Reviews

No Roads Lead to Rome

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Humor, wit, a considerable amount about Rome you never knew before, marvelous characters, antic humor and profound observations, No Roads Lead to Rome is a must read for this generation. I have not had the chance to read many authors who are this funny. It's hard to read aloud because the chuckles get in the way. The richness of this book is such that you will be arguing with friends about your favorite character. There are so many to love and hate and some with whom you cannot help but empathize even if their bizarre actions make you shake your head. They complicate their own lives in ways that are all too human. I understand there is a sequel to this book and it deserves several. This is a whole world teaming with manic motives and noble aspirations that mirror our present age with biting wit and a lot of heart. It's a great read.

I really wanted to like this book. The premise is strong: In the reign of Hadrian, an aging Roman warrior seeks an end to his army career; an uncaring and cantankerous governor of a Roman outpost takes control of his new post; a mysterious box contains a secret and politically explosive document. This self-published book was also attempting to take a novel approach to the sand-and-sandal epic by introducing a light and more humorous voice and approach.

Author R.S. Gompertz writing is, at times, very strong. He does a wonderful job with exposition, and his powers of description bely the fact that this is his first novel. An example as Centurion Valerius walks through the Roman province of Hispania: "The misty silhouettes of trees reached over the path like bony arms of death...The gray gloom infiltrated every wet breath that Valerius suck through his teeth." I truly enjoyed Gompertz' mood and scenery setting.

Where Gompertz fails is in the cohesiveness of the story, the dialogue and an ability to draw the reader into his characters. The story doesn't have the strong connective component from chapter to chapter, or as one transitions between scenes, that one finds in more polished work. The dialogue is stilted and I found myself re-reading conversations to try and get a comprehensive grasp of motivation and understand the base meaning of an exchange between characters (let alone trying to identify what deeper meaning there may have been).

In the end, I suspect the novel would move from a 2-star rating to a high 3 or 4 with some professional editing. Gompertz is a genuinely good writer and has a fine sense of humor. Those components alone aren't able to make up for a fractured and disconnected story.

I look forward to Gompertz securing a publishing contract and the services of a strong editor.

I thoroughly enjoyed the twists and turns in the road. Lots of pointed humor transgressing time and pointing to the futility of mankind and our abilities to constantly screw up and then do it again and again. Almost like the Myth of Sisyphus--the rock keeps rolling over the pusher and one wonders how and why they keep getting up. A new perspective on ancient history: the true beginning of civilization. I'm glad that there is a somewhat happy ending as I got quite close to the quirky characters.

I thought the problems of modern corporate culture were, well, modern, until R.S. Gompertz made me think again. He also made me chuckle, snicker, and even snort.

In No Roads Lead to Rome, he satirizes managerial incompetence, consultants run amok, staff corruption, failures to communicate, corporate double-speak, fuzzy mission statements, faulty goals, cost over-runs, and the art of passing the buck--or should I say passing the sesterce, the coin of the Roman realm?

It's 123 AD and Centurion Marcus Valerian is mere months away from completing twenty years of service to the Roman Empire. A veteran of African campaigns, he's been summoned to Hispania. But the provincial governor who sent for him is dead--and not from accident or old age.

At Hispania's helm is Festus Rufius, a man who's all about himself, and his advisor, Winus Minem, a consultant with the ethics of a vulture employed by a firm called Imperial Associates. Festus Rufius can't balance a budget or find his way around his own villa, but he's as crafty as the Borgias and sees that the road to success lies through another funeral--that of the Emperor Hadrian.

Will his plot succeed? Or will Marcus Valerian overcome all odds--including an astounding lack of ethics, honesty, and integrity-to save the emperor and the ideals that made him sign on to serve the Republic?

No Roads Lead to Rome won't make you love your cubicle or your boss, but it will make you grateful that you're not in the mountains of Hispania with your sandals full of snow and a pack of double-dealers plotting to make sure you don't live long enough to collect your pension. And it will make you laugh. A lot.

I am oftentimes reluctant to review books of the Roman Empire, since it is the same genre that I write. I also find that since I started writing Roman historical novels it has become very difficult for me to even read similar books, as I always seem to end up comparing the book I am reading to my own works. That being said, I was not only able to read `No Roads Lead to Rome', I was able to thoroughly enjoy it. I wasn't sure what to expect, so perhaps it helped that I went in with no expectations at all.

I found myself grimacing and trying not to laugh at the same time as our hapless Centurion Valerius goes on one misadventure after another, when really all he wants is to retire from the legions and be on his way. You want him to be able to `ride off into the sunset', but with the plethora of crises that seem to be commonplace in rural Hispania, this may never be possible. A simple errand from a cantankerous governor, who could really care less about the welfare of the peasant population, leads to one disaster after another. What surprised me though was the character of the governor, Festus Rufius. At the start of the book you despise him as a one-dimensional antagonist who is so annoying you just want to reach through the pages and punch him in the face. By the end you start to see things from his perspective and you almost become sympathetic towards him...notice I said "almost".

About the only error I found was when Valerius' second-in-command is mistakingly referred to as a 'sub-centurion' (the actual rank was Optio). Since this is not a book about the Roman Legions per se, this is really minor and does not affect the story at all.

All in all this was an entertaining story that kept my interest from beginning to end. If you are looking for an epic story about Roman warfare, this is not the book for you. However, if you are looking for an eclectic story full of wit and panache, told in a Roman setting, you will not be disappointed.

This book is well written with great use of language and detail that makes Rome and the characters pop from the page in vivid detail. The author subtly works in a great deal of humor that will make you laugh out loud as you read. Characters and plot quickly develop to reveal a thoughtful, entertaining story. I haven't been this entertained by a novel in quite sometime and recommend this book to all.

I enjoyed this book by R.S. Gompertz that struck me as a mix of modern day sociopolitical lampooning set during the classic days of the Roman empire. As I read the book I couldn't help think of A Confederacy of Dunces with it's colorful prose and humorous characters that are always a bit out of tune with the universe. A fun read and recommended for someone that wants a little Doonesbury and Diltert sprinkled on their Caesar.

No Roads Lead To Rome is clever and enchanting, full of wry wit and charming characters. Gompertz offers up one clever turn of phrase after another in telling his story set in an out-of-the-way corner of the Roman Empire in the second century A.D., but what kept me reading were the odd and interesting figures who people his tale.

Particularly engaging were the characters Valerius and Severus, detached centurion and his apparently hapless yet intelligent conscript. Their relationship develops as they travel together through Spain, across the Pyrenees into Gaul, and back again in service or in spite of multiple conflicting conspiracies. Yet Rufius, newly minted governor of recalcitrant Hispania provides his share of humor and pathos as he attempts to gain control of both his province and his truculent staff.

I found No Roads Lead To Road a pleasure, and recommend it without hesitation.

I thoroughly enjoyed this read, with its clever character sketches, vivid descriptions, and film-worthy action sequences. On a deeper level, I appreciated the parallels to the corporate politics of today, as well as to the socio-economic politics throughout history. Overall, it's a well-told story that tactfully highlights human weakness and reminds us how subjective the definition of "civilization" can be. I highly recommend this book to all--whether you're an analytical reader, or one who just wants a good laugh, or both!

Wit, Wisdom, and lighthearted humor prevail in this lively tale of a motley crew of Roman characters in the backwater of the empire. Politics have not changed a lick and nothing is certain but death and taxes as an old centurion (young by todays standards) tries to fulfill a rather obscure and changeable mission, with the help, or hindrance, of his young idealistic sidekick. The characters are lively, and I look forward to reading more of their adventures.