Customer Reviews

Soldier of Rome: The Legionary: A novel of the Twentieth Legion during the campaigns of Germanicus Caesar

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Unfortunately, I don't think people realize that Mr. Mace had this book edited and re-released because Amazon lumps the reviews of both editions together (even though they have different ISBN numbers). I've read both editions of "The Legionary." And while most of the criticisms regarding the spelling and grammar of the first edition are valid, it did not take away from my enjoyment of the book. Reading the second edition I saw that the author took the previous reviews to heart because the grammatical and spelling issues from before have been corrected. Even though the first edition has been discontinued, it still seems to be available. The ISBN for the revised version is 978-1-4401-0026-0.

As for the story itself, I really enjoyed it. One flaw that I often see in historical novels is the author will try and place 21st century morals on the characters, which takes away from the realism. James Mace avoids this, trying to make his characters as believable as possible for the time. Yes, there are some phrases that might be considered "modern," though I did not see it that way. In fact, I think he strikes a great balance between having his characters speak in a way that is not so dry, that the audience can relate to, while at the same time keeping things authentic. I later researched the campaigns of Germanicus and found that this story keeps very true to the facts.

One note: The violence in this book is extremely graphic and the story is laced with profanity, with some gratuitous sex thrown in. So this is definitely not something for younger readers.

Most contemporary Roman historical fiction deals with the famous (and sometimes infamous) figures at the top of the hierarchy of ancient Rome: Caesar, Cicero, Augustus, etc.... In " Soldier of Rome " Mr. Mace gives us a realistic glimpse into what it must have been like to train, camp and fight alongside some of historys' most respected soldiers. I have read much about the ancient Roman military and find a great wealth of fascinating tactical detail that other authors have neglected. Some readers have been off-put by the poor editing, but you shouldn't let the errors detract from what is a gritty, realistic look at the units, training, fighting techniques and tactic of the Roman military machine.

"Soldier of Rome: The Legionary" has its moments. The author, James Mace, is able to keep the story of a young Roman soldier involved in wars on the Empire's northwest frontier moving along at a good pace. The book's greatest strength is the detailed information it provides about the Roman legions--their organization, methods of fighting, weapons, etc. Beyond that, there is little credible information about how Romans or anyone else in the period actually lived, day to day. There are also times when the story's dialogue could be dropped into the context of the Iraq war with few edits. And speaking of edits, this new novelist was badly served by his editors who did little more than run the text through spellcheck, from what I can see. There are repeated spelling mistakes as well as bizarre misuse of language--"...it would feel better later to have a spot of whine and perhaps get his hands on a tasty wench." This was written in all seriousness.

If you are into blood and gore and unending discussions of swords and other weapons, you will no doubt overlook the book's very numerous and obvious faults. If you are looking for more history and cleaner writing, this one isn't for you

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This is the best book that I have ever read about the legions of Rome. The story of a legionary, followed through his training and his participation in actual battles, was very authentic. I am a Roman Historian and most books follow the Generals..... this follows the followers.... I would highly recommend it.

for the last few years I have been more and more interested in stories about ancient Rome and especially the Roman Legions. I am so glad I discovered this series by James Mace, it is incredibly good in its research and you can easily see he is a stickler for detail. I have learned a lot about Roman life and the action sequences are to say the least breathtaking. I have read all of the series so far and can't wait for the next one.

Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. Mr. Mace captures the tough soldier's life down to the smallest detail. Whether you were a Legionary from 2000 years ago or a modern infantryman,some things never change.Having read a great deal of fictional history from Simon Scarrow to Bernard Cornwell,this novel and the follow-ons have matched up well. Few authors can capture the details of military life,whether in combat or back in garrison. Mr. Mace shows us both in excellent detail. After finishing the book, I looked forward to the next one and was not disappointed. I highly recommed it to anyone who enjoys Roman military history even fictionalized history. Sometimes the humor and language can get "gritty", but that's how soldiers are.....2000 years ago or today. Highly recommended!

Perhaps Mr. Mace should have purchased the editorial package from this vanity press publisher, or at least the services of his high school english teacher. If your spelling and grammar skills are equal to those of current U.S. high school graduates then this book won't bother you, but for me the errors were very distracting and annoying. I am equally discouraged by those reviewers who complain about spelling and grammar but have errors in their own reviews.

Hopefully Mr. Mace will take greater care in his next installment to have someone do a better job of proofreading or perhaps take a few remedial language classes for his own betterment. Bad spelling and grammar in a book is like trying to watch a movie where the image keeps going blank and the sound goes out intermittently.

The author has clearly researched his Roman military history, but tends to present it less artfully than a skilled novelist would. The idioms and phrasing from the mouths of the characters are gratingly anachronistic; the book sometimes reads more like a "B" movie script about a World War II platoon of Americans than about Roman Legionaries.

But what really irritates the reader is the distractingly poor quality of the editing--there is misspelling and incorrect punctionation on virtually every page, it seems. One deduces that the book was orally dictated to software with defective OCR, because of the frequent use of the wrong word as to spelling, although sounding to the ear like the right word (e.g., "sight" instead of "site," or "hoard" instead of "horde"). In short, this book is recommended for readers who are willing to tolerate a mediocre literary product in order to learn more about ancient military history.

Flooded with bad grammar, cliches (e.g., "To effectively rule (ugh) an Empire required an Emperor"), incorrect word usage and just plain bad writing, this book also includes word for word phrase repetitions just sentences apart, (e.g., page 8: 'he...found some stray branches with which to pull himself out" followed by "he...found some stray branches with which to pull himself out" all of two sentences later). Throw in historical errors (e.g., page 23: "no one could remember a time when a single Eagle had been taken". Several eagle standards had been taken by the Parthians at Carrhae in 53 BC, sixty-two years earlier). Add innumerable spelling errors (board sighs, reigns of power, waiving of swords, pouring over maps, etc. ad nauseam) and you have a thoroughly unreadable mess.
To round out his insults to his readers, in his Acknowledgements, the author indulges in self-congratulatory sentiments and thanks God for granting him "the gift, my ability to write". God willing, no more books from Mr. Mace.

Anyone interested in the Roman Legion told from a legionaries point of view should purchase this book. The author does a great job of developing the main character from the time of his recruitment, training, and eventually his first battle. The battle scene in the Teutoburg Wald was intense and well written. I almost felt as if i were actually there.

I have read many books on Roman Army tactics, equipment, and formations. The author does a great job including this into his battle scenes.

The only information I knew of this time period was from History books. Mace cleverly fills in the details throughout the story. Roman Army buffs will find this book easy to read and very interesting.

I look forward to reading the second book in the series "Sacrovir Revolt".