Customer Reviews

Trajan: Lion of Rome, the Untold Story of Rome's Greatest Emperor

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

 

 

Wildfeuer is a great historian and obviously knows his subject well. He is a horrible writer. His characterizations are all wooden and static, his plot is little developed beyond the original source documents he pulls the history from, even the scene creation is clumsy and amateur. The book reads as if it is written on a high-school level of creative writing skill, not that of someone who has studied this period and this person for so many years. With an average chapter length of only a few pages, it does little to really dig in depth into the character of Trajan, his motivations, beliefs, and personality. It feels stilted and awkward.

I will grant that Wildfeuer uses Latin well in the story, and certainly understands his time and place in the Roman world. But his very shaky writing skills do little to suck you into the life of this very interesting emperor, (known as one of the so-called "five good emperors"). If anything, you are so distracted by how poorly written it is, it's hard to keep on task with the things he does well in the book.

I was so disappointed, I regret paying the amount I did for it. Personally I don't even want to keep the book, but loath subjecting anyone else to it.

Dear me !!! If someone was paid to edit this tome then the author should demand a refund immediately . Appalling and glaring mistakes both in sentence structure and spelling abound.The writing is cliche riddled and even if acceptable seems directed to a young teen audience rather than an adult lover of historical fiction . Pity really because the premise of the book is interesting but is a premise badly served by the author - so badly that very soon the book becomes tedious and one arrives at the conclusion that life is too short to persist with yet another bad book

The book is not exactly user friendly but give it a go if you enjoy history and don't need it spoon fed in McCullough or Scarrow rapturous story. I agree with some of the critical comments that the writing does seem static, not well developed, and initially appeared to be geared to a more juvenile (high school) audience. This is perhaps because the author decided not to deviate to much from the historical record. This hurt the book's character development. I was so dissapointed in the first 70 pages that I decided to read the reviews. Some reviews crucified Wildfeuer and some positive reviewers must of read the wrong book. The book is clearly not a 1 star but it ain't no 5 star either. In any event, I decided to plod thru it anyway since I paid for the hardcover. To my surprise, I think the writing got better. I did find it interesting after about page 100 and the maps were helpful and appreciated. It reads like a good history book but not a swashbuckling Scarrow read or an intricately written character driven book like McCullough writes. If you are expecting that then you will be dissapointed. However, if you like the historical period, then I think its possible to enjoy the book. I started out hating it but liked the book in the end. Thus the 3 star rating.

The time of Rome has been viewed with much nostalgia, but it was not without conflict. "Trajan: Lion of Rome" is a historical novel following the fictional Roman Emperor Trajan and the challenges he faces upon taking the throne. Barbarians threaten his empire, and the Parthians want to claim Rome as their own; an exciting story unfolds using classical Rome as a living, breathing setting. Classical historical fiction fans will relish "Trajan".

Wildfeuer breathes life into this historically-based account of the life and times of one of Rome's most underrated rulers, in Trajan- Lion of Rome. Its fast moving pace and exciting battle accounts keep the reader turning pages. In the mean time, Wildfeuer adds fictional dialog and human interaction to the characters, deftly developing the characters without sacrificing the historical accuracy. The book covers a lot of ground - literally, and therefore I was very pleased to see that a mini-atlas is included so I could keep up with the place names. An included glossary comes in handy on occasion as well. A must-read for any fan of historical fiction, and a pleasant and entertaining read for anyone at all.

I love history and a good story, so this book worked really well for me. I'm also a bit of a war buff, which only added to the experience. But if even one of these descriptions applies to you, you'll enjoy reading this book. I read it in both short spurts (5-10 pages at a time) and longer ones (50+ pages in a sitting) and found that it worked well both ways. I was always able to pick up right where I left off as if I hadn't left off at all. It will definitely keep your interest. An additional feature that I found a nice touch was the way the author mixed in some Latin phrases (with English translations) to set the mood. Highly recommended.

i have bought hundreds of items from Amazon and have never felt the need to review a product, until now. This thing is obviously self published and was never edited. The grammatical errors are jarring. Almost as bad as the poor flow and in-cohesive plot. The author does himself a diservice by having friends and family load amazon with good reviews. He probably does know his Roman history and should have hired a editor/writer.

This book gave me a better understanding of how the emperors came to be and how the military worked and who they aligned themselves with. I really felt like I was there.

Trajan - Lion of Rome

What a fantastic and marvelous book. It is very exciting to follow the storyline with its many twists truly reflecting the life of the great Roman Emperor Trajan.
When reading this book I always felt I was 100 % inside the action of this story about war, intrigues and the Roman empire itself.
I also appreciated very much the excellent maps, glossary and the superb idea cast of characters.
It was a great joy to read this book.

If you like historical fiction, you'll love this one. The author must have done a great deal of research, and the maps were excellent. It was a fast read, and kept me turning the pages. I enjoyed Trajan the boy and Trajan the man. The use of detailed letters between two characters was an interesting method of moving the plot forward.