Customer Reviews

Winter Quarters

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

 

 

As a big fan of historical fiction, particularly that which deals with Rome, I constantly see this book pop up at me on Amazon due to many of the purchases I have made in the past. After a year I succumbed to Amazon's marketing acumen and purchased the darn thing, mostly because it seemed like I had read every other piece of historical fiction dealing with the Roman legions that I could find. I put off purchasing this book for two reasons. One was that it was written quite a while back and the other is that it dealt with two Gauls and not with the legions themselves.

I suspect many of you reading this are looking at this book for much the same reason as I have, so let me assure you that this is a truly good book and I enjoyed it. It was historically immersive, culturally accurate, and you get to tromp through ancient Rome environs, from Gaul to Scythia, with protagonists who are interesting, believable, and who tell a fascinating story. This was a winner and a fine addition to my collection and I recommend it. I will certainly be purchasing more novels from this author; it will help with the waiting for the next Simon Scarrow installment! For those interested in more great fiction books dealing with Rome and her legions I have compiled a listmania list, but I am not sure how you navigate to it. Good luck, and good reading.

My first encounter with Duggan was the purchase of a used copy of the novel "Family Favourites", which is about the Roman Emperor Elgalabulus. It was so good that I could not wait to read his other works. Recently, Winter Quarters and another novel, Three's Company, have come back into print. Apparently, many of his novels will be reprinted over the next few years. (You can check Amazon's UK website for details) I purchased both and read Winter Quarters first. The book description above is fairly accurate. The story involves two Gauls, Acco and Camul, who join up with Ceasar's legions after they are forced to leave home due to a confrontation with "The Goddess". The story is told from Camul's point of view. The story opens with Camul on a Parthian border outpost. He then tells another warrior his tale, hence the story of Winter Quarters. Camul and Acco wind up attached to Crassus's son and wind up joining him on his invasion of Parthia. I look forward to reading Duggan's other novels. If you enjoy reading ancient historical fiction, I highly recommend Duggan.

Winter Quarters tells a familiar tale from an unfamiliar point of view. With so much research and interpretations of late-Republic Rome, this book recalls the Rome of Caesar, Pompeius, and Crassus, from the point of view of minor noble Gauls Acco and Camul. In their home village, Acco's love Grane is mauled to death by a bear in the woods, and Acco then kills the bear. From the warning of an old woman who witnessed it, he believes "The Goddess", whose name is almost never used, has cursed him for slaying her bear.

To avoid her wrath, Acco and Camul go to join the Romans, with whom their tribe is at peace with, and join Caesar on his campaign against the other tribes. From there, they join Publius Licinius Crassus, and his father Marcus's campaign east to attack the Parthians.

The text is very plain and humble, without Pressfield-esque literary richness, or McCullough-esque description of politics, people, and history. The narrator, Camul, is very optimistic, relatively untouched by traumas of hard marches and fierce battles, with only honor and pride in his head and heart.

Despite this lack of lush writing or historical density, the book is far from dry, as the story holds enough interest to keep one reading through all its 234 pages, from the distant Gallic tribe bordering Iberia they come from, to the deserts of Syria and the battlefield of Carrhae, and to the barren Sea of Grass in the middle of Asia, where the narrator's story ends.

Not a phenom of a novel, but an entertaining read.

Ancient Rome is a very popular subject for fans of historical fiction. Witness the recent efforts by Conn Iggulden, Simon Scarrow and Michael Curtis Ford, to name a few, none of which are all that great, but all of which apparently sold pretty well. Lately, publishers have been looking to the past for something to reprint, such as Wallace Breem's Eagle in the Snow, and now this one, Winter Quarters. Neither of these are all that hot either.

In Winter Quarters the twist is that the story is narrated by a Gaul. He joins the Roman army--at the time occupying his country--so that he can accompany a friend of his who is told to take a hike after offending a local earth goddess. They are taken under the wing of the scion of one of the Roman triumvirate, and subsequently get to visit Rome, Greece, and Syria before taking part in the historical, ill-fated campaign against Parthia in 54 B. C.

It would seem to have all the ingredients but unfortunately the narration reads like a travelogue and the narrator is vanilla-bland with little style or wit. In his novels, Steven Pressfield has exhibited a problem with narration as well, but at least with him you get an almost encyclopaedic knowledge of ancient warfare and customs. With Mr. Duggan, you don't even get that.

But it is not without some good stuff. The narrator and his friend have a fervent interest in religion so we get a lot of discussion about religious practices, rites and temples in the areas through which they travel. They even make a stop in Jerusalem and get to comment about that as well, remarking quizzically about the, "one God" of the Jews, and how jealous he is of other gods. Of interest is the fact that they take these religions on their own terms, never belittling or even questioning them in light of their own strongly held beliefs.

Nothing much really happens plotwise, though. There's a minor adventure with the daughter of a family that befriends them and how she becomes a priestess in some kind of a debauched temple, but this is not nearly intriguing as it could have been. Early on there is a skirmish with a German tribe and the narrator feels a little ashamed that he and his mates are given the task of wiping out the women and children, a task they perform with relish. This also blows by in a hurry with little detail or commentary.

Finally there is the great battle against the Parthians which the novel has been foreshadowing with a sense of doom throughout, and sure enough, the Romans take a thrashing. But again, there is little of the gritty detail and observation that great historical fiction exhibits. In McCarthy's Blood Meridian, the hero, dazed in the midst of a cavalry charge, notes a pony darting by, snapping at him with its teeth. In Pressfield's Last of the Amazons, the hero jams his shield against the stony ground and huddles behind it, fearfully enduring the arrows and stones being flung against it. These are the kind of exhilarating, exciting, heart-pounding moments historical fiction aficionados yearn for, but here, they barely exist. Our guy charges into the Parthian horse, he watches his friend and his leader get killed, he manages to break through the line, and he runs like the dickens back to his own line. There's not much more to it than that.

Which brings up kind of a weird subplot going on in here, too, having to do with the narrator's lack of fortitude. In nearly every engagement in which he participates, he routinely takes the easy way out. For example, after fleeing ignominiously at the last battle, he states, "I served the Romans for pay and I thought our charge had been enough." It is not clear what the author is trying to show by this. Is it supposed to be a comment on Gallic honor? Or on Roman mercenaries? Or is it on the narrator individually? It's hard to tell and isn't explored enough to know one way or the other.

This is not a bad book. It moves along pretty well and there is a little depth, anyway. But if great historical fiction can be defined as having great characters, a great plot, and great detail, this one is thoroughly average in all three respects.

War is business. It's a basic theme to Alfred Duggan's epic tale called "Winter Quarters." I had been looking for a shorter book to read in the interim before I moved onto something longer, and I came across Alfred Duggan, and this book came in highly recommended, and it was the perfect length, so how could I resist? Well, temptation is the hand of the devil, and I must say that I was extremely impressed!

Taking place during the time of Caesar, Caesar is waring in Gaul, and soon moving eastwards towards the Germanic tribe area. However, our story is not about Caesar, but of 2 Gaul nobels, Camul and Acco. On one particular day, Acco was off hunting when Camul saw him running down the mountain in a terrible freight! Acco had killed the bear of the goddess Pyrene! After talk amongst the nobels and family, it is decided that Camul is going to leave and join the Roman army, and Acco will follow. They will leave their home while the wrath of the goddess dies down, before returning.

Over the next few years, we read about how Camul and Acco join up with Caesar, the cavarly, and eventually move into "The City," aka Rome. Through their eyes, we see how roman lifestyle was like, the desire for blood, but only blood that was well deserved. And how the romans went to war not so much to defend themselves, but more because it was business. They simply invaded a country which was not hostile, because it would better suite roman needs.

We see how Camul and Acco travel from Rome, out to the Middle East, through Saudi Arabia, and Jerusalem. They give an incredible retelling of what life was like all across their journeys.

Winter Quarters was a fantastic book. One of the points which captured me first, was how the book opened at "present times," and one evening Camul has his friend write down his telling of how he came to be where he was. I really felt what life was like during these times, and the pain and pleasures that these men went through, and experienced during their odyssey. We see how their cultures are different, how politics are played, and how the Gaul lifestyle is much older, than the new roman ways.

I plan on continuing reading Alfred Duggan's novels, and I would recommend this book for people who enjoy historical fiction, and need something light. This book is not very deep, or difficult to read. Enjoy!

I won't reiterate other reviews here. Just comment that this is a soundly researched, well-written piece of history that starts with Caesar's Army in Gaul and ends with the annihilation of Crassus' legions by the Parthians in one of the great military disasters of the early Roman Empire.

Alfred Duggan is an author with a deserved high reputation. This book will keep your attention.

This was a fine and accurate depiction of the Roman army. This Latin teacher recommends it highly.

This is a novel that should be very engaging from both an historical and a character perspective. It details the lives of two Gauls serving in the Roman army who end up among the captured legionaries serving the Parthians after Cassius' defeat. Unfortunately, it is merely an extended set of episodes, not a unified narrative. The characters and context are likewise thoroughly undeveloped--no immersion at all in the world of Gauls, Romans, or Parthians. The novel is equally disappointing from a military perspective--no rich descriptive material on tactics or events. The book feels like an outline for something much, much richer, but as it stands is merely an uninspired exercise.

Nothing like reading a very dull book about an imaginary looser. This writer seems to write a lot about nothing. The subject is dull. The story doesn't ever go anywhere.

I will mark this author and never buy another book by him.