Wolf's Gold, Anthony Riches

Publishers: Hodder & Stoughton

Pages: 371

Main Characters:

Marcus, Julius, Felicia

Wolf’s Gold is the fifth book in Anthony Riches's action packed Empire series. In his latest book, Riches takes our hero Centurion Marcus Corvus and his Tungrians away from their recent victory in Germania to the far reaches of the Empire. Their destination is Dacia on the north-eastern edge of the Empire, and their job is to protect an important gold mine that supplies the Imperial Treasury with tonnes of gold every day! The mine has come under threat from the Sarmatians, a rebellious tribe that lives in the area. The Sarmatians are a war-like people who are feared for their skills in archery and for the poisoned arrows they use against their enemies.

However, as Marcus and his fellow officers find out, the rebellion is not as straightforward as it seems, as the King of the Sarmatian horde, Asander is not as hostile to Rome as is first thought. However, he is a puppet for his hot headed brother-in-law Inarmaz, who is violently opposed to Roman rule in Dacia. Marcus and his Tribune, Scaurus work hard to have Inarmaz removed as a threat from the Sarmatian army. However, they soon find out that the temptation of gold is not easily quenched, as traitors from within their own ranks plot to seize the gold mine and steal all of the Emperor’s gold, whilst setting their old comrades up to face a severe fight. The likes of which they haven’t seen since Germania.

This was another great edition to Riches’s Empire series. I liked the fact that the Tungrians were taken to another part of the Empire to fight new and interesting allies. I also liked the fact that Marcus’s storyline is built on in this book, as he debates with himself if he should return to Rome to avenge his family’s murder, or just try and move on with his new wife and son.  It gives some insight to where the series is going to go in the next few books, which got me really excited to read the next novel!

I’d suggest this book to anyone who is a fan of other ‘Roman’ novels and authors such as Ben Kane, Simon Scarrow, Conn Iggulden and Gordon Doherty. As a series, I’d highly suggest it to anyone who wants to get into Roman historical-fiction as it is a great series packed full of action, battles and great characters!

For author’s website click here.

The Leopard Sword, Anthony Riches

Publishers: Hodder

Pages: 400

Main Characters:

Marcus, Julius, Obduro

  

The Leopard Sword is the fourth book in Anthony Riches' Empire series and sees our Centurion Marcus Corvus and the Tungrian cohorts fighting bandits on the German frontier. What at first seems like an easy task of removing a few bandits from the towns of the Roman frontier, soon becomes an all-out war between the Roman forces and the band of vicious rebels under the rule of Obduro.  Obduro holds an immense amount of power over the Roman town of Tungrorum, finding information on the new cohorts posted there and even digging into Marcus’s past, the past which he believed he’d left in Britannia. Marcus and the Tungrians must bring Obduro to heel and re-establish Roman dominance in the area. But this will not be an easy task. Obduro’s stronghold is in the forest of Arduenna, (where he believes he is protected by the Goddess of the forest as he pays her sacrifice with human blood) and is formidable, needing a full Legion to conquer it. Along with the Goddess’ protection, Obduro has an immensely powerful sword which has been known to slice men in two and which he believes will never be beaten by another sword. The task to remove this threat will be difficult for Marcus and the Tungrians.

Meanwhile Centurion Julius has his own personal problem. After returning to Tungrorum (the place he grew up) from Britain, he finds that the love of his life Annia is been held and exploited by one of the town’s most powerful and violent gang leaders, Petrus. Julius must rescue Annia from the wrath of Petrus if he ever wants to re-kindle the love they shared over fifteen years ago. But with the whole of his gangs muscle behind Petrus, it will take brains as well as brawn for Julius to get her back.

If I’m been honest I didn’t mean to read this book! It was only by coincidence that I was searching through ‘the store’ on my Kobo and realised this book had been released that day! I thought that since I had only reviewed the third book in the series the Fortress of Spears a few days ago, (and that it got a pretty good response from you guys) that I should review this one straight away. And as usual I’m glad I did read this book because Riches does another great job!

Like its predecessor the book is extremely fast-paced. From the first page you're in the middle of a battle and introduced to the cunning and devious villain Obduro. The mystery behind who Obduro is also makes this book a brilliant read. His face is always hidden behind a cavalry helmet so you don’t find out who he is till the end, and when he is finally revealed it is quite unbelievable!

The thing I also like about Riches’ style of writing is that in each book he introduces us to the sub-stories of other characters in the series. In the last book its sub-stories were focused on Prince Martos and Dubnus. In this story it is focused on Julius and his life before the legion. I think this only adds to the book because it means as a reader you get to know some of the smaller characters in the plot, instead of it just always been about Marcus!

Great book can’t wait for the next one! Like I said in my review of the Fortress of Spears, I would suggest this book to anyone who is a fan of Simon Scarrow, Conn Iggulden or Ben Kane.

For author’s official website please click here

P.S. Don’t forget to check out my FREE ‘Book of the Month’ Competition, it starts tomorrow! Click here for further details.

Fortress of Spears, Anthony Riches

Publishers: Hodder

Pages: 340

Main Characters:

Marcus, Dubnus, Felicia,

Fortress of Spears is the third book in Anthony Riches Empire series. Set around AD 182 it follows the life of Centurion Marcus Aquila, better known to his friends as Corvus. Marcus is a fugitive from the Roman state. His father was wrongly accused of treason and executed by the Imperial palace. To save Marcus’s life he was sent to the province of Britannia at the borders of the Empire where he serves as an auxiliary Centurion. This book sees Marcus’s century return to the battle against the British rebel Calgus. After defeating Calgus’s forces after the bloody battle of Lost Eagle, Marcus’s cohort is sent further north into hostile territory with his ally Prince Martos. Their aim is to liberate the Prince’s capital Dinpaladyr (or in Latin the fortress of a thousand spear shafts) from his sworn enemies the Selgovae.

Meanwhile and unbeknown to Marcus, a group of assassins has been sent from Rome to find him. These assassins are lead by the ruthless Praetorian Centurion Quintus Sestius Rapax and his cunning partner Centurion Tiberius Varius Excingus. These two Centurions will stop at nothing to find their prey, even kidnapping Marcus’s fiancée Felicia as bait to draw Marcus into their trap. Has Marcus’s past finally caught up with him? And will he feel the wrath of the Imperial palace.

I have really enjoyed this series so far. The books are really fast paced as the campaign in Northern Britain becomes fiercer and bloodier! The sub-plot of Marcus’s treason adds another dimension to these novels that I think some other novels about Rome lack. I have to say, I prefer Simon Scarrow’s and Conn Iggulden’s books a little bit more than Riches' but I do really enjoy his work. This book in particular was brilliant. It was so fast-paced!  Leading from battle to battle and murder to murder, making it such a thrill because you just wanted to read on and on! I also love the character of Marcus, he’s such a bad ass! Fighting with two swords, wanted by the Emperor, a young and talented leader, what’s not to like about him?

This was an excellent book. I would suggest this book to anyone who is a fan of Simon Scarrow’s Eagle series and Conn Iggulden’s Emperor series. Reading all of these series really gives you a timeline of the Roman occupation of Britain. First you have Iggulden and Caesar’s first invasion. Then you have Scarrow with the first conquest of Britain. And finally Riches with Hadrian’s Wall built and the Roman effort to push north of it. If you are into the history of the Roman invasion and occupation of Britain then all of these series put great stories to the facts many of us already know.

For author’s official website click here