Category: Blog Tour

#BlogTour #BookReview The Capsarius by Simon Turney @AriesFiction

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The Capsarius_Blog Tour BannerWelcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for The Capsarius by Simon Turney. My thanks to Andrew at Head of Zeus for inviting me to take part in the tour and for my review copy.

The CapsariusAbout the Book

Egypt. 25 BC. Titus Cervianus and the Twenty Second Deiotariana have been sent to deal with uprisings and chaos in Egypt. Yet the Twenty Second is no ordinary legion. Founded as the private royal army of one of Rome’s most devoted allies, the king of Galatia, their ways are not the same as the other legions, a factor that sets them apart and causes friction with their fellow soldiers.

Cervianus is no ordinary soldier, either. A former surgeon from the city of Ancyra, he’s now a capsarius – a combat medic. Cervianus is a pragmatist, a scientist, and truly unpopular with his legion.

Marching into the unknown, Cervianus will find unexpected allies in a local cavalryman and a troublesome lunatic. Both will be of critical importance as the young medic marches into the searing sands of the south, finding forbidden temples, dark assassins, vicious crocodiles, and worst of all, the warrior queen of Kush…

Format: Hardback (432 pages)      Publisher: Head of Zeus
Publication date: 14th April 2022 Genre: Historical Fiction

Find The Capsarius on Goodreads

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Disclosure: If you buy a book via the above link, I may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops

Hive | Amazon UK
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My Review

The Capsarius is a great example of why I love historical fiction. Before reading this book I had no idea there was such a thing as a capsarius and couldn’t for the life of me have explained what a contubernium was. Readers familiar with Simon Turney’s previous books won’t be surprised that The Capsarius is jam-packed full of detail about Roman military structure, strategy, equipment and weaponry – not forgetting the construction of latrine pits.

The author has created a fascinating character in Titus Cervianus. We learn little about his early life (I’m hoping the author is saving that for a prequel) but what we do know is that he speaks several languages, has a voracious appetite for books and considers his vocation to be saving lives – not that he isn’t pretty deadly with a sword or spear when the need arises. He’s a man of science and logic who views superstition as the ‘bane of all reasoned thinkers’, one of the many reasons he has been ostracised by most of his comrades (although I have to say I’d be happy to befriend the over six foot tall, clean shaven soldier with raven black hair).  Fortunately for Cervanius he is ‘adopted’ by another member of his contubernium, the irrepressible Ulyxes who has an almost photographic memory but is never happier than when there’s a prospect of a brawl.

Aware of the perils that lie ahead, Cervanius is nevertheless excited at the prospect of seeing the sights of Egypt he has only read about – Alexandria, Memphis, Thebes – and through his eyes the reader is able to do the same. Gradually Cervanius finds his rejection of superstition being challenged by the seeming significance of symbols he encounters as he visits temples dedicated to Egyptian gods. Are the whispered warnings and his strange dreams portents of misfortune yet to come? ‘He was finding it hard to deny that something powerful seemed to be at work in this strange land.’

In his Historical Note, Simon Turney reveals that one of the inspirations for the book is Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.  As Cervianus and the Twenty Second legion travel down the Nile on a campaign that seems more driven by the arrogance and pride of their superiors than by strategy, darkness is just what they find, especially when they reach the fortress of Buhen. (Thanks to the handy map at the front of the book, I now know exactly where that is.)

In one of the great set piece scenes in the book, Cervanius and his comrades are confronted by an enemy described as a ‘cloud of black hissing death’ who rise from the ground with ‘iron points gleaming in the moonlight, ebony shafts and black fletching blending into the darkness’. Another memorable scene is the legion’s assault on the heavily fortified Abu Island during which they have to accomplish a landing from small boats whilst dodging arrows raining down on them and then face a ‘screaming, roaring tide of humanity, bristling with weapons, designed to strike fear into their enemy’.  Death is always just a hair’s breadth away whether that’s due to a mistimed stroke, an inadvertent gap in a shield wall or a momentary lapse of concentration.

The first in the Legion XXII series, The Casparius is an impeccably researched and thrilling journey through 25BC Egypt.  If you like full-on action, it has it. If you like historical detail, it has it. If you like a book to have a protagonist who’s not just a one dimensional character, it has it.  Personally, I can’t wait to experience more of Titus Cervianus’s exploits in future books. As he says in the closing chapter, “Here we go…”.

In three words: Action-packed, authentic, compelling

Try something similar: A Night of Flames by Matthew Harffy

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Simon TurneyAbout the Author

Simon Turney is from Yorkshire and, having spent much of his childhood visiting historic sites, fell in love with the Roman heritage of the region. His fascination with the ancient world snowballed from there with great interest in Rome, Egypt, Greece and Byzantium. His works include the Marius’ Mules and Praetorian series, the Tales of the Empire and The Damned Emperor series, and the Rise of Emperors books with Gordon Doherty

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#BlogTour #BookReview The Fall by Rachael Blok @AriesFiction

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Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for The Fall by Rachael Blok. My thanks to Sophie at Ransom PR for inviting me to take part in the tour and for my digital review copy. Do check out the post by my tour buddy for today, Rachel at Rachel Read It.

The FallAbout the Book

The wind is cold this high up. The man shouts out, but nobody hears. The cathedral roof has caught his fall, but it will not hold him for long. The night is dark. And it is such a long way down…

On Good Friday, the verger of St Albans cathedral was supposed to be preparing the Easter service. Instead he discovers a man lying dead, fallen from the famous fifty-foot-high spire. Did he jump, or was he pushed?

For DCI Maarten Jansen, it’s a simple case of suspected suicide. Until a stranger, Willow, who witnessed the jump, prompts a deeper investigation into a long-buried past, involving a mental hospital, a pregnant woman, and fifty years of silence. As Willow’s own family history entwines with the case, Jaansen starts to wonder how everything is connected.

Format: Hardback (400 pages)      Publisher: Head of Zeus
Publication date: 14th April 2022 Genre: Crime, Mystery

Find The Fall on Goodreads

Purchase links
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Disclosure: If you buy a book via the above link, I may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops

Hive | Amazon UK
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My Review

The Fall is described by the publishers as a ‘literary thriller’ but don’t let the word ‘literary’ put you off because the writing is no less accessible than a typical contemporary crime novel. The ‘literary’ element is perhaps the fleeting references to Paradise Lost, Milton’s epic poem telling the biblical story of the ‘Fall of Man’ (the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden). Paradise Lost is a text that means a lot to Willow Eliot. Her grandmother, Nonie, read it to her when she was young and some very early drafts of Paradise Lost form part of the exhibition she has organised. I’m not sure if I’m reading too much significance into it but there are also a number of characters in the book with names drawn from the Bible – Michael and Gabriel (who were both archangels), Joel, Noah and Martha.

The first part of the story unfolds quite slowly and is narrated from the points of view of Willow Eliot, one of the witnesses to the verger’s fall from the roof of the cathedral, and DCI Maarten Jansen, the police officer in charge of investigating the case. Although The Fall is the fourth book in the author’s series featuring DCI Maarten Jansen it can easily be read as a standalone (as I did). In fact, those who don’t have much time for police procedurals can be reassured this doesn’t form a major element of the book. It’s much more about buried family secrets that gradually emerge.

Every so often another point of view interrupts the modern day story, that of a young girl named Alice. Set in the 1960s, hers proves a very powerful and emotional story that touches on the stigma attached to mental illness and neurological conditions at the time, and the harsh and often ineffective treatments sufferers were subjected to.  I thought this was the most compelling element of the book and it also forms another connection to the subject matter of Willow’s exhibition.

Running alongside the police investigation are preparations for the marriage of Willow’s identical twin sister, Fliss, to Sunny, one of the detectives in Jansen’s team.  I have to say I admired Willow’s patience with Fliss who seemed to me entirely self-absorbed and prone to temper tantrums I didn’t think could just be put down to wedding day nerves. Although I appreciate the author was seeking to explore the notion of the special bond between twins – for reasons which will become apparent – personally I could have done without this element of the story. Fliss’s antics are one of the reasons why Willow seems to spend remarkably little time attending to the exhibition she has organised although it does provide a key to the eventual solution to the mystery.  Along the way, the author skilfully directs the reader’s suspicions in the direction of just about every character.

St Albans Cathedral makes a suitably atmospheric setting for the book and I’m sure I won’t be the only reader prompted to search for images of the building, especially its tower and roof. (To save you the trouble, you can visit the cathedral’s website here where you can access a 360 degree tour of many of the parts of the building mentioned in the book.)

The Fall is a carefully constructed crime novel set in an interesting location that offers plenty of surprises in the closing chapters.

In three words: Intriguing, well-crafted, engaging

Try something similar: After the Storm by Isabella Muir

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Rachael BlokAbout the Author

Rachael Blok grew up in Durham and studied Literature at Warwick University. She taught English at a London Comprehensive and is now a full-time writer living in Hertfordshire with her husband and children. Her thrillers Under the Ice, The Scorched Earth and Into the Fire have been widely acclaimed.

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