Category: HF Reading Challenge

#BookReview Rebellion by Simon Scarrow @headlinepg @simonscarrow

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Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for Rebellion by Simon Scarrow. My thanks to Poppy and Sophie at Ransom PR for inviting me to take part in the tour and to Headline for my review copy.

Simon will be appearing at a number of in person events in the coming weeks:

About the Book

AD 60. Britannia is in turmoil. The rebel leader Boudica has tasted victory, against a force of tough veterans in Camulodunum.

Alerted to the rapidly spreading uprising, Governor Suetonius leads his army towards endangered Londinium with a mounted escort, led by Prefect Cato. Soon it’s terrifyingly clear that Britannia is slipping into chaos and panic, with ever more tribal warriors swelling Boudica’s ranks. And Cato and Suetonius are grimly aware that little preparation has been made to withstand a full-scale rebellion.

In Londinium there is devastating news. Centurion Macro is amongst those unaccounted for after the massacre at Camulodunum. Has Cato’s comrade and friend made his last stand?

Facing disaster, Cato prepares his next move. Dare he hope that Macro – battle-scarred and fearless – has escaped the bloodthirsty rebels? For there is only one man Cato trusts by his side as he faces the military campaign of his life. And the future of the Empire in Britannia hangs in the balance.

Format: Hardback (416 pages) Publisher: Headline
Publication date: 9th November 2023 Genre: Historical Fiction

Find Rebellion on Goodreads

Purchase links 
Bookshop.org 
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 
Links provided for convenience only, not as part of an affiliate programme

My Review

Rebellion is the 22nd novel in Simon Scarrow’s ‘Eagles of the Empire’ series. It’s a series I only discovered when I read the previous book, Death to the Emperor, which I absolutely loved. Obviously, ideally one would read the series from the beginning but don’t be put off if, like me, you’re new to it because Rebellion can be enjoyed as a standalone given there is plenty of information about previous events. I particularly liked the inclusion of a cast list which contains some witty pen pictures of individual characters, my favourite being ‘Tongdubnus, an Iceni warrior, but a poor swimmer’. There’s also a map which is helpful in understanding the distance between locations featured in the book and a diagram illustrating the chain of command in the Roman army which I found incredibly useful.

The events in Rebellion carry on directly from the closing chapters of the previous book. As it opens, friends and comrades Macro and Cato find themselves separated. In fact, neither knows if the other is still alive. Cato, in particular, fears Macro may have perished in the deadly attack on Camulodunum by the rebel tribes led by Boudicca. (I don’t think it’s giving too much away to say that Cato and, more particularly, Macro have history with Boudicca.)

Bound together more by their hatred of Rome than anything else, the rebel tribes take brutal and bloody revenge on the Roman settlements they pass through. Whipped up into a religious frenzy by their Druids, their treatment of prisoners is especially cruel and merciless. Those who are squeamish may wish to skip a couple of the scenes.

As you’d expect, the book has many exciting set pieces, including a gladitorial style one-on-one contest, the doughty defence of a building against an attack by looters and a Roman cavalry charge. ‘Then the passage of time, which seemed to have slowed moments before, suddenly came on in a rush as the leading squadron ploughed in amongst the rebels with a thud of horseflesh on shields, flesh on flesh and the clatter of weapons and the sharp whinnying cries of horses as they knocked men down…’

But there are also tender moments, involving both reunions and partings. And you can always rely on Macro to provide some pithy humour, here describing his wife Petronella. ‘The best woman in the Empire. Brave as a lion, tough as a first spear centurion, and she throws a right hook that would knock a professional boxer on his arse. She can hold her drink and she’s a wildcat in the sack.’

Both sides know there will be a final reckoning. And Cato and Macro are under no illusion as to what they face. ‘We’re outnumbered, and the fate of the province hangs by a thread… This won’t be a battle where a smart manoeuvre wins the day. It’s going to be a long, hard fight with victory for whichever side has the stomach to outlast the other.’

If you like your historical fiction fast and furious, populated with vividly drawn characters and full of authentic period detail, then you will love Rebellion.

In three words: Action-packed, authentic, gripping

Try something similar: The Wall by Adrian Goldsworthy

About the Author

Simon Scarrow is a Sunday Times No. 1 bestselling author with several million copies of his books sold worldwide. After a childhood spent travelling the world, he pursued his great love of history as a teacher, before becoming a full-time writer. His Roman soldier heroes Cato and Macro made their debut in 2000 in Under the Eagle and have subsequently appeared in many bestsellers in the Eagles of the Empire series, including Centurion, Invictus and Day of the Caesars. Many of the series have been Sunday Times bestsellers.

Simon is also the author of a quartet of novels about the lives of the Duke of Wellington and Napoleon Bonaparte – Young Bloods, The Generals, Fire and Sword and The Fields of Death; a novel about the 1565 Siege of Malta, Sword & Scimitar; Hearts of Stone, set in Greece during the Second World War; and Playing With Death, a contemporary thriller written with Lee Francis. He also wrote the novels Arena and Invader with T. J. Andrews. His first Berlin thriller, Blackout, set in WW2 Berlin and first published in 2021 was a Richard and Judy Book Club pick with Dead of Night following to critical acclaim earlier in 2023. Simon lives in Norfolk

Connect with Simon
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#BookReview In Two Minds by Alis Hawkins

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About the Book

Harry Probert-Lloyd, a young barrister forced home from London by encroaching blindness, has begun work as the acting coroner of Teifi Valley with solicitor’s clerk John Davies as his assistant.

When a faceless body is found on an isolated beach, Harry must lead the inquest. But his dogged pursuit of the truth begins to ruffle feathers. Especially when he decides to work alongside a local doctor with a dubious reputation and experimental theories considered either radical or dangerous. Refusing to accept easy answers might not only jeopardise Harry’s chance to be elected coroner permanently but could, it seems, implicate his own family in a crime.

Format: Paperback (470 pages) Publisher: The Dome Press
Publication date: 2nd May 2019 Genre: Historical Fiction, Crime, Mystery

Find In Two Minds on Goodreads

Purchase links 
Bookshop.org 
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

In Two Minds is the second book in the author’s ‘Teifi Valley Coroner’ historical crime series set in 19th century Wales. I read the first book, None So Blind, back in 2018 and the third book, Those Who Know, in 2020 but, strangely, missed out this one. Having said that, I do have a history of reading books in a series out of order. A fourth book, Not One of Us, is on my wishlist. The books were originally published by The Dome Press but have since been republished by Canelo with new covers.

It was a delight to be reunited with Harry and John as they embark on another investigation together. Alongside this, both of them are preoccupied with their current situations. Harry fears his visual impairment may frustrate his ambition of becoming elected as Coroner for the district leaving him with the prospect of taking over the running of his family’s estate. Not only does he have little interest in this but it goes against his egalitarian instincts, instincts that even as a child saw him spend time with the household servants and learn Welsh, much to his father’s disapproval as English was regarded as the language of the gentry. ‘I could not abide the thought of being a useless dilettante who was dependent on the labout of others.’ Ironically, his visual impairment means he is now often dependent on others, for example to read even personal correspondence.

Meanwhile John is wondering if there’s any future in his current position as Harry’s temporary assistant or if, despite his humble beginnings, he should pursue his ambition of becoming a solicitor. John has come to enjoy being involved in investigations. ‘Excitement. That’s what was keeping me there, in the teeth of hostile looks and the prospect of unemployment. Excitement. I hadn’t realised how bored I was with being a clerk until Harry walked in… looking for an assistant.’

Sadly, Harry is unaware of John’s concerns whilst John is unaware of how much Harry has come to value his support and assistance. The dual narrator structure allows us to experience these doubts and worries, although I found myself thinking, for goodness sakes, just talk to each other!

Discovering the identity of the faceless body found on the beach, the circumstances of its being there, the cause of death and possible motives for what may be murder rather than accidental death throws up more and more challenges for Harry and John, especially when Harry is forced to return home when his father becomes ill leaving John in charge of the investigation. As things become more complex, I had some sympathy with John’s frustrated observation, ‘I wasn’t sure if things were getting clearer or more confused.’ But we’re in safe hands because everything is revealed in the end, albeit the result of some connections that only the very observant may have guessed.

In Two Minds is another cleverly constructed historical crime mystery with two engaging leading characters and convincing period detail. And, as with the previous book, there is a fascinating historical backdrop to the story, namely the large-scale emigration of Welsh people to America, something I wasn’t aware of before reading this book. It’s just one of the reasons I love historical fiction!

In three words: Intriguing, atmospheric, engaging

Try something similar: Down A Dark River by Karen Odden

About the Author

Alis  grew up on a dairy farm in Ceredigion. Her inner introvert thought it would be a good idea to become a shepherd and, frankly, if she had she might have been published sooner. As it was, three years reading English at Oxford revealed an extrovert streak and a social conscience and she has spent the subsequent three decades variously working in a burger restaurant, bringing up two sons, working with homeless people, and – having trained as a speech and langauge therapist – helping teachers and families to understand their autistic children. And writing. Always. Nonfiction (autism related), plays (commissioned for production in heritage locations) and, of course, novels.

Initially fascinated by the medieval period, Alis began her crime and mystery career at Pan Macmillan with Testament, a novel set in a fictitious medieval university city. Part of Testament’s narrative takes place in the fourteenth century and part in the twenty-first which taught Alis that she is far more passionate about writing historical fiction than contemporary.

So she fast-forwarded four centuries from fourteenth South East England to nineteenth century West Wales to write a book based on Wales’s best kept historical secret: the Rebecca Riots. And then she fell in love – both with nineteenth century west Wales and her characters – and the result is the Teifi Valley Coroner crime series featuring visually impaired investigator, Harry Probert-Lloyd, and his chippy assistant, John Davies.

As a side-effect of setting her series in Ceredigion, instead of making research trips to sunny climes like more foresighted writers, she just drives across Wales to see her family. Now living with her partner on the Welsh/English border, Alis is a Welsh speaker, collects rucksacks and can’t resist an interesting fact. (Photo/bio: Author website)

Connect with Alis
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