Category: Read

#WWWWednesday – 15th February 2023

whatcathyreadnext3 Comments

WWWWednesdays

Hosted by Taking on a World of Words, this meme is all about the three Ws:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

Why not join in too?  Leave a comment with your link at Taking on a World of Words and then go blog hopping!

Currently reading

PontiPonti by Sharlene Teo (Picador)

It is 2003, and in the sweltering heat of Singapore sixteen-year-olds Szu and Circe develop an intense friendship. For Szu it offers an escape from Amisa, her beautiful, cruel mother – once an actress and now the silent occupant of their rusty house. But for Circe, their friendship does the opposite, bringing her one step closer to the fascinating, unknowable Amisa.  

Seventeen years later, Circe finds herself adrift and alone. And then a project comes up at work, a remake of the cult seventies horror film series ‘Ponti’, the same series that defined Amisa’s short-lived film career. Suddenly Circe is knocked off balance: by memories of the two women she once knew, by guilt, and by a lost friendship that threatens her conscience… 

I received this ages ago as part of a book subscription service that I’ve since cancelled. It was on my list for the 20 Books of Summer 2022 reading challenge, a list I’m still trying to work through. And, yes, I do know it’s now 2023. 

The Paris SisterThe Paris Sister (The Three Fry Sisters #2) by Adrienne Chinn (One More Chapter via NetGalley)

Three sisters separated by distance but bound by love

The Fry sisters enter the Roaring Twenties forever changed by their experiences during the Great War. Now, as each of their lives unfold in different corners of the globe, they come to realise that the most important bond is that of family.

Desperate to save the man she loves, Etta leaves behind the life she has made for herself in Capri and enters the decadent world of Parisian society with all its secrets and scandals.

Celie’s new life on the Canadian prairies brings mixed blessings – a daughter to adore, but a husband who isn’t the man who holds her heart.

In Egypt, Jessie’s world is forever changed by a devastating loss.

And back in London – where each of their adventures began – their mother Christina watches as the pieces of her carefully orchestrated existence begin to shatter…with implications for them all…

I read the first book in the series so was pleased to be offered a digital review copy of the next one although, unfortunately, I couldn’t read it in time for publication (3rd February).

Recently finished

Nothing this week…

What Cathy (will) Read Next

Butler to the WorldButler to the World: How Britain Became the Servant of Tycoons, Tax Dodgers, Kleptocrats and Criminals by Oliver Bullough (Profile Books)

How did Britain become the servant of the world’s most powerful and corrupt men?

From accepting multi-million pound tips from Russian oligarchs, to the offshore tax havens, meet Butler Britain…

In his Sunday Times-bestselling expose, Oliver Bullough reveals how the UK took up its position at the elbow of the worst people on Earth: the oligarchs, kleptocrats and gangsters.

Though the UK prides itself on values of fair play and the rule of law, few countries do more to frustrate global anti-corruption efforts. From the murky origins of tax havens and gambling centres in the British Virgin Islands and Gibraltar to the influence of oligarchs in the British establishment, Butler to the World is the story of how we became a nation of Jeeveses – and how it doesn’t have to be this way.

#BookReview #Ad The Emperor’s Shield (Legionary 9) by Gordon Doherty

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The Emperor's ShieldAbout the Book

Easier to split the sky, than part a soldier from his blade.

386 AD. The Eastern Roman Empire faces a trident of threats. The Gothic truce grows unstable. The standoff with Persia escalates. And the ambitions of the usurper on the Western throne grow dangerously unchecked.

Pavo, a broken veteran of the legions, cares for none of these things. His life is one of pastoral seclusion on his Thracian farm. A life of love, of peace. His wife and young son are his world. Still, every so often, things seen and done in his old life haunt him, like a cold and unwelcome breeze. But that is all they are, echoes of the past…

…until the past rises, like a shade, to rip his world and the Roman Empire apart.

Format: eARC (466 pages)                      Publisher:
Publication date: 16th February 2023   Genre: Historical Fiction

Find The Emperor’s Shield (Legionary #9) on Goodreads

Purchase links
Amazon UK
Link provided for convenience only, not as part of an affiliate programme

My Review

The Emperor’s Shield is the ninth book in the Legionary series featuring Roman soldier, Pavo. It’s only the second book in the series I’ve read – the other was number seven, The Blood Road – although I’ve also read two books in the Rise of Emperors series co-written with Simon Turney.

As the book opens, Pavo has swapped the military life for that of a farmer – or, at least, that’s what he thinks.

The Roman Empire is divided and in turmoil, well on the path to its eventual decline and fall, with the bonds that held its disparate parts together weakening and enemies beyond its borders a growing threat. Add the machinations of those hungry for power within the Empire and you have a time bomb waiting to explode.

It’s no surprise that Pavo’s military experience and strategic nous sees him receiving a recall to the service of Emperor Theodosius. It’s a recall he initially refuses until the repercussions of the turmoil in the Empire come frighteningly close to home. ‘F**k Rome and its fat aristocrats and magnates. All that matters to me is my family… They are my empire.’

Reading the author’s note one realises just how skilfully he has conjured an exciting story out of historical fact, adding fictional characters such as the secretive Frugilo, Pavo’s faithful friend, Sura, and, of course, Pavo himself.

Once again, Pavo lives up to his reputation as a formidable fighter, an inspired tactician and a loyal comrade.  But you can’t see and do the things Pavo has without it having an impact. As he confides, ‘In my sleep, I see the ones who have fallen. So many, too many’. But is the scene that haunts his dreams over and over again, memories of his past or a vision of the future?

The Emperor’s Shield is historical fiction with something for everyone. There are intense, bloody and bone-crunching battle scenes, including some brilliant set pieces such as the storming of a seemingly impregnable fortress. There is detail of Roman army structure, weaponry and military strategy that oozes authenticity. (A helpful glossary is provided for those who don’t know their hexareme from their liburnian.) And an element of mystery is introduced by means of a man known only as Peregrinus, whom we know is a wily and ruthless traitor at the very heart of Theodosius’ inner circle, but whose identity remains a secret. His mission is to create havoc, something he does very successfully with others paying the price of his deadly game.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Emperor’s Shield. The author reveals the next book will be the last in the series. What does the future hold for Pavo? I’d like to hope it involves a peaceful life alongside his wife and son – after some more exciting adventures of course.

My thanks to the author for my advance review copy. Gordon supports the charity Myeloma UK and if you would like to make a donation to this great cause, follow this link to his JustGiving page.

In three words: Action-packed, assured, thrilling

Try something similar: Masters of Rome by Gordon Doherty & Simon Turney

Gordon DohertyAbout the Author

Gordon Doherty is a Scottish writer, addicted to reading and writing historical fiction. His novels have been Amazon smash-hits, and have gone on to be translated and published in Russia, Italy and Greece.

Gordon’s love of history was first kindled by visits to the misty Roman ruins of Britain and the sun-baked antiquities of Turkey and Greece. His expeditions since have taken him all over the world and back and forth through time (metaphorically, at least), allowing him to write tales of the later Roman Empire, Byzantium, Classical Greece and even the distant Bronze Age.

Connect with Gordon
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