Category: Reviews

Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for Bellatrix 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.

About Bellatrix

Egypt, 25 BC. Titus Cervianus is no ordinary soldier. And the Twenty Second is no ordinary legion. Formed from the personal guard of a conquered king, the Twenty Second’s ways are strange to soldiers of the Empire – yet the legion has proved itself in the blistering heat of the desert.

Cervianus and his comrades march into the unknown as he and the Twenty Second Legion contend with the armies of the Bellatrix: the Warrior Queen of Kush. The Kushites and the Egyptians are united against the Roman presence in their lands – but there are complex political and military forces at work. Deep in the deserts, Cervianus and his comrades must brace themselves for a furious onslaught as they take on the might of the Bellatrix.

Format: Hardback (416 pages)        Publisher: Head of Zeus
Publication date: 5th January 2023 Genre: Historical Fiction

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My Review

The Capsarius (follow the link to read my book review) introduced the reader to Titus Cervianus, a combat medic in the Imperial Roman Army, although of course the army was made up of many different nationalities from provinces conquered by the Roman Empire. Cervianus himself is from Galatia, part of modern day Turkey.

Bellatrix sees the return of a number of characters from the first book, including the seemingly indestructible centurion, Draco, and Cervianus’s friend, the irrepressible Ulyxes. Ulyxes is a great character. ‘The man moved through the world like a trireme, making large waves and leaving a wake that rocked and undulated and turned lives upside down.’  Ulyxes’ remarkable memory makes him unbeatable when it comes to games of chance and proves important at critical moments in the story.

One of the standout sections of Bellatrix for me was the description of the Twenty Second Legion’s punishing and dangerous trek through the desert, blisteringly hot during the day and bitterly cold at night. ‘The mounds of grey and brown began to blend into one another as the hours wore on, dust causing the men to gag, weariness and uneven ground leading to stumbles and falls, each one rewarded with a jab from an officer’s vine staff and a lash from his tongue.’  I was amazed by the distances Roman legions were expected to march – over twenty miles in a day – carrying their kit and supplies with them.

It soon becomes apparent that Rome has seriously underestimated the Kushites both in terms of their military capability and their sense of purpose. The legion’s overstretched supply lines and reliance on native scouts whose loyalties are suspect make them vulnerable, with disastrous results. We all know war is a nasty business but, as we learn in the book, both the Romans and the Kushites had particularly gruesome ways of dealing with those they defeated or conquered. Indeed, those who are squeamish may want to skip over a few of the scenes.

Cervianus and his fellow legionaries find themselves in one precarious situation after another. At one point, low on food, weapons and manpower, and facing the prospect of an attack by a vast horde of bloodthirsty Kushites, one of his comrades succinctly sums up their position. ‘We couldn’t fight off a drunk Syrian catamite with the shits.’ A useful phrase next time you find yourself up against the odds.

I love the way the character of Cervianus has developed through the two books. From being a self-confessed loner when we first meet him, shunned by the rest of his contubernium, he has developed some firm friendships – notably with Ulyxes – and earned the respect of both his peers and senior officers not just for his medical skills but for his intuition and his courage in battle. His fixedly rational perspective on life, so prominent in the first book, has become more nuanced. Absorbing the culture and religious beliefs of the areas he has travelled through has made Cervianus begin to believe there is a guiding hand determining his future path in life, that there is something he is meant to do or to prevent from happening. After all, why else allow him to survive so many precarious situations? It’s also given him a valuable insight into what motivates the deadly opponents the Twenty Second face.

History records the outcome of the conflict between Rome and Kush, and Simon Turney himself describes The Capsarius and Bellatrix as a duology. So does Cervianus’ story end here? The author teases the reader with a tantalising possibility.

Bellatrix is another completely immersive journey back in time for fans of action-packed, richly detailed and fast-paced historical fiction.

In three words: Compelling, authentic, absorbing

Try something similar: The Iron Way by Tim Leach

About 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. He lives in North Yorkshire with his family.

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