Book Review – Devotio (Legionary #10) by Gordon Doherty @GordonDoherty

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About the Book

AD 391. In the aftermath of civil war, the Roman Empire lies broken. The emperor is missing. Rumours fly that he has lost his mind. Sensing weakness, the Goths rise in revolt. All to the delight of the dark hand who orchestrated the civil war… and plots to stoke another.

Far out at sea, Pavo stands watchfully at the prow of the Justitia, running cargo between distant lands. At every port, he hears of the empire’s swelling troubles. Of fire and zeal and panic. Of legions, bristling for battle. But his days of protecting the provinces with sword and shield are over. He, his wife and his lad will soon have enough funds to make a home on a quiet island, far from the madness.

Yet the empire is an ever-hungry beast, and Pavo is about to sail straight into its jaws…

It is a journey that will take him to the brink, and throw down before him the question to which there is only one what would you sacrifice to save your loved ones?

Format: eBook (407 pages) Publisher:
Publication date: 27th March 2025 Genre: Historical Fiction

Find Devotio (Legionary #10) on Goodreads

Purchase Devotio (Legionary #10) from Amazon UK

My Review

Writing the last book in a series must be a difficult challenge for an author. Apart from the fact you’re saying farewell to characters you created and have ‘lived with’ for possibly years, how do you deliver a compelling story whilst bringing events to a close in a way that doesn’t feel like an anticlimax. Well, you do it just like Gordon Doherty has in Devotio.

Pavo’s service in the Roman army has taken him across the Empire and involved many adventures, many battles and the loss of many comrades. It has also taken him away from his family. He knows he’s been lucky to survive as long as he has and now spending time with them is all he wants to do. After all, who knows what will happen tomorrow? He believes he has found the perfect place, away from the turbulence that threatens to tear apart the failing Roman Empire. But Pavo’s devotion to his family is also his vulnerability. ‘No monster is more terrifying than the invisible hand that threatens to take away from you the ones you love.’

A shocking event sees Pavo forced to leave his sanctuary in a desperate search for the only man he believes can come to his rescue. But finding him means Pavo once again becoming caught up in the conflict between rival factions attempting to gain control of an empire currently riven in two by ruthless ambition and religious differences. However, Pavo doesn’t care about the risks. He’d happily gives his own life in exchange for the lives of his wife and son. Taking the oath of Devotio is his formal declaration of this. He’s not alone in his quest though because he has comrades who owe their lives to him and would follow him anywhere. One in particular, has his own special reason for wanting to help.

Safe to say as events unfold you’ll get thrilling battle scenes, daring missions against seemingly impossible odds and narrow escapes. As usual, Pavo’s tactical nous and ingenuity often saves the day. In fact, when it comes to the latter, you could say he’s the GOAT. (You’ll have to read the book to understand that one.)

Along with the clashing of swords and spears, there’s treachery, conspiracy and betrayal but also retribution, including a particularly satisfying one delivered personally by Pavo. The saying ‘a taste of your own medicine’ springs to mind.

But all things must come to an end although the author is generous in making that as long as everything we’ve learned allows. I found the closing chapters deeply moving and a really fitting way to end the series. The epilogue is sheer genius and had me in tears all over again.

If you’re a fan of the Roman age novels of Simon Scarrow, Simon Turney, Adrian Goldsworthy and others, you will love the Legionary series. If you’ve not read any of the previous books, do yourself a favour and start from the beginning because you have an incredible journey ahead of you.

I think you will have guessed by now that I absolutely loved this book. I’ll leave you with the observation of Pavo’s comrade, Sura: ‘Good people on this flawed land of the living could not stop evil; what mattered was that they never stopped trying’. Vale, Pavo.

I received a digital review copy courtesy of the author. For very personal reasons, Gordon supports the charity Myeloma UK and if you would like to make a donation follow this link to his JustGiving page.

In three words: Action-packed, emotional, gripping
Try something similar: Revenge of Rome (Eagles of the Empire #23) by Simon Scarrow

About the Author

Author Gordon Doherty

Gordon 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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#WWWWednesday – 23rd April 2025

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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!

What I’m Currently Reading

One of the books on the shortlist for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, an author review copy and a book for a blog tour

Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon (Fig Tree)

Ancient Sicily. Enter GELON: visionary, dreamer, theatre lover. Enter LAMPO: feckless, jobless, in need of a distraction.

Imprisoned in the quarries of Syracuse, thousands of defeated Athenians hang on by the thinnest of threads. They’re fading in the baking heat, but not everything is lost: they can still recite lines from Greek tragedy when tempted by Lampo and Gelon with goatskins of wine and scraps of food.

And so an idea is born. Because, after all, you can hate the invaders but still love their poetry.

It’s audacious. It might even be dangerous. But like all the best things in life – love, friendship, art itself – it will reveal the very worst, and the very best, of what humans are capable of. What could possibly go wrong?

Sister Rosa’s Rebellion (The Meonbridge Chronicles #6) by Carolyn Hughes (Riverdown)

How can you rescue what you hold most dear, when to do so you must break your vows?

1363. When Mother Angelica, the old prioress at Northwick Priory, dies, many of the nuns presume Sister Rosa – formerly Johanna de Bohun, of Meonbridge – will take her place. But Sister Evangelina, Angelica’s niece, believes the position is hers by right, and one way or another she will ensure it is.

Rosa stands aside to avoid unseemly conflict, but is devastated when she sees how the new prioress is changing from a place of humility and peace to one of indulgence and amusement, if only for the prioress and her favoured few. Rosa is terrified her beloved priory will be brought to ruin under Evangelina’s profligate and rapacious rule, but her vows of obedience make it impossible to rebel.

Meanwhile, in Meonbridge, John atte Wode, the bailiff, is also distraught by the happenings at Northwick. After years of advising the former prioress and Rosa on the management of their estates, Evangelina dismissed him, banning him from visiting Northwick again.

Yet, only months ago, he met Anabella, a young widow who fled to Northwick to escape her in-laws’ demands and threats, but is a reluctant novice nun. The attraction between John and Anabella was immediate and he hoped to encourage her to give up the priory and become his wife. But how can he possibly do that now?

Can John rescue his beloved Anabella from a future he is certain she no longer wants? And can Rosa overcome her scruples, rebel against Evangelina’s hateful regime, and return Northwick to the haven it once was?

Viper in the Nest by Georgina Clarke (Verve Books)

London’s streets are sinister. But what if the real danger lies closer to home?

London, June 1759. When a charmless civil servant takes his own life, few are interested in his death. But Lizzie Hardwicke, who plies her trade in the brothels of London whilst also working as an undercover sleuth for the magistrate, can see no reason why a man who had everything to look forward to would wish to end his life.

Lizzie’s search for answers takes her from the smoke-filled rooms of fashionable gambling houses, where politicians mix ambition with pleasure, to the violent streets of Soho, ready to erupt with riots in the sultry summer heat. All the while, she is navigating her complicated feelings for the magistrate’s trusted assistant, Will Davenport, and a disturbing situation at home.

Then a gambling house owner is brutally murdered, and Lizzie finds herself tangled in a chaos that she cannot control. The darkest of secrets threatens to turn Davenport against her forever; its exposure will send her to the gallows.

What I’ve Just Read

Eden’s Shore by Oisín Fagan (John Murray)

At the close of the eighteenth century, Angel Kelly, an Irishman, sets sail from Liverpool aboard the Atlas with the intention of creating a Utopian commune in Brazil. But when a mutiny takes place on the ship, he finds himself stranded upon the coast of an unnamed Spanish colony in Latin America.

In the aftermath, Kelly becomes unwittingly caught up in a series of crises culminating in displacement, rebellion and a deadly game of cat-and-mouse between empires. (Review to follow)

What I’ll Be Reading Next

The Kellerby Code by Jonny Sweet (Faber and Faber)

Edward is living in a world he can’t afford and to which he doesn’t belong. To camouflage himself, he has catered to his friends’ fetching drycleaning, sorting flowers for premieres. It’s a noble effort, really – anything to keep his best pals Robert and Stanza happy. In return, his proximity to them might sponge the shame of his birth and violent past cleanly away.

But the chink in his armour is his painfully unrequited love for Stanza. When he realises Stanza and Robert are an item, Edward is pushed too far. His little acts of kindness take a sinister turn, giving way to the unspeakable brutality Edward fears is at his core.

Are there limits to what he will do for his friends? Are there limits to what he will do to them?