Tag: Reviews

My Week in Books – 16th July 2023

whatcathyreadnext

MyWeekinBooksOn What Cathy Read Next last week

Tuesday – This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic was a freebie. My ‘Just The Two Of Us’ list featured books that involve couples.

Wednesday – As always WWW Wednesday is a weekly opportunity to share what I’ve just read, what I’m currently reading and what I plan to read next… and to take a peek at what others are reading. 

Thursday – I published my review of historical novel, The Soldier’s Child by Tetyana Denford as part of the blog tour.

Friday – I shared my review of historical novel, The Painter of Souls by Philip Kazan.

Saturday – I published my review of Para Bellum by Simon Turney. 

New arrivals

A Fenland GardenA Fenland Garden by Frances Pryor (Head of Zeus via NetGalley)

A Fenland Garden is the story of the creation of a garden in a complex and fragile English landscape – the Fens of southern Lincolnshire – by a writer who has a very particular relationship with landscape and the soil, thanks to his distinguished career as an archaeologist and discoverer of some of England’s earliest field systems. It describes the imagining, planning and building of a garden in an unfamiliar and sometimes hostile place, and the challenges, setbacks and joys these processes entail. This is a narrative of the making of a garden, but it is also about reclaiming a patch of ground for nature and wildlife – of repairing the damage done to a small slice of Fenland landscape by decades of intensive farming.

A Fenland Garden is informed by the empirical wisdom of a practising gardener (and archaeologist) and by his deep understanding of the soil, landscape and weather of the region; Francis’s account of the development of the garden is counterpointed by fascinating nuggets of Fenland lore and history, as well as by vignettes of the plantsman’s trials and tribulations as he works an exceptionally demanding plot of land.

AdamaAdama by Lavie Tidhar (eARC, Head of Zeus via NetGalley)

There is no land without blood – no adama without dam.

In 1946, a young Ruth begins building a new life in Palestine, haunted by the death of her family in Europe and driven by youthful ideals in a land hostile to her presence. Her sister, Shoshana, survives in the Displaced Persons camps of Germany and joins her in Palestine, but dreams of escaping to distant America.

Her lovers, Dov and Israel, die in war, and her children try to serve the land Ruth bled for, only to find their own tragic ends or means of escape. As one generation begets another, their lives become entwined into a dark tapestry of secrets and lies, of revenge, forbidden love and murder.

A sweeping historical epic following four generations of a single family as they struggle to hold on to their land and each other.

On What Cathy Read Next this week

Currently reading

Planned posts

  • Book Review: Invitation to a Bonfire by Adrienne Celt
  • Blog Tour/Book Review: The Unheard by Anne Worthington
  • Book Review: Before We Were Innocent by Ella Berman

#BookReview Para Bellum by Simon Turney @AriesFiction @HoZ_Books @SJATurney #ParaBellum

whatcathyreadnext2 Comments

About the Book

Book Cover Para Bellum by Simon Turney

AD 381. Five years have gone by since a Roman governor ordered the deaths of a Gothic king and his attendants at a feast in their honour. This disastrous act led to warfare in the Roman Empire and the death of the Emperor Valens.

Now, the Empire is calm once more, but for the eight legionaries who committed the killings, the bloodshed is only just beginning. Fritigern, brother of the murdered king, has sworn revenge on his brother’s killers. Now king of a powerful Gothic tribe, he will not rest until the men are hunted down.

Flavius Focalis is one of those legionaries. Surviving an attack at his villa, he realises the danger he and his family are in, and seeks to warn his former comrades, for he knows Fritigern will give them no quarter. So begins a deadly game of cat-and-mouse across the Empire, as, by land and sea, the former soldiers face the wrath of their implacable enemy, and return to the scene of the greatest battle of their Adrianople.

For war is coming again – and the only question is, do they die now, or die later?

Format: eARC (369 pages) Publisher: Head of Zeus
Publication date: 6th July 2023 Genre: Historical Fiction

Find Para Bellum on Goodreads

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My Review

The author describes Para Bellum as a story of revenge and a very compelling one it is too. Taking advantage of the fact that little is known about the fate of Fritigern following the murder of his brother, the author imagines him embarking on a single-minded mission to track down and kill the legionaries involved. It’s a scenario Flavius Focalis, along with his fellow legionaries, has been preparing for for years, fortifying his home, keeping weapons close at hand and ensuring his son Martius is trained to defend himself. And it’s just as well because when Fritigern’s men come they do so with deadly intent.

Flavius Focalis, although battle hardened, was never a cold-blooded ruthless killer, just a loyal soldier carrying out orders that he now realises were at best foolish and at worst the product of ruthess ambition. He is haunted by memories of the event and, being a Christian, wonders if he deserves to be punished for his sins. What trumps that though is his determination to honour the memory of his dead wife by keeping his son safe whatever the cost, even if that means him sacrificing his own life in the process. As it turns out, Martius has inherited a lot of his father’s fighting spirit.

Much like The Magnificent Seven, each member of the group brings different skills, whether that’s a prowess with artillery, the ability to come up with a cunning plan or expertise in creating ingenious defensive mechanisms. And, of course, there’s something to be said for sheer muscle even if it does result in some rather grisly encounters. (Those who are squeamish might want to skip some of the deadlier skirmishes.) And like The Magnificent Seven, not all of them will survive the cat-and-mouse game and be there as the final credits roll. Having said that, don’t underestimate the author’s ability to spring a surprise or two.

Para Bellum has all the full-on bone-crunching action and meticulous historical detail you’d expect from a Simon Turney novel but with the feel and pace of a thriller. As Para Bellum is a standalone novel, you don’t need to have read any of Simon’s previous books to enjoy it, although you’ll probably want to after this. And he leaves us with the prospect of another standalone to come, saying ‘there is another tale that I am twitching to tell’. If it’s as good as Para Bellum, I can’t wait.

In three words: Action-packed, gripping, dramatic

Try something similar: Legionary by Gordon Doherty

About the Author

Simon Turney

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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