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From Publishers Weekly
Saylor ( Arms of Nemesis ) has written another gripping and entertaining historical whodunit. Narrator Gordianus, disillusioned by the corruption of Rome circa 63 B.C., has fled the city with his family to live on a farm in the Etruscan countryside. But this bucolic life is disrupted by the machinations and murderous plots of two politicians: Roman consul Cicero, Gordianus's longtime patron; and populist senator Catalina, Cicero's political rival and a candidate to replace him in the annual elections for consul. Claiming that Catalina plans an uprising if he loses the race, Cicero asks Gordianus to keep a watchful eye on the radical. Although he distrusts both men, Gordianus is forced into the center of the power struggle when his six-year-old daughter Diana finds a headless corpse in their stable. Shrewdly depicting deadly political maneuverings, this addictive mystery also displays the author's firm grasp of history and human character.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Gordianus the Finder, Saylor's world-weary sleuth, strives to keep aloof from the complex politics of republican Rome. After years of investigative work for Cicero, Crassus, and others, Gordianus has become a gentleman farmer in Etruria, where he contends with more commonplace problems like drought and conniving neighbors. Suddenly Gordianus finds himself pulled back into Roman politics, and headless bodies begin to turn up on his farm. Saylor ( Arms of Nemesis , St. Martin's, 1992) carefully plots this novel and accurately depicts Roman society; his attentive study of Roman history and culture is evident throughout. The characters are believable and well delineated. Some minor criticisms: Saylor does not always take care to present historical data naturally, and several overlong conversations on Roman politics interrupt the flow of the story and are in fact historical minilectures directed at the reader. Nevertheless, this is recommended for general collections.
- James F. DeRoche, Alexandria, Va.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
- James F. DeRoche, Alexandria, Va.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
"ACCORDING to Cato ..." I said, and paused, squinting at the scroll. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
"ACCORDING to Cato ..." I said, and paused, squinting at the scroll. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Supplement to the Catilinarian Conspiracy,
By
This review is from: Catilina's Riddle (Mass Market Paperback)
This is the second year I have used Catilina's Riddle in my Latin III class. As we translate Cicero and Sallust, this book adds a little levity. Although it's a bit longer than I would like, it's an easy read. Saylor sheds some personality on Cicero, Catiline, and other historical characters in a way that Sallust could not. He pulls translations almost verbatim out of Cicero's "In Catilinam." Students are able to relate more closely to the plight of Catiline. The work even lends itself to some lessons in historiography (i.e., since historians base their perceptions of Catiline primarily on the works of Cicero and Sallust, how do we know what the "real" Catiline was like?). The plot of Gordianus and his misgivings about his inherited farm are secondary, but they keep the story moving along.I find Saylor's work to lack the passion and insight that some other historical fiction writers seem to conjure. Mary Renault's works, for instance, stand alone. However, I had several students who simply could not put the book down. Anything that inspires a 15-year old to read like that deserves applaud.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very good, although not a mystery strictu sensu.,
By C. E. R. Mendonça "Carlos Eduardo Rebello de ... (Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Catilina's Riddle (Mass Market Paperback)
Marxist theorethician Ernest Mandel, who loved detective novels, and wrote a study on them (Delightful Murder) said that the detective novel, dealing as it does with the question of justice between individuals, could be conceived of only in a bourgeois society and, as he died before Steven Saylor had his say, I believe he would have found Gordianus' adventures impossible in advance. But then one has to marvel at the ability with which Saylor has found a way around this problem. In a pre-bourgeois society like late Republican Rome, no one seems very concerned about what Gordianus the Finder has to "find" or has actually "found": what they want from him is only a confirmation of their Ex Ante ideas about any issue. That leaves Gordianus himself with the task of pondering what is his place in a world he finds, as he grows old, incrasingly more uncongenial, brutish and corrupt and leaves a smaller room for mystery and more for historical speculation. But then that's the best solution that could be found for this book. Very good, highly recommended.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Artistry of words and intellectual scholarship,
By
This review is from: Catilina's Riddle (Mass Market Paperback)
Saylor gives us another powerful novel in Catilina's Riddle. I took Latin in high school and we studied the Catilinarian conspiracy. I had to memorize the first part of one of the speeches in the book: "Quo usque tandem abutere Catilina patientia nostra..."! I love how Saylor brings these great historical figures to life with his descriptive writing. With each novel in the series we also learn more about and grow to like Gordianus and his family. This novel shows artistry of words and intellectual scholarship together. That combination would seem to be hard to pull off, but Saylor does it well. Like other reviewers, I got a little bogged down at times with the intellectual scholarship, but it's not difficult to plug through. It's worth it to experience the action and revelation at the end. I am an even greater fan now and can't wait to start The Venus Throw.
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