Customer Reviews

SPQR I: The Kings Gambit

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3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a reader who likes John Maddox Roberts' science fiction, likes historical mysteries, and loves ancient history, I was happy to find the SPQR series. I immediately ordered the first two books in the series and dove into "King's Gambit."

I was disappointed. The writing was pedestrian, and the solution to the murder mystery was obvious. Decius Caecilius Metellus is a minor official with a talent for snooping. A freed gladiator is found murdered in the streets of Rome on the same night as a warehouse fire. Decius begins looking into the matter, and is warned off by his father and several other movers and shakers in Roman politics. He obstinately pursues his duty of figuring out "whodunnit," employing such unorthodox means as consulting a medical doctor for insight into how wounds were inflicted. So much for the first half of the book. The second half makes up for the first, as young Decius navigates the treacherous waters of Roman politics and slips closer and closer to almost certain death as he tries to solve the mystery, save the Republic, and bring the conspirators to justice. The story closes with Decius departing Rome pursued by Furies. He was able to fashion an imperfect justice and save the Republic and his hide--but only just, and Rome will be too hot for him for several years to come.

The farther I read, the better the story got. The writing improved, the characters became more engaging, and the plot thickened considerably. I've read many historical novels set in Ancient Rome, but none seemed to bring Republican Rome to life quite as well as Roberts' little novel. I haven't read the second novel in the series yet, but I've already ordered the third and fourth.

While I don't pretend to be an expert on Roman history, I do have some knowledge of the time period. I found this book to have so many glaring inaccuracies, that it was difficult to read. The one that sticks out in my mind is the description of Cato as consorting with his slaves and producing children. The author has confused Cato the Censor with the Cato who was a contemporary of Caesar's. Cato the Censor was the great (I believe) grandfather of this Cato and he was the one who consorted with his slaves. Indeed, that side of the lineage is what produced Caesar's nemesis Cato.

In fact, this is really the only thing from the book which sticks out in my mind, in addition to other historical problems which needn't be addressed here. I can't really remember the plot points and I just finished it a couple of days ago.

There are definitely better books in this genre.

I started out reading "Nobody Loves a Centurion". And guess what? I understood all of it, I understood who the characters were, past relationships, the whole shebang. I have found no other series that does this in such an amusing fashion.

So does this mean I'm biased? Well, yeah. "The King's Gambit" is not one of the best books I've ever read, but it is up there. The point is though; read the rest of the series. It gets better, it's funnier than you could ever imagine from just the first book!

Overall, this is one of the best written series I have ever read. Yes, I have read the Lindsay Davis books--did they really talk like the British?
The point is; I haven't found a series that is this good. Unfortunately, the first book isn't as thrilling as say the forth.

I've recently become interested in Roman history and have read histories by Suetonius and Plutarch as well as Robert Graves' works. John Maddox Roberts allowed me to take my thin knowledge of the period and culture for a fun romp. I found the writing to be brisk, entertaining, and very creative. I agree that the characters could be fleshed out a little more, but it's not a big deal.

In this classic, hard-boiled detective novel, our principled hero gets beat up, seduced, and winds up in trouble way over his head. The fact that it all happens in Rome instead of 1920's Chicago makes it all the more fun for the ancient Roman aficionado.

This series is pretty lightweight. You don't feel that you've visited ancient Rome -- the city doesn't come alive, the people do not behave as we expect, e.g. Milo, Cicero, Cato, to behave. The scenary feels like cardboard, and it is hard to care about any of the people, including the 'hero' Decius.

Historical detective fiction has been done a whole lot better than this. Lindsay Davies' 'Falco' novels are far better written, and much more fun to read.

The funny thing is that Roberts can write a good tale when he wants to. But he seems to know nothing about ancient Rome, and it shows. I was disappointed, anyway.

The King's Gambit, the first of SPQR series by John Maddox Roberts, is a quirky mess than generally works. Compared to the Colleen McCullough's Roman historical fiction series The King's Gambit is almost shambolic on the historical bits. Compared to Steven Saylor's Gordianus Roman historical detective series, the characterizations are weak. And worse, John Maddox Roberts simply fails to produce prose to the standards of anything resembling better-than-average literature. Yet I liked The King's Gambit. Why?

Like the Gordianus novels, The King's Gambit introduces us to a sleuth unravelling a rather complex series of murders and mishaps. Naturally the corrupt and very wealthy politicians of the day are behind all this. While much of the story seems to lack inventiveness, John Maddox Roberts does manage to twist matters around in a most interesting fashion (..no spoilers here). And thankfully, the ending is rather good.

Bottom line: a good story somewhat poorly told. However the end justifies the means, and so even fans of more finer ancient Roman historical novels will enjoy The King's Gambit.

The ancient Rome murder mystery is a relatively new genre - and JMR could be held as its primary mover, so to compare it to Saylor, Davis or Todd is perhaps a little unfair. However it does stand up well. Having read this one I've promptly ordered the other five.
Well characterised, well plotted the opening mystery for the senator's son, Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger, skips neatly through the period around 70BC with some aplomb. His choice of a somewhat 'modern' (in his attitudes) young Roman of patrician nobility with various seedier supporting characters and faithful slaves has been echoed in later authors' attempts at the subgenre. It clearly works.
Given knowledge of the actual events around this time, my review is biased towards reviewing the author's depiction of Rome and actual historical characters and it falls down slightly on this point.
Two things lead fairly quickly to who dunnit:
1)If you have a good knowledge of the period then it is fairly clear what's going on as JMR follows historical fact - admirably
2)A lack of suspects points to the culprit.
JMR's depiction of both Clodia/Claudia and Clodius is OK, again, given knowledge of the reality of what both will become you leave feeling their depiction isn't perhaps quite true. Both Crassus and Pompey exhibit imperial traits; again, doesn't quite fit in with Republican Rome and a view of a younger Caesar and Cicero is really setting us up for later novels - given the titles of those later novels.

All in all, well worth reading. I think that those who know the history of the period in some detail will view (and review) this offering in a different light to those who have not. But this is a highly recommended Roman murder mystery. I suspect it will get better and better with each installment.

The beginning of young Decius career. He meets Milo, Clodius, and Clodia. And was he naughty with Clodia! A good mystery too, especially since the logic of the story is very plausible from a historical aspect. I enjoyed the read and look forward to English publication of the rest of this series.

Note: This was originally published under the title "SPQR."

Decius Caecilius Metellus, the Younger, is an elderly Roman statesman in the days of Augustus recounting his hazardous youth during the twilight of the Republic. In the story he is a very junior official who, to the great dismay of his noble political family, has a talent for "snooping." Everyone tells him not to look too carefully into a murder in his district. He is faced with the dilemma of following his superiors' advice, or doing his duty to the Senate and the People of Rome even though it may put him in danger. Should he allow himself to fall into the corruptions of his time, or live up to the nobility of Rome's Golden Age (which he realistically admits probably never existed)?

While this works well as a mystery, what makes this story exceptional (and simply a great read) is how Rome comes alive in the narrative. Because it is told from the point of view of the protagonist as an old man, much of the history can be placed in context. Because he investigates as a junior official within a politically prominent family, Roman daily life can be presented from slaves to senators. The text has depth within its simplicity that makes it approachable and enjoyable. The only things that prevent this from being a 5-star review are somewhat excessive historical exposition, a too-obvious clue, and the fact that the author does a better job with the following books in this series: Catiline Conspiracy, Sacrilege, Temple of the Muses, and Saturnalia. Look for "Nobody Loves a Centurion," the sixth SPQR book, to be published in late 2001.