Title – Tales of Ancient Rome
Author – S.J.A. Turney
Genre –  Historical Fiction/Short Stories
Length –  99 Pages
Publication –  Nov 2011
My Rating –  5/5 Stars

Synopsis

A collection of bite-size stories of varying styles all based in the world of ancient Rome. 12 tales of the ancient world, plus a bonus tale to finish.

The second edition contains two new tales not told in the 1st. Laugh, cry and shudder at:

Hold The Wall – Hadrian’s wall in the last days of the western empire
Vigil – A comedic tale of firefighting in Rome
*NEW* Rudis – A champion gladiator fights his last fight
*NEW* The Discovery – A Roman trader makes a surprising find in distant China
The man who bought an Empire – The lowest point of Imperial succession
Trackside seats – A slave helps his blind master at the circus
How to run a latifundium – A cautionary tale of estate management
A Reading – What does the future hold in Judea?
Exploratores – Trajan’s scouts on the trail of Dacian warriors
With a pinch of salt – A comedic tale of food in Claudius’ Rome
The Palmyrene Prince – Rome’s eastern border tells grim tales
Temple Trouble – A tale of the early days of Fronto (of the Marius’ Mules series)
Bonus tale: Aftermath in the Ludus – A fun finish.

Review

Yes I’m late to the party on this one I know…

As a reader I promise myself to go back and read all the books an author has wrote if I enjoy their work. It’s not always easy to fit all these wonderful tales in though..This however was perfect. I’ve been meaning to read more of Simon’s work and this was a easy read to stick in between other reads

It’s a collect of short stories which show off the author’s skills. It’s perfect if like me you want a quick read or this would also suit anyone as a great introduction to the author if you’ve not read his work previously

Some short stories leave me deflated, not bored but sort of wondering what I got out of reading them.. not this one. On numerous occasions I found myself grinning, especially when I read the sentence “oh dear, I think I shat myself” . This really was a selection of well written shorts which at times were very humorous which I think is a hard thing to do in such short tales.

My favourites were Temple Trouble & The Discovery

The book is currently free so why not grab a copy like I did.. you’ve got nothing to lose but lots to gain 🙂

To find out more head to Goodreads, Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com