Agricola: Warrior
Agricola: Warrior is the second book in Turney’s new Roman Empire series. This follows the well-known Roman, Gnaeus Julius Agricola, during his less publicised years. In this novel he is in Asia Minor and Rome. Having made an enemy of a potential future Roman emperor, he does not have an easy ride. Personal tragedy strikes, and he returns to Rome with his wife, daughter and the ever-present Luci, a Briton who has fought alongside Agricola in Brittania and his now his personal bodyguard.
The Rome he finds is in the midst of Nero’s madness; the story culminates in the violent and battle-ridden ‘Year of the Four Emperors.’ This provides plenty of opportunities for violence and fight scenes. This novel is extremely well-researched, and for anyone interested in this fascinating period of 1st-century Rome it is an interesting read.
Turney is a prolific and popular writer of matters Roman, and as such it is sometimes hard to offer critique. However, this is not the best written novel I have read this year– and it’s only March! The style appears lazy. There is an overuse of unnecessary adverbs and adjectives and an excess of lengthy ‘mansplaining’ passages. The language is very modern, and at times the conversation between Luci and Agricola would be better set over a pint down at the ‘Centurion’s Arms’ on the High Street. Lines like ‘the battle had been as brutal as it gets,’ ‘bodies had been piled up in droves,’ ‘nearly had him’ (repeated twice in a few lines) and ‘Vitellius’ generals were obviously planning something sneaky’ are unworthy of a writer of Turney’s stature.
Luci is a poor example of a sidekick when compared to, for example, Sharpe’s Patrick Harper, although clearly meant to fulfil the same role. A good, not great read.
