This comic collection is about Simon, an investigator, sent out to Hadrian's Wall, an exploratory spaceship, to solve to investigate the death of Edward, his former boss and his ex-wife's husband. A murder inquiry ensues but betrayal and conflict with a colony get in the way.

 

This is well-illustrated and reasonably interesting. Sci-fi fans as well as mystery fans should enjoy this series: characters are well-developed and form an important part of the story which takes place in a science-fiction context but could be anywhere or anywhen.

 

 

 

Hadrian Bothwell was never an excellent fit with a religious calling, so when his titled brother asks him to take over running the family estate, Hadrian gives up vicaring and returns to Cumberland. He’s spent years thinking of Lady Avis Portmaine as the woman he should have fought for, but he finds Avis has become a recluse on the neighboring estate, socially shunned, and more unavailable than ever.

If Hadrian wants to win the lady’s heart, he must first win her freedom from the past that continues to torment her.

On Hadrian's Secret Service - Gavin Chap... Gaius Drusus Flaminius of the 9th Legion is based in Britain during the reign of Hadrian.
Enrolled into the Commisary (a sort of spy network), he is soon privy to a plot to assassinate the emperor.
Finding himself outlawed for this knowledge, and wanted dead or alive (preferably dead), can he ensure the safety of the emperor?

Not a bad book, has interesting characters and moves along at a good pace.
Offers another theory of what may have happened to Legio IX Hispania (their mysterious disappearance in real life makes them a favourite for novellists).

As far as Roman historical fiction goes, this is a good start to a possible series. Although it will most likely be compared against Simon Scarrow's Falco & Cato books that would be a bit unfair. This is a good novel of the genre in its own right.

My reaction to [b:Memoirs of Hadrian|12172|Memoirs of Hadrian|Marguerite Yourcenar|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1416448158s/12172.jpg|1064574] astonished and amused me: I'm not used to reacting to novels the way people react to [b:The Secret|52529|The Secret (The Secret, #1)|Rhonda Byrne|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1391995828s/52529.jpg|2001660] - with a deep conviction that this book could give me strength and shield me from depression; a need to underline three passages per page, to buy copies for my honours students, to recommend it to past students and my friends; finally - a desire to own a copy, which vanished the moment I read the final sentence.

Perhaps more interesting is the fact that I found this novel difficult to discuss other than in terms of my reaction to it; I found it dissolved my criticism. Moreover, I was simply embarrassed at my reaction, and had a crawling suspicion that something is wrong with this book; that my reaction cannot be attributed to anything else but kitschiness of sorts; that this novels tricks me, on some level.

I mentioned to that to an elderly and extremely well-read friend of mine, who listened patiently to my infatuated-but-mistrustful story, and said:

- It's the French way. They tend to articulate every last bit of their thoughts in a very polished way. We tend to look for the missing two-thirds of an iceberg, and in French books, there's frequently nothing left under the surface - they deliver their message fully and openly. You said it felt like a manifesto, and to me, French literature frequently has this manifesto-like feel.

To conclude: it is a beautiful, didactic and uplifting novel, written soon after the dramatic events of World War II; it can make you feel like a better person - or, if you're anti-establishment, anti-interventionalism, it can make you irritated. My inner Ventrue loved it.

 

This one was just OK.  The plot with the villain who is harassing Lady Avis doesn't work at all, and pretty much throughout the book I was wondering, where the heck were Lady Avis' brothers, who were supposed to protect her both from her original disastrous engagement, and from the harassment and social ostracism she's undergoing at the time of the book???  First, they should have prevented her from even meeting the guy she got betrothed to, since his proclivities and general sociopathy were well-known in the neighborhood. Second, why didn't Avis' brother Benjamin Hazlit the super-sleuth investigate the background and history of Lily, Avis' "companion" before hiring her?  How did she even get considered for the position? And how could Benjamin have been totally in the dark about Avis' problems with her neighbours? What happened to the other brother, Vim, who is also supposed to be protecting her?  He seems to have fallen off the face of the earth in this story. (I guess if the brothers had been looking after Avis properly there would have been no story.) 

 

So - even though Avis and Hadrian are sweet characters and there are some sweet scenes in the book, it is has too many problems for me to rate it any higher. I also went back to re-read the story of Avis' sister Alexandra in "Ethan, Lord of Scandals", which I originally rated quite highly, and had to downgrade its rating too, because it just didn't stand up to a second reading.