Title: Centurion
Series: Galactic Gladiators; House of Rone #3
Author: Anna Hackett
Genre: Science Fiction Romance
Release Date: October 20, 2019
Format: eBook
Source: Bought

 

 

Angela 

I was born and raised in Northern Indiana. I’m an outdoor sun loving reader living near San Fransisco. I’m a mother, wife, dog owner, animal, and book lover. I’m the owner, reviewer, and mind behind Angel’s Guilty Pleasures. My favorite animals are horses & dogs. As for reading I love all things paranormal & urban fantasy. My favorite shifters are dragons!

 

 

With his historical novel, Centurion's Daughter, author and illustrator Justin Swanton takes the reader to the decline of Rome the great, and the rise of the Frankish Empire.

 

Seventeen-year-old Aemelia and her Frankish mother have lived in Reims all their lives. After her mother's death, Aemelia travels to Roman Gaul searching for her Roman father, Centurion Tarunculus, a man she has never seen and only knows through family lore. As Aemelia reaches Gaul, she sees a crowd making fun of a man giving a patriotic discourse about Rome's greatness. After inquiring about the whereabouts of Tarunculus, she is shocked to discover that the town's eccentric is, indeed, her father. Their first encounter is very heartbreaking to Aemelia because she is rejected by her only living relative. Since Taranculus has no knowledge of her, he thinks she is an impostor or a beggar and dismisses her. Despite this brusque first encounter, Aemelia finds herself a home and a family with him at Gaul.

 

The first two chapters were slow to my liking. However, the author cleverly used conversations between Aemelia, her father, and other characters to reveal crucial information about her life in Reims. After these get-to-know-me-better chapters, the reader will be totally engaged following Aemelia and her father through their daily routine in town.

 

 

It was interesting how the author created tension in the story by means of personality conflicts between Aemelia and her father. Aemelia is shy, prudent, obedient, and a devout Catholic. By contrast, her father is egocentric, dominant, bellicose, and agnostic; his only goal is restoring Rome's greatness. Their disparity in temperament will keep the reader captivated until the story's surprising end.

 

As the story unfolds, Aemelia's ability to speak, read, and write in Frankish and Latin is revealed to be a double-edged sword of critical importance. On the one hand, as news spreads that the Franks are about to attack Gaul, an ambitious member of the ruling class uses Aemelia's bilingual skills to arrange a secret meeting with Chlodovech, leader of the Salian Franks. The agreement they reach will have a pivotal effect on the Battle of Soissons, where Lord Syagrius is defeated, leading to the rise of the Franks over the Romans. On the other hand, once Gaul is conquered, Aemelia's ability will secure her family a steady income.

 

Because I do not have much experience reviewing historical novels, I found it extremely useful that the book included a glossary with brief explanations of the historical figures in the novel. It helped me to sort out the fictional and reality-inspired characters, as well as to verify the accuracy of facts mentioned in this page-turner of a story.

 

Including a foreign language in a book is challenging for an author since its use has to be limited so as not disrupt the narrative's momentum. Mr. Swanton skillfully utilizes the language only in those scenes were it is crucial to keep the story's authenticity. In those days, Latin was the language of the Church and the Roman Empire. Frankish was the dialect of the West Germanic tribes. Readers with a knowledge of Dutch or German will be able to fully understand it. Readers who cannot speak those languages will identify themselves with the Romans of Gaul who did not speak Frankish. If that was the intention of the author, kudos to him.

 

The story has all the elements of a great novel about Rome: betrayal, intrigue, clashes of the political and social classes and even a power struggle among the aristocracy, slavery, conquest, and an amazing battle. The few illustrations in the book help the reader to understand some crucial scenes. The elements of Catholicism depicted in the story offer a glimpse at the Church's importance during those times and its influence on politics and daily affairs. The author also mentions, through his characters' conversations, key saints whose diplomacy aided in the unification of the Germanic tribes and the beginning of a new era.

 

I highly recommend Centurion's Daughter to readers who fancy novels about ancient Rome.

I liked it very, very much!!!
The hero was great! The heroine too, but the hero was really yummy!!! He's a man nering his 40s and a soldier to boot (ops, sandals :D ). He's cunning and s Centurion respected by his soldiers for his honour and fairness. His authority in his centuria is absolute and the discipline is strict.

He meets he heroine when she stops a rape of her ward by his second in command. He's intrigues by his slight woman who manages to stop a brute of a man with only a knife. So the clash of their wills begins. She's terrified by him, but she's strong enough to not let him know it; he's intrigued by her courage and her beauty.

Their budding relationship is very well done.
His inflexibility towards the Roman law is abundantly shown both toward his men and her.

He has a very dominant personality (there's an almost BDSM scene ;) ), but he changes when in love.

Here's a small complaint: their love seemed too "instant" to me. I would have liked a little bit more time to get them to know each other. Instead they just met and the day after they're in love... it's too abupt, too soon... But it is really a small complaint!

The beauty of this book are the descriptions: of the men, of the country, of the Roman camp, of everybody's feelings. You just feel the weather and the mud under their feet. It's really amazing, and I felt like I was a direct witness of everything!

This story continues in the second book!!! Great!!!

Boring. Really, why do someone write book that is so flat, so boring, with paper cardboard characters.A bit of a plot would be nice, if it is not too predictable.Bored to tears. None of the character is likable. Don't waste your time on this one.

For what the story actually entails I find the title of the book very non descriptive. It makes one think of a romance novel and yet this tale was so very much more.The reader follows the bethrothal of a centurion and servant, which takes place shortly after the crucifixion of Jesus. They are both attached to the Romans and yet connected to the Judaean culture.The storyline of the two strangers who are to be bound together flows silently alongside the other plot, even if it was meant to be the other way around.What I found most interesting was the direction the author took. What would the people of that era have thought, how did they react and just how much did the events widen the space between the two groups, the believers and non believers.I was expecting a normal little romance and breathless sighing, instead this was a riveting introspective political and religious plot.If you look just a little closer inside the borders of the mainframe you might be pleasantly surprised, I know I was.