Publisher: Zaffre (Trade Paperback – 17 January 2023)
Series: Warrior of Rome – Book Nine
Length: 375 pages
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
One of the best and most compelling authors of Roman historical fiction, Harry Sidebottom, returns with another outstanding entry in his Warrior of Rome series, Falling Sky.
There are many outstanding authors who specialise in historical fiction set in ancient Rome, however, one of my absolute favourites is the always impressive Harry Sidebottom, who has been dominating the genre for most of my reviewing career. Sidebottom has written some amazing novels over the years, including his Throne of the Caesars trilogy and some excellent standalone novels, like The Lost Ten and The Return. However, my favourite series is his Warrior of Rome novels, which follow the Roman general Ballista, a former barbarian hostage turned Roman nobleman. This series is pretty damn epic and was amongst some of the earlies novels I ever reviewed. His debut novel, Fire in the East, remains one of the best siege novels I have ever had the pleasure of reading, and the rest of the series is also very impressive and inventive. I have really loved some of his more recent Warrior of Rome books, such as The Last Hour and The Burning Road, and I was very happy to see that Sidebottom was continuing this series with Falling Sky.
AD 265, Gaul. The usurper Postumus has been declared Emperor by his soldiers and has taken control of key territories west of Rome, including Gaul, Germania, Hispania and Britannia. Setting up his capital within Gaul, Postumus hopes to maintain control of his new empire and peacefully coexist with Emperor Gallienus. However, Gallienus wants vengeance for the death of his son at Postumus’s hands and has assembled a massive army to cross the Alps, take back Gaul, and kill his rival.
Amongst the Roman troops gathered to attack Gaul is Ballista, one of Gallienus’s most loyal supporters. Determined to fight one more battle and then retire to Sicily with his family, Ballista finds himself at the forefront of the fight as one of Gallienus’s most able commanders. However, Ballista has a far more troubling problem to deal with than battle. His recent actions in Rome exposed a massive conspiracy to kill Gallienus and install a new Emperor. While he was able to foil the assassination, the leader of the conspiracy remains at large, and Ballista is convinced that it was the Praetorian Prefect Volusianus, the man charged with keeping Gallienus safe.
With no evidence to support his suspicions, all Ballista can do is watch Volusianus and wait for him to slip up. However, Volusianus is aware of Ballista’s suspicions and is determined to kill him before his machinations can be revealed. When Ballista is sent on a dangerous mission deep into enemy territory with a column of cavalry, it represents the perfect opportunity for Volusianus to strike using spies and traitors. However, the greatest threat to Ballista may come from the turning tides of war, as he and his men soon find themselves trapped far behind enemy lines. Pursued by the enemy and surrounded by traitors, can even the legendary Ballista survive both the war and his friends in Rome?
This was another brilliant and captivating historical read from Sidebottom that perfectly continues the Warrior or Rome series with another exciting adventure. Falling Sky is a very thrilling read, and it was one that I was able to finish off quite quickly, especially once I got caught up in its fantastic and fun narrative.
Falling Sky has a very fast-paced narrative that sees the forces of the Emperor Gallienus, including Ballista, return to Gaul (France) to end Postumus’s rebellion and restore the Empire. The initial chapters set the scene brilliantly, as you get reacquainted with Ballista and his recent adventures, as well as some insights into his suspicions around Volusianus’s role in the recent assassination of the emperor. Featuring some great early battle sequences in the Alps, you soon get a great idea of the war to come, especially when you also see some events through the eyes of Postumus and his forces. The centre of the book is dominated by a pivotal major battle sequence with both armies clashing in a brutal series of chapters that really leaves an impression. It also sets the rest of the story up extremely well, as the still suspicious Ballista is sent out on a dangerous mission he isn’t supposed to come back from. This cavalry focused plot dominates the second half of the book and features a great blend of action, historical logistics, and espionage as Ballista tries to keep his troops alive, while a traitor in his ranks works to bring him down by any means necessary. This leads to an excellent final third of the book, when Ballista and his troops are forced to retreat through half of Gaul, while traitors and problems from the protagonist’s past wait for him. This turns into a fantastic chase sequence between enemy regiments, and I really loved how epic and intense it got in places. The entire story wraps up really well, and I had a wonderful time getting through this awesome read.
Falling Sky turned out to be a pretty awesome book, and I loved how Sidebottom set his latest novel out. There was an interesting change of style in Falling Sky from some of his previous novels, as Sidebottom had recently been experimenting with blending different thriller genres with historical settings. Falling Sky, however, represents a more classic historical fiction war novel, with a focus on battles, major recorded events, and the continued growth in Ballista’s character as he becomes more and more disenchanted with Rome. While I had a ton of fun with Sidebottom’s previous unique formats, I also enjoyed him returning to the style from the previous Warrior of Rome novels, with a compelling focus on historical war. The author still does maintain some interesting thriller elements, including the fun espionage moments as Volusianus and the hidden traitors work to take out Ballista. In addition, the thrilling and extensive flight of Ballista and his forces really ratchets up the tension for the end of the novel and I enjoyed how complex and powerful it became, easily resulting in it some of the best parts of the book.
The author’s use of perspective was also pretty effective, especially in the first half of the novel, which sees different chapters told from the point of view of several different key characters, including Ballista, Volusianus, Postumus and Volusianus’s spy in Ballista’s regiment. Alternating point-of-view characters really helped to produce a more extensive and compelling plot, and I loved seeing the countermoves of Ballista and Volusianus, while also getting insights into Postumus’s rebellion. This use of perspective changes towards the end of the novel as there is a much greater focus on Ballista as the primary narrator as he leads his troops in their escape. I appreciated Sidebottom’s decision to mix things up this late in the novel, and it really helped to emphasise just how desperate and compelling this final section of plot truly was. While Falling Sky is part of the larger Warrior of Rome series, it can be read as a standalone novel, especially for any fans of fun historical adventure and military fiction. Sidebottom does an excellent job of quickly recapping necessary information and events from the previous novels throughout Falling Sky, and readers can grasp key connections and details to follow along with the plot. The events of Falling Sky actually fall between the two previous books in the series, The Last Hour and The Burning Road, which was apparently caused by a change in the publishing schedule. That does mean that if you have read The Burning Road in advance of this novel, the stakes of Falling Sky’s plot are slightly reduced. However, I still had a ton of fun with this outstanding novel, and I really enjoyed how Sidebottom wrote the story.
I was also deeply impressed by the historical aspects of Falling Sky, which was one of the book’s strongest features. Sidebottom has always excelled at exploring fantastic aspects of Roman culture and history, and Falling Sky is a pretty good example of this, especially has he closely examined Emperor Gallienus’s second invasion of Gaul in the second half of the 3rd century. This period of Roman history doesn’t get a lot of love from other historical fiction authors, and as a result, Sidebottom’s books always feel quite unique, and I always have a great time learning more about this point of Roman history. Sidebottom really does a good job exploring the origins of the war with Postumus’s Gallic Empire, and it was fascinating to see how this part of the Roman Empire splintered off and managed to hold out against the main Roman army for so long. This results in some deeply intriguing scenes where politics, loyalties and personal ambitions are heavily featured, and a Roman civil war novel always contains some brilliant battles as the two armies utilise similar strategies. Falling Sky also has some outstanding depictions of Gaul and the Alps during this period, especially as the protagonist ends up spending much of the book traversing the landscape at high speed. Not only was it really cool to see historical depictions of so many different parts of modern-day France (the map up front was very useful), but many of these locations served as fantastic backdrops for the vicious battles that emerged.
In addition to cleverly examining the historical backdrop to the narrative, Sidebottom also ensures that his representations of the Roman soldiers and battles were as detailed as possible. You can clearly tell that Sidebottom has done a ton of research when it comes to the depictions of the various soldiers, and you can practically see how they would have marched or engaged in battle. The author’s epic battle scenes are particularly cool to read, and the clashes between the two opposing Roman armies are perfectly showcased, allowing you to fully experience the brutality and carnage. However, the best historical highlight of Falling Sky revolves around the Roman cavalry, which Ballista commanded for much of the book. Sidebottom spends much of book diving into and detailing as many aspects and experiences of the classic Roman cavalry as he can, including their practices, strategies, and general experiences. This comes across extremely well in many scenes of Falling Sky, and it was fascinating to see Ballista get to grips with his new cavalry command and turn them into an effective force. The sheer detail that accompanies the cavalry into every major fight of Falling Sky is very cool and I loved seeing the author’s depictions of how they would have fought and what strategies a commander like Ballista would have utilised in several different scenarios. I had such an amazing time seeing these historical details and more get translated across into a thrilling action novel, and Sidebottom clearly has so much love for all things Roman.
Harry Sidebottom remains one of my absolute favourite authors of Roman historical fiction, especially when it comes to his Warrior of Rome novels. Falling Sky is an outstanding new addition to the series, and I loved its clever war focused plot that saw one of Sidebottom’s best characters leading in compelling circumstances. Loaded with action, espionage, and impressive historical detail, Falling Sky is an amazing book that I had an incredible time reading. Highly recommended to all fans of the historical fiction genre.
The Unseen Library 