WWW Wednesday – 31 July 2019

On July 31, 2019July 31, 2019 By The Unseen LibraryIn WWW WednesdayLeave a comment

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words, where bloggers share the books that they’ve recently finished, what they are currently reading and what books they are planning to read next. Essentially you have to answer three questions (the Three Ws):

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

So, let’s get to it.

What are you currently reading?

Ghosts of the Past by Tony Park (Trade Paperback)

I am about half way through this book at the moment and I am really enjoying this complex and multi-layered tale from history. Make sure to check out my review for Park’s previous book, Scent of Fear.

Howling Dark by Christopher Ruocchio (Audiobook)

I am only a few hours into Howling Dark, but already it is shaping up to be a pretty epic piece of science fiction. I really loved the previous book in the series, Empire of Silence, and have been looking forward to getting Howling Dark for some time. I did get a physical copy of this book a couple of weeks ago (with my blog mentioned in the acknowledgements!!!), but decided to try out the audiobook version instead, as it was honestly the only way I could read this book any time soon with my current reading schedule.

What did you recently finish reading?

The Lost Ten by Harry Sidebottom (Hardcover)

Star Trek: The Captain’s Oath by Christopher L. Bennett (Audiobook)

Graveyard Shift in Ghost Town by Michael Pryor (Trade Paperback)

Dark Blade by Steve Feasey (Trade Paperback)

Usagi Yojimbo: The Hidden by Stan Sakai (Trade Paperback)

What do you think you’ll read next?

The Collaborator by Diane Armstrong (Trade Paperback)

The Blue Rose by Kate Forsyth (Trade Paperback)

I am currently planning to pull together a historical fiction column for the Canberra Weekly, featuring the above two novels and Ghosts of the Past. All three books sound really interesting, and they are all from talented Australian authors. This column should published in two weeks and I will post it up when it comes out.

That’s it for this week, check back in next Wednesday to see what progress I’ve made on my reading and what books I’ll be looking at next.

WWW Wednesday – 24 July 2019

On July 24, 2019 By The Unseen LibraryIn WWW Wednesday5 Comments

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

So, let’s get to it.

What are you currently reading?

The Lost Ten by Harry Sidebottom (Hardcover)

I’m currently halfway through this book and hoping to finish it off in the next day or so. I have been really looking forward to this book for a while, especially after Sidebottom’s previous book, The Last Hour. So far it has not disappointed and I am really enjoying it.

Star Trek: The Captain’s Oath by Christopher L. Bennett (Audiobook)

I am only a couple of hours into this but it is quite an interesting Star Trek book so far.

What did you recently finish reading?

Star Wars: Thrawn: Treason by Timothy Zahn (Trade Paperback)

Knight of Stars by Tom Lloyd (Hardcover)

King of Assassins by R. J. Barker (Audiobook)

What do you think you’ll read next?

Graveyard Shift in Ghost Town by Michael Pryor (Trade Paperback)

Dark Blade by Steve Feasey (Trade Paperback)

I am currently working on a young adult column for the Canberra Weekly, and I am planning to feature the two books above as well as War of the Bastards by Andrew Shvarts. It should make for a good column, which will be published in two weeks.

That’s it for this week, check back in next Wednesday to see what progress I’ve made on my reading and what books I’ll be looking at next.

WWW Wednesday – 17 July 2019

On July 17, 2019 By The Unseen LibraryIn WWW Wednesday3 Comments

I’ve seen a few bloggers I follow participate in WWW Wednesday recently and I thought it would be an interesting and fun new meme to take part in. WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words, where bloggers share the books that they’ve recently finished, what they are currently reading and what books they are planning to read next. Essentially you have to answer three questions (the Three Ws):

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

So, let’s get to it.

What are you currently reading?

Star Wars: Thrawn: Treason by Timothy Zahn (trade paperback).
I am about halfway through this book at the moment and it is pretty awesome. I loved the first two books in this series, Thrawn and Alliances, and Treason looks like it will do an amazing job finishing it off.

King of Assassins by R. J. Barker (audiobook).
I am finally getting around to reading another book on my Top Ten Books I Wish I Read in 2018 list by checking out the audiobook version of King of Assassins. I’m one-third through this audiobook at the moment and I am really enjoying it.

What did you recently finish reading?

The Kremlin Strike by Dale Brown

Nothing Ventured by Jeffrey Archer

A Capitol Death by Lindsey Davis (review to follow soon)

What do you think you’ll read next?

I am not entirely sure. I have a massive pile of books sitting at home at the moment and I want to read all of them, but for the sake of this question I have narrowed the list down to the top five I am currently considering:

Star Trek: The Captain’s Oath by Christopher L. Bennett

Angel Mage by Garth Nix

Guardian of the Empire by Kylie Chan

The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t With Her Mind by Jackson Ford

The Lost Ten by Harry Sidebottom

I honestly have no idea which one I am going to read next; they all sound pretty epic. What would you like to see a review of the most? This selection is likely to change at any moment for a variety of reasons, so don’t be surprised if the next book I end up reading is something extremely different.

I hope you enjoyed my first foray into WWW Wednesday; I know I did. I am planning to do this regularly from now on and I look forward to seeing what you think about the books I reading or planning to read and review in the near future.

Top Ten Tuesday – Auto-Buy Authors

On July 16, 2019June 17, 2020 By The Unseen LibraryIn List53 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. This week’s topic is to list my top ten auto-buy authors, that is the top ten authors whose latest books I will always buy no matter what.

This was a pretty cool topic to explore. There are a number of amazing authors out there whose books I will generally try to get each year due to how much I enjoyed their previous works. However, there are a few authors whose books I will automatically buy the moment they come out, many of whom I have been fans of for years. I managed to list my top ten of these authors, with a couple of honourable mentions thrown in as well. Fair warning: this top ten list features quite a large number of historical fiction authors. This is mainly because I previously focused solely on historical fiction for quite a long period of time and have only recently started getting into reviewing other genres such as science fiction or thrillers and have yet to finalise any auto-buy authors in these genres. I have added in a few fantasy authors, mostly because I have been reading these guys since I was fairly young, and their work is still incredibly impressive. Check out my list below:

Honourable Mentions:

Conn Iggulden

THe Falcon of Sparta Cover

One of the top authors of historical fiction, Iggulden has written some compelling books, set in some intriguing historical periods. His latest book, for example, The Falcon of Sparta, was pretty epic and focussed on an amazing event from history.

Mellissa Caruso

The Unbound Empire Cover (WoW)

This author’s debut series, the Swords and Fire trilogy, is just outstanding, and I will be adding all of her future books to the top of my reading list. Make sure to check out all the books in this series, including The Tethered Mage, The Defiant Heir and The Unbound Empire.

Harry Sidebottom

The Last Hour Cover

An author who focuses on Roman history, Sidebottom has recently started blending his books with the thriller genre, creating some intriguing reads, such as his 2018 release, The Last Hour. I currently have his latest book, The Lost Ten, on my shelf and cannot wait to read it.

Top Ten List (No Particular Order):

Terry Pratchett

The author of the Discworld series and the master of combining fantasy elements with comedic stories. Before he passed away, I could always expect to receive the latest Terry Pratchett book as a Christmas gift every single year, and I would often finish it off by the end of Christmas day. Since his death in 2015, I haven’t really bought any of his novels, although I did manage to obtain them all on audiobook, which I relisten to all the time. As Pratchett is and probably always will be my favourite author of all time, I had to include him on this list, especially as he was my original auto-buy author

Moving PIcture Cover

The Author’s Latest Book I bought/read:

Raising Steam was the last one of Pratchett’s books I received, while I recently reread Moving Pictures before I reviewed it earlier this year.

What is the Next Book from this Author that I will Auto-buy?

Maybe a nice copy of Good Omens, since I really enjoyed the show. I am planning to reread Pyramids next, as I am hoping to review it on the blog at some point.

Simon Scarrow

Simon Scarrow has to be one of my favourite historical fiction authors at the moment. His Eagles of the Empire series is one of the best Roman historical fiction series at the moment, and he has also produced a number of other books, including his Roman Arena and Invader novella series with T. J. Andrews, as well as his incredibly detailed Wellington and Napoleon Quartet. I have read all 17 of the books in his Eagles of the Empire series and am eagerly anticipating the 18^th book, which will be out later this year. This has to be one of my favourite historical fiction series at the moment, and I will pretty much grab anything written by Scarrow as a result.

the blood of rome cover

The Author’s Latest Book I bought/read:

The Blood of Rome (2018)

What is the Next Book from this Author that I will Auto-buy?

Either the 18^th book of the Eagles of the Empire series, Traitors of the Empire (out 14 November 2019), or Pirata (out 9 July 2019), the collected edition of the Pirata short stories that was recently released.

C. J. Samson

In my mind, the best author of historical murder mysteries at the moment has to be C. J. Samson. His Matthew Shardlake series is just incredible, as each book contains an extremely clever and detailed murder mystery that perfectly utilises the author’s Tudor England setting to tell a compelling story. Every one of his books generally becomes the best historical fiction releases of the year and will often be my favourite overall book of the year as well. As a result, each of Samson’s books are extremely high on my to-read list, and it’s such a shame there is usually a big gap between each of his books.

Tombland Cover

The Author’s Latest Book I bought/read:

Tombland (2018), which not only got a five-star review from me, but which made my Top Ten Reads of 2018 list.

What is the Next Book from this Author that I will Auto-buy?

Hopefully the eighth book in the Matthew Shardlake series, although I may have to wait till 2022 for it to come out. I have no doubt it will be worth it, though.

Raymond E. Feist

Raymond E. Feist is one of the best fantasy authors in the world today. His iconic Riftwar Cycle, which ran for nearly 30 years, is considered one of the greatest fantasy series in the world today and features some incredible books. Feist’s Talon of the Silver Hawk was one of the first fantasy books I ever read, and after falling in love with it I went back and read every single previous book he wrote, starting with Magician and moving onto books such as the epic Empire trilogy he wrote with Jenny Wurst. Without a doubt, Feist is one of my favourite authors of all time and I eagerly grab every new book he releases, including the books in his new series, The Firemane Saga, which started last year.

King of Ashes Cover

The Author’s Latest Book I bought/read:

King of Ashes (2018)

What is the Next Book from this Author that I will Auto-buy?

The Firemane Saga book 2 – (I believe it will be called Queen of Storms)

Lindsey Davis

Lindsey Davis is probably the most prominent authors of the ancient history murder mystery. Her iconic Falco series, which ran for 20 books, placed a character styled after a modern private investigator in ancient Rome, resulting in some entertaining and enjoyable reads. I first started reading the sequel series to Falco books, the Flavia Albia series, back in 2013 and haven’t looked back. Her books are a heck of a lot of fun, and I especially loved the fifth and sixth books in the series, The Third Nero and Pandora’s Boy, which had some extremely epic comedy moments. These Flavia Albia books are a great highlight of my April reading schedule, and I fully plan to keep buying them as long as Davis continues to write them.

a capitol death cover

The Author’s Latest Book I bought/read:

A Capitol Death (2019) – review to follow soon.

What is the Next Book from this Author that I will Auto-buy?

The Grove of the Caesars (April 2020)

Stan Sakai

I am a massive fan of many examples of comic books and magna, and I have had the pleasure of reading some amazing series from a variety of different publishers. However, the comic series that I look forward to the most each year is the Usagi Yojimbo series by Stan Sakai. There is just something about this series I cannot help but love, and I currently own all 32 volumes of the series, as well as some of the associated books. Sakai’s works are a must-get for me and he easily makes this list.

Usagi Yojimbo Mysteries Cover

The Author’s Latest Book I bought/read:

Usagi Yojimbo, Vol 32: Mysteries (2018)

What is the Next Book from this Author that I will Auto-buy?

Usagi Yojimbo, Vol 33: The Hidden (2019). I have already ordered this book and it is hopefully on its way.

Robert Fabbri

For the last few years, Robert Fabbri’s debut body of books, the Vespasian series, has been an extremely entertaining highlight of my reading year. The author did an amazing job of combining a compelling examination of the history of one of the most influential Roman Emperors with some of the wild and extreme stories of Roman excess and insanity. The end result is an amazing series of books that I absolutely devour when I get my hands of them. Fabbri is currently working on a new series of books, The Alexander Legacies, which I am really looking forward to, and I imagine I will grab every book in this future series.

Emperor of Rome Cover

The Author’s Latest Book I bought/read:

Emperor of Rome (2019). This book recently made my Top Ten Favourite Books from the First Half of 2019 list and is a heck of a lot of fun.

What is the Next Book from this Author that I will Auto-buy?

The Alexander Legacies – Book 1 (2020)

Ken Follett

Ken Follett is an extremely talented author who has been writing since the 1970s. While he was initially known for his clever thrillers, I am a fan of his incredible pieces of historical fiction. Follett has written some truly amazing pieces of historical fiction including his extraordinary book, The Pillars of the Earth. I was first introduced to Follett’s books with his epic Century trilogy, and honestly all I needed to do was read one of his massive books to fall in love with this author’s work. No one blends life stories of fictional characters with iconic moments of history like Follett does, and I am desperately waiting for his next piece of work

A Column of Fire Cover.png

The Author’s Latest Book I bought/read:

A Column of Fire (2017)

What is the Next Book from this Author that I will Auto-buy?

Unknown – Apparently a prequel to The Pillars of the Earth

R. A. Salvatore

This is another author I would consider to be one of the top fantasy authors in the world today. Few authors have the sustainability and imagination of R. A. Salvatore, and I have been a massive fan of his for years. After powering through his The Icewind Dale trilogy, the series I really fell in love with was his prequel series, The Dark Elf trilogy. The way that he built up the history of his most iconic characters was just outstanding and made me a fan for life. I have since bought or read every single Salvatore book set in the Forgotten Realms, including The Cleric Quintet and all the books featuring Drizzt Do’Urden, including the latest book Timeless, and will continue to read them as long as Salvatore rights about the character. I have also started getting into his books set in the Corona universe and have read the first two books in The Coven series, which started last year with Child of a Mad God.

Reckoning of Fallen Gods Cover

The Author’s Latest Book I bought/read:

Reckoning of Fallen Gods (2019)

What is the Next Book from this Author that I will Auto-buy?

Boundless (2019)

Bernard Cornwell

The final author to feature in this list is the author I consider to be at the top of the historical fiction genre, Bernard Cornwell. With over 55 historical fiction novels on his resume, Cornwell has written some incredible pieces of work, and I have been a huge fan of his for years. The first Cornwell books I read were part of The Last Kingdom series, and I quickly graduated to other series, such as The Grail Quest novels. I really love how Cornwell can tell a huge number of different stories from across the historical periods, whether he looks at prehistoric adventures in Stonehenge, battles in America with The Fort or setting an intriguing piece of crime fiction amongst the plays of Shakespeare in Fools and Mortals. His body of work is just amazing and I cannot wait to check out what he writes next.

War of the Wolf Cover

The Author’s Latest Book I bought/read:

War of the Wolf (2018)

What is the Next Book from this Author that I will Auto-buy?

Unknown

I hope you enjoyed my list. Are any of the authors featured within on your auto-buy author list? Let me know if the comments below or link through your auto-buy authors so I can check them out.

Book Haul – 14 June 2019

On June 14, 2019 By The Unseen LibraryIn Book HaulLeave a comment

Wow, what a week for books. I got an amazing selection from a variety of publishers that I am really excited to read. I also got a couple of books I bought online that I have been looking forward to for a while. This is a fantastic collection and I hope I get to read and review all of them.

Blood in the Dust by Bill Swiggs

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This is an excellent sounding Australian adventure story, which I have just started to read. Already 40 pages in and really enjoying it.

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

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This is an intriguing novel that is already getting a lot of interest. I am looking forward to checking out this book’s curious story.

Cold Storage by David Koepp

Cold Storage Cover.jpg

A compelling techno-thriller from one of the screenwriters of Jurassic Park, should be pretty epic.

Ghosts of the Past by Tony Park

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Another intriguing sounding piece of Australian fiction. I quite enjoyed Park’s last book, Scent of Fear, and this sounds like it will be an interesting historical adventure.

Angel Mage by Garth Nix

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The latest book from bestselling author Garth Nix. I absolutely loved Nix’s Old Kingdom series when I was younger and I a very keen to check out his new series.

The Unforgiving City by Maggie Joel

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Another book that dives in Australia’s history. This one should be a really good political thriller.

Graveyard Shift in Ghost Town by Michael Pryor

Graveyard Shift in Ghost Town Cover.jpg

Not sure if I’ll get a chance to read this one, but it still sounds like it could be a lot of fun.

The Lost Ten by Harry Sidebottom

The Lost Ten Cover

This is an excellent sounding historical fiction novel that I have been looking forward to for a while. I really loved Sidebottom’s last book, The Last Hour, and this one should hopefully be just as awesome.

God of Broken Things by Cameron Johnston

god of broken things cover

Yet another one that I have been looking forward to. I really enjoyed Johnston’s debut novel, The Traitor God, and cannot wait to see where Johnston takes this story next.

Top Ten Tuesday – First Ten Books I Reviewed

On April 24, 2019April 24, 2019 By The Unseen LibraryIn List4 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. For this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, bloggers get to talk about the first ten books that they ever did a review for.

This is quite an interesting topic for a top ten list, and it is one that proved to be a lot of fun for me to put together. It is always an intriguing prospect to dig back into one’s past, and I was quite curious to see what my earliest reviews were. Luckily, I have kept a copy of some of my earlier professional reviews for The Canberra Times, which were among the first reviews I ever did. Thinking back even further, I also remember doing a bunch of reviews or review-like documents for a random assortment of books back in my school days. I decided to include them, as I count them as books I have reviewed, especially as many of them required a large amount of work to do. As a result, my list is going to be an interesting combination of historical fiction books and some of the novels I read in high school, which luckily proved to be quite a unique and diverse collection of tomes.

While I am confident that I have listed the books in the order that I read and reviewed them, I may have to get a little vague when it comes to the dates I did them on. The actual dates are probably lost in some ancient hard drive or long dead family computer, but I am fairly certain of which year I did them in. Anyway, here is my list in the order that I reviewed them:

1 – The Other Side of Dawn by John Marsden – Reviewed in 2004

The Other Side of Dawn Cover.jpg
I reviewed The Other Side of Dawn when I was in year 8 for an English class I was doing. I cannot quite remember why we had to do reviews, but I remember inadvertently spoiling parts of the story for someone who hadn’t read it (an important lesson I remember to this day). The Other Side of Dawn is the seventh and final book in John Marsden’s Tomorrow series, which is one of the best and most iconic Australian young adult series of all time. I was a huge fan of the Tomorrow series when I was younger (I still am, to be honest; it is a pretty epic series) and I had just finished the final book when I had to write a review for class, so it seemed the logical choice. I cannot remember too many details about the review, but it got me a good mark, so it must have been alright. This is one of those series I have read numerous times, and I will have to review it on my blog at some point.

2 – To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee – Reviewed in 2006

To Kill a Mockingbird Cover.jpg

I reviewed this classic American novel from acclaimed author Harper Lee in an English class in year 10. We were starting to learn a lot about analysis and essay writing at the time and To Kill a Mockingbird was a major focus of our class. I wrote a bunch of reviews and essays for this book, and I found it to be quite a powerful and moving novel that is still relevant in this day and age.

3 – Daughter of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurst – Reviewed in 2007

Daughter of the Empire Cover
In the latter half of 2007 I was still in school, and we got a choice of which English classes we wanted to attend. Due to my love of the genre, I chose to do a fantasy fiction course, which was unfortunately taught by the very worst English teacher in our school, whose bad teaching still haunts me to this day. While the class as a whole was pretty shocking, we did get to read and review Daughter of the Empire. I was already a huge fan of Raymond E. Feist and his Riftwar series, so this was the perfect book to read in class. We did a number of reviews and essays for this book, and I loved it so much I have re-read Daughter of the Empire and its sequels several times in the last 12 years, even doing a review of the Empire trilogy on my blog last year.

4 – The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett – Reviewed in 2007

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The same fantasy course also required us to read and give an in-depth presentation on a fantasy book of our choice. I chose one of my favourite books in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, The Last Continent. The Last Continent is the 22^nd book in the Discworld series, and follows one of Pratchett’s most entertaining protagonists as he adventures around a continent on the Discworld that is definitely not Australia. I gave quite a good presentation on this book, if I do say so myself, and it was a great book to round out the class on. A review of The Last Continent will probably show up on this blog in the future, as it is quite a funny read.

5 – Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell – Reviewed in 2008

Postmortem Cover.jpg
Another book reviewed as part of an English class. Postmortem was the book we had to read and review as our main assessment in a pretty good crime fiction course. It was an interesting book to analyse, and we did a pretty detailed examination and discussion of the book throughout the length of the course. I have never really gone out of my way to read any other Cornwell books, but I am glad we got the chance to review Postmortem, and it was quite an intriguing piece of crime fiction.

6 – Outlaw by Angus Donald – Reviewed 26 September 2009

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Back in 2009, while I was in my first year of university, I got an opportunity to review some books for The Canberra Times. They were in need of someone to review historical fiction, and as that was the genre I was mostly reading at the time, I managed to secure a position as The Canberra Times’s historical fiction reviewer for a few years. For my first review, they gave me a couple of books publishers had sent them and told me to have a go at writing an article. The first book I read for this was Outlaw, the first book in Angus Donald’s The Outlaw Chronicle series. I really enjoyed this book and thought that it was a great reimagining of the classic Robin Hood story, and it proved to be an excellent book to do a proper, professional review for. Despite enjoying this book, I never got the chance to read any of the other books in The Outlaw Chronicles, which I see managed eight books in the end. I might have to see what Donald has been writing lately.

7 – Pieces of Eight by John Drake – Reviewed 26 September 2009

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In addition to Outlaw, my first article in The Canberra Times also featured a review of Pieces of Eight by John Drake. Pieces of Eight was another reimagining of a classic tale, as Drake created his own version of Treasure Island in this series. Pieces of Eight is the sequel to Drake’s first book, Flint and Silver, and featured a compelling adventure on the high seas. This was another great book to read, and I had a lot of fun reviewing Pieces of Eight.

8 – King of Kings by Harry Sidebottom – Reviewed 21 November 2009

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This was the second book in Sidebottom’s Warrior of Rome series, which continued the story started in his amazing debut, Fire in the East. Sidebottom is one of the top authors of Roman historical fiction, and back in 2009 I was very excited to check King of Kings out after enjoying his first book so much. This was another great historical adventure, with an epic twist at the end. Sidebottom is still going quite strong; The Last Hour was released last year, and his latest book, The Lost Ten, has just come out.

9 – Raiders from the North by Alex Rutherford – Reviewed 21 November 2009

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Raiders from the North is the first book in Rutherford’s Empire of the Moghul series, which charted the rise and fall of one of history’s most powerful and self-destructive dynasties. This was a very good book that looked at a very unique period of history that is quite under-represented in fiction. I ended up reading and reviewing nearly every book in the Empire of the Moghul series over the next couple of years, and I really enjoyed this very intriguing series.

10 – The Gladiator by Simon Scarrow – Reviewed 19 December 2009

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This is a good place to end my list. I am a huge fan of the Scarrow’s The Eagles of the Empire series, and it was one of the main historical fiction series that got me into the genre. As a result, I was very happy that I got a chance to review the ninth book in The Eagles of the Empire series, The Gladiator, so early in my reviewing career. The Gladiator is an excellent addition to the series which pitted its protagonist against a new type of opponent. This series is still going strong, with its 17^th book coming, The Blood of Rome, coming out last year.

I hope you enjoy my list; I had a good time putting it together. I will have to try and scan a few of these earlier columns onto my blog in the future. It was fun going back and seeing what some of my earliest reviews were.

Waiting on Wednesday – The Lost Ten by Harry Sidebottom

On February 20, 2019February 20, 2019 By The Unseen LibraryIn Historical Fiction, Thriller, Waiting on Wednesday6 Comments

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy. Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.

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This week I will be looking at an exciting new historical fiction novel that is coming out in April 2019, The Lost Ten by Harry Sidebottom. Harry Sidebottom is a well-established historical fiction author whose novels set in the Roman Empire are some of the best in the business. I have long been a huge fan of Sidebottom. I have previously mentioned how his second book, King of Kings, was one of the first books I ever reviewed, and I absolutely loved his most recent release, 2018’s The Last Hour. So I am extremely eager to get my hands on The Lost Ten, which sounds like it will be quite a fantastic read.

Goodreads synopsis:

A desperate rescue attempt deep behind enemy lines . . . this nail-biting adventure has all the hard-edged appeal of the Bravo Two Zero mission.

When Valens, a junior officer in the Roman Army, joins a crack squad of soldiers on a dangerous mission, little does he know what’s in store for him. Tasked with rescuing the young Prince Sasan, who has been imprisoned in the impenetrable Castle of Silence, the troops set out across Mesopotamia and into the mountains south of the Caspian Sea.

Deep in hostile territory, inexperienced Valens finds himself in charge. And as one by one his soldiers die or disappear, he begins to suspect that there is a traitor in their midst, and that the rescue is fast becoming a suicide mission.

Valens must marshal this disparate group of men and earn their respect, before it’s too late…

I love the sound of this plot synopsis, as it implies that Sidebottom will continue his winning formula from The Last Hour, where he combined pulse-pounding thriller elements with his usual detailed and intriguing historical fiction plots. This worked extremely well with The Last Hour, which was essentially 24 in Rome, and I am excited to see how a high-risk special forces mission will play out in this ancient setting.

I very intrigued by the Castle of Silence that is referenced in the synopsis, which brings a very intense and impenetrable stronghold to mind. From the other details contained within plot summary, it sounds like the Romans will have to infiltrate the Parthian Empire. I love the idea of a small force getting into this massive and sprawling empire, and I am very interested to see how the Parthians are able to insert a spy into a crack Roman unit.

Overall, I am extremely excited for this latest book from Harry Sidebottom, who has to be one of my favourite historical fiction authors. The Lost Ten sounds like it will be a thrilling and action-packed novel, and I really cannot wait for Sidebottom to once again blow my mind with his thriller/historical fiction hybrids.

Historical Review – Canberra Times

On June 22, 2018June 22, 2018 By The Unseen LibraryIn Extras3 Comments

Old Review 1 (adjustments)

Originally published in the Canberra Times on 21 November 2009.

A throwback to the first Harry Sidebottom book I reviewed, King of Kings.

Also my second review ever. A bit rough but not a bad start.

The Last Hour by Harry Sidebottom

On June 17, 2018June 25, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Historical Fiction, Thriller19 Comments

The Last Hour Cover

Publisher: Zaffre

Australian Publication Date – 1 May 2018

World Publication Date – 8 March 2018

Amazon

Ballista is back, baby! One of the best writers of Roman historical fiction, Harry Sidebottom, brings back his original protagonist for an incredibly gripping and action-packed novel that perfectly combines the thriller and historical fiction genres.

In Rome, in 265 AD, Marcus Clodius Ballista, former Dux Ripae of Rome and loyal friend of Emperor Gallienus, enters the Mausoleum of Hadrian to meet with an informant who wishes to talk to him about a plot to kill the emperor and usurp his throne. But the meeting is a trap, the informant is murdered, and Ballista is forced to jump into the River Tiber to escape the horde of assassins sent to kill him.

Washed up outside of the city and pursued by killers, Ballista only has 24 hours until Gallienus is murdered. With the conspirators still unknown to him, Ballista has no idea who he can trust and who can help him, but he must find a way to warn the emperor of the plot against him. If he fails, not only will his friend will be assassinated but Ballista’s family will also die in the ensuing takeover.

Now alone, unarmed, and with no money, bodyguards or friends around him, Ballista must find a way to re-enter the city and transverse the entirety of Rome to get to the emperor’s side. But the city is now a very dangerous place for him. The city watch are fully mobilised and ordered to arrest Ballista at all costs. In addition, mobs of disguised killers are searching for him everywhere, and they have no intention to taking him in alive.

As Ballista makes his way through the streets of Rome, he must find a way to avoid all the people searching for him while also overcoming the other dangers that lurk throughout the city. Will Ballista be able to save his friend and his family, or will his final defeat take place in the heart of the empire he has spent his whole life protecting?

Harry Sidebottom is a renowned British historian and veteran author of Roman historical fiction, having previously written two best-selling series, Warrior of Rome and Throne of the Caesars. The Last Hour is the 10th book from Sidebottom and a spinoff off from his Warrior of Rome series, featuring his original protagonist, Ballista. Ballista is a heavily fictionalized version of a famous Roman prefect, and served as the main character of Sidebottom’s first six books.

I’ve always had a soft spot for Sidebottom’s works, as his debut novel, Fire in the East, was one of the first pieces of historical fiction that I ever read, and featured one of the best accounts of a siege that I have ever read. His second book, King of Kings, was also one of the first books that I ever reviewed, and was a fantastic sequel that featured great story elements, set in an interesting and underused period of Roman history. Sidebottom’s latest book, The Last Hour, is an amazing hybrid of the thriller and historical fiction genres, featuring an intense, high-stakes journey through the ancient city of Rome.

The thriller aspects of this book are exhilarating. The protagonist is aware of a devastating assassination that is about to be committed and has only a limited time to reach and save the target. Sidebottom incorporates a ticking clock element to the story, as Ballista is constantly aware of the passing of time and how short a period he has to complete his objective to save not only his friend but his entire family as well. Needless to say, the author takes this story right down to the wire, and the reader has no idea whether Ballista will succeed or not; readers who are familiar with the previous books in the series will recall that King of Kings ended with Ballista and the previous emperor being both betrayed and captured by the enemy. The story gains a significant amount of intensity as the protagonist has no idea of who he can trust, nor who is aligned against him. Sidebottom also goes out of his way to ensure that the readers are in the dark about who the main conspirators are, even towards the end of the story. This intrigue is compounded as Sidebottom gives his audience a tantalising view of the antagonists meeting while also frustrating the readers by ensuring that these characters use codenames when talking to each other. As a result, the reader is intently drawn into the story by both the protagonist’s mad dash through the city and the immense desire to work out who the conspirators are and what their full plan is.

In addition to its electrifying thriller elements, The Last Hour also features an incredible exploration of ancient Rome and the range of people the protagonist encounters during his time in the city. Sidebottom is determined to highlight several different groups of people that were a factor in the city, including the city watch, the Praetorian guards, the emperor’s Germanic bodyguards and the frumentarii, who served as the emperor’s secret police. Each of these groups is an essential part of the emperor’s security and has a significant role to play in this novel, and the readers will be intrigued by Sidebottom’s descriptions of each of them. Ballista also encounters a range of other Roman citizens, from simple shopkeepers and men of the street to members of the city’s criminal underground, cults of Egyptian priests, hidden Christians and even drunk Roman nobles looking to assault people they meet on the street. Each of these adds to the rich tapestry of the historical city that Sidebottom has woven into existence. This tapestry is further enhanced by Sidebottom’s determination to provide detailed examinations of several of ancient Rome’s buildings and locations. These range from historically significant locations, like the coliseum, the Praetorian camp and the emperor’s palace, to more mundane locations that were a unique feature of the city of Rome, such as massive bathhouses and large apartment-style buildings. All these historical elements serve as terrific background for this extraordinary thriller based story.

Readers of this book are also in for an action-packed treat as the protagonist rampages through ancient Rome, continuously fighting off either the people hunting him or the regular citizens of Rome attacking him for their own reasons. As a result, The Last Hour is filled with innumerable action sequences that are guaranteed to amuse and delight all the action fanatics out there. Readers will be gifted with sequences that include a crazy fight and flight across the rooftops of the city, and a down-and-dirty fight in the steamy and mechanical workings of a bathhouse. There is also a siege on the roof of one of the city’s monuments and a large pitched battle in the streets of Rome. These fight scenes are great fun and increase in intensity throughout the book as the protagonist’s countdown goes on.

Harry Sidebottom has once again produced an incredible, fast-paced and exceedingly exciting action novel that combines the very best elements of a first-rate thriller with all the research and detail of an excellent historical fiction novel. A truly unique and utterly entertaining piece of literature, The Last Hour once again shows why Sidebottom is one of the very best authors writing about ancient Rome.