Sierro
20-Oct-2004, 01:56
Finished reading this Richard Harris book last night. I found it to be thoroughly enjoyable right from the start. It's obvious to us that the events going on are caused by the imminent eruption of Vesuvius yet to the characters in the tale, Vesuvius is just a mountain. The mystery story then unfolds through the eyes of four major characters - Attilius the engineer, in charge of the Aqua Augusta, Ampliatus, a rich entrepeneur, Corelia, his adolescent daughter who provides the obligatory romantic twist, and Pliny the Elder, who of course wrote the series of books entitled Natural History.
I found the style of the writing remarkably similar to David Gemmell, I have to say - which is no bad thing in my view. Harris really creates tension leading up the eruption, and although for a brief couple of chapters I felt the story had lost its edge, the finale was well worth getting to, really getting across the terror and chaos that must have surrounded the AD79 eruption.
All in all, a great read, particularly if you're interested in historical fiction or the Roman period. Even better, it only costs £3.73 from Asda :)
I found the style of the writing remarkably similar to David Gemmell, I have to say - which is no bad thing in my view. Harris really creates tension leading up the eruption, and although for a brief couple of chapters I felt the story had lost its edge, the finale was well worth getting to, really getting across the terror and chaos that must have surrounded the AD79 eruption.
All in all, a great read, particularly if you're interested in historical fiction or the Roman period. Even better, it only costs £3.73 from Asda :)