The Death of Kings

The first book in Conn Iggulden's highly impressive Emperor series, The Gates of Rome, immediately marked the author out as one of the most accomplished practitioners of the sweeping historical novel at work today. The second book, The Death of Kings, creates another massive panoply of the Ancient World with the young Caesar serving onboard a war galley in the dangerous tempest-tossed waters of the Mediterranean. Achieving a striking victory with his already fully formed intellect and forceful personality, things suddenly turn disastrous for him when he is captured by pirates and imprisoned on the North Coast of Africa. But Caesar knows he is not fated to end his prospects here, and uses his charisma and leadership abilities to forge a lean and lethal squadron of warriors who break out of captivity and find themselves involved in a bloody uprising in Greece. And, inevitably, Caeser is soon back on his way to Rome for another encounter that will have tremendous consequences both for him and his fellow Romans.

Iggulden's skills are many and varied: he is well aware that narratives such as this must have an irresistible forward impetus, and that's maintained with an inexorable control here. And he knows that the reader must constantly have the details of these fabulous ancient times conjured afresh throughout the book--but never at the expense of the trajectory of the story. The author's key achievement, though, is in his laser-sharp characterisation of Caesar and those he encounters--and this is where the real splendour of The Death of Kings lies: Caesar is very much a man of his time, but the conjuring trick of allowing the modern reader to enter his psychology is always handled with quiet assurance.

It's only matter of time before Hollywood gets its hand on this property, with its copious action, mighty sea battles and vivid backdrops--but this is the way to enjoy it, leaping with vigour from the printed page. --Barry Forshaw

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Stupendously good! - Rated
The Death of Kings is the second book in the Emperor series by Conn Iggulden. It sees Caesar captured and ransomed by pirates and seemingly left in disgrace on a wild and desolate coastline. However Caesar manages to fight his way back to Rome, where he begins to exert authority and build his army. This is a story of power, brutality and ultimately friendship.

This book is possibly even better than the first book in the series and definitely not something you should start if you've got a lot of important things to do, as they'll just end up ignored and forgotten! A truly exhilarating read and I only hope the rest of the series follows suit.

Some people have commented on the historical inaccuracy of this book and so I feel I should point out that this book is fiction and therefore should not have to exactly follow events as they happened (although I believe Iggulden does do this wherever he can anyway).

An excellent tale and something that is absolutely definitely worth a look at.

This is an awesome book - Rated
This is an awesome book, and well worth the read! It's so realistic and historically correct; its like travelling back in time! It features Ceaser's Ransoming, him going back to kill the pirate, and loads of other things! Buy this book if you like Roman history, or just need a new awesome book to read! Also, there's an awesome opening, featuring a night attack on a City/Fort that hadn't been paying taxes! I would also recommend reading The Fates by Tino Georgiou, if you haven't already. A truly superb novel.

Pleasantly Addictive - Rated

I have picked up the Wolfs of the Plains at Heathrow airport three weeks ago on my way back home and by the time I arrived I decided to order all the historical novels by Conn Iggulden. Now I am almost done with the third book in the Emperors series, the Filed of Swords, so my comment here relates to the whole series.

I have read many books by great authors who excel in bringing ancient events to life, but this guy is unbelievable. My advice is to start reading on a weekend or on a holiday as trying to read it during a working week can ruin your schedule.

I can not comment on the inconsistency of the historical events that many of my fellow readers have expressed their concern about as my knowledge of Roman history remains very general. However, I will say this, these books are of the highest quality as history based novels are concerned. The characters are vivid and the scenes are superbly described. The war scenes alone would get the book a five star rating.

A highly recommended read. A lot of fun.

Entertaining :) - Rated
It's not oftern I give a book 5 stars, but I felt this one deserved it so I did. It is a well writen, fast moving (thankfully as historical based books can ramble on a bit) and a good mix between solid fact and pure fiction. Ceasar himself is a brilliant character as is the somewhat rascal brutus and both characters will keep you wanting to read more about them and more importantly empaphise with them when things go wrong, which in some books is hard to do.

All in all a great read and don't forget the sequel!

Caesar Salad - Rated
A really good read. I was in fact addicted to it!
Only issue was it seemed to go on a little too long for me; but that could just be personal preference. I felt weary having to read beyond the start of the rebellion.
I would advise however to read this on holiday or, if you're a fast reader, to read it during the weekend.