Masters of Rome series - good/bad?

DiscussieHistorical Fiction

Sluit je aan bij LibraryThing om te posten.

Masters of Rome series - good/bad?

Dit onderwerp is gemarkeerd als "slapend"—het laatste bericht is van meer dan 90 dagen geleden. Je kan het activeren door een een bericht toe te voegen.

1Cecrow
nov 29, 2017, 7:55 am

Contemplating starting the Masters of Rome series beginning with The First Man in Rome by Colleen McCullough. Seems based on reviews that the first few books are worthwhile and then diminishing returns. Is this worth getting into, and how far? Better Roman historical fiction I should look at instead?

2JP000
dec 3, 2017, 1:57 am

I really like the whole series, but the seven books cover four generations over a period of 84 years, so you do get slow periods in Romes history between the periods of major upheaval. I did get to the end of the more than five and a half thousand page story wishing there was more, so that has to say something.
The Vespasian series by Robert Fabbri fits on the end of Masters of Rome nicely, though not nearly as good as the Masters of Rome, it covers another 90 odd years through the Julio-Claudian dynasty, the year of the four emperors and the founding of the Flavian dynasty. By the time the later series is finished the two together should cover about 180 years of Romes most interesting and turbulent history.

3john257hopper
dec 3, 2017, 10:56 am

I love the Masters of Rome series, I think it is the some of the best historical fiction, and I have read a lot from a range of different time periods.

I have the first two in the Vespasian series on my TBR list.

4orsolina
jan 6, 2018, 5:54 pm

These are well-written, but I would agree that the earlier ones are superior. I learned a few juicy Latin expressions in the process, too! Fortune's Favorites was my pick as the best of the series, perhaps because McCollough clearly enjoyed writing about Caesar.

On the other hand, the author's characterization of Cleopatra was disappointing, flat and colorless. Where was the charisma of which Plutarch wrote? Where was the intelligence and vitality?

5ThomasStCatherine
jan 20, 2018, 11:51 pm

Did you get started? I highly recommend the whole series. It's brilliant in so many ways.

Like the Aeneid rule of thumb, the odd numbered books are the best (generally speaking). The idea that the first three books are good and then the series falters is wrong. The fourth book is called Caesar's Women and because of the title it seems to me to be written to appeal to a mass audience. But by the second half of that book the narrative picks back up. Some of the best scenes are in books 5 and 6.