Medieval History
Geology meets Volcanology meets All Round Mr Nice Guy. That is Pompeii by Robert Harris.
Having read Imperium by Robert Harris few short months ago (and having reviewed it here on the Blog) I found that I quite enjoyed his uncomplicated writing style. I in no way mean unsophisticated or simplistic, for he is an author who can comfortably shoulder the mantle of an old fashioned storyteller.
Many authors try to be story tellers, but they over write or have not the skill and under write, or get caught up in too many tangents, thinking that everything they do has to be with the single intent of delivering the next great International Epic Bestseller.
Pompeii certainly became an International Bestseller, but it was not really an epic. It was a story of a man - an Aquarius - and was melded with a intriguing blend of geology, volcanology and precise Roman history. Very well done, in my opinion, but no epic.
I do not know if the geological and volcanological elements would put others off, whether others may prefer a story about people only, but I happened to find them extraordinarily fascinating.
I have a feeling the book was not what some may expect. Where you may have expected a Wilbur Smith type epic - multiple characters and their lives in the lead up to the Mt Vesuvius explosion - that is not what you got.
Robert Harris gave you instead, Attilius, an Aquarius who came to the Bay of Naples as a result of the mysterious disappearance of the former Aquarius, Exomnius, and took over the running of the Aqueducts. And for the most part, this is Attilius' story as he finds the water supply in disarray and bit by bit, clue by clue, he starts to unravel the causes. Will it be in time though? Obviously, since everyone knows what happened to Pompeii and Herculaneum, everyone will realise he cannot be in time to do anything about those disasters, but can he be in time to avert others?
I found the final third of the book to be the most compelling. The eruption and the various stages of the eruption and how it might be experienced from different places in the surrounding area. In the towns, at the base of the volcano, on the water, in the Bay. I was mesmerised by it all.
There was a moment where I thought the book perhaps could have finished and yet it went on. And there was a scene or two that seemed inserted to make the book longer as those scenes kind of tripped up the urgent momentum of the book during the eruption.
But I had to give the book 5 stars. It deserved it in my opinion. For despite its flaws, it had me at ave.
- MM
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Medieval History
Volcanology Gets Cool - POMPEII by Robert Harris
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| Pompeii by Robert Harris |
Having read Imperium by Robert Harris few short months ago (and having reviewed it here on the Blog) I found that I quite enjoyed his uncomplicated writing style. I in no way mean unsophisticated or simplistic, for he is an author who can comfortably shoulder the mantle of an old fashioned storyteller.
Many authors try to be story tellers, but they over write or have not the skill and under write, or get caught up in too many tangents, thinking that everything they do has to be with the single intent of delivering the next great International Epic Bestseller.
Pompeii certainly became an International Bestseller, but it was not really an epic. It was a story of a man - an Aquarius - and was melded with a intriguing blend of geology, volcanology and precise Roman history. Very well done, in my opinion, but no epic.
I do not know if the geological and volcanological elements would put others off, whether others may prefer a story about people only, but I happened to find them extraordinarily fascinating.
I have a feeling the book was not what some may expect. Where you may have expected a Wilbur Smith type epic - multiple characters and their lives in the lead up to the Mt Vesuvius explosion - that is not what you got.
Robert Harris gave you instead, Attilius, an Aquarius who came to the Bay of Naples as a result of the mysterious disappearance of the former Aquarius, Exomnius, and took over the running of the Aqueducts. And for the most part, this is Attilius' story as he finds the water supply in disarray and bit by bit, clue by clue, he starts to unravel the causes. Will it be in time though? Obviously, since everyone knows what happened to Pompeii and Herculaneum, everyone will realise he cannot be in time to do anything about those disasters, but can he be in time to avert others?
I found the final third of the book to be the most compelling. The eruption and the various stages of the eruption and how it might be experienced from different places in the surrounding area. In the towns, at the base of the volcano, on the water, in the Bay. I was mesmerised by it all.
There was a moment where I thought the book perhaps could have finished and yet it went on. And there was a scene or two that seemed inserted to make the book longer as those scenes kind of tripped up the urgent momentum of the book during the eruption.
But I had to give the book 5 stars. It deserved it in my opinion. For despite its flaws, it had me at ave.
- MM
- A Little Lamb: The Lion And The Lamb By John Henry Clay
The Lion and The Lamb It is about time that books of this kind - set in this period of history and of an epic nature - begin appearing in bookstores. Books that cover similar, are generally old or dated ones now. Published many decades ago and no longer...
- The Bruce Take Two: Renegade By Robyn Young
Renegade by Robyn YoungRenegade (book two in the Insurrection Trilogy) was another solid offering from bestselling historical fiction author Robyn Young. It detailed many of the more interesting events that took place during the lifetime of...
- The Wind Thrums The Ropes Once More - Crowbone By Robert Low
Crowbone by Robert LowI won't pretend Robert Low did not throw me when I first found out #5 in the series was not going to be in the voice of his creation Orm Bearslayer. In fact thrown is an understatement. I had spent four previous books of...
- Earning One's Stars: The Oath By Michael Jecks
?????? The Oath by Michael JecksIt is not easy to compose this review of The Oath by Michael Jecks. It is #29 in a 32 book series and I have three more in the series to read after this one. So how does a reviewer keep it fresh and not find her or...
- Author Robert Low - Why I Really Like His Books And Stuff
In recent days, Richard Lee from the Historical Novel Society, Justin Lindsay (HNS member and fellow blogger) and myself (as a guest contributor), collaborated on an article for the Historical Novel Society. It was timed to go out with the launch...