Hero of Rome

By: Douglas Jackson

Narrated by: Cornelius Garrett

Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

The Roman grip on Britain is weakening. Emperor Nero has turned his face away from this far-flung outpost. The Druids are on the rise, spreading seeds of rebellion among the British tribes. Roman cruelty and exploitation has angered their British subjects. The warrior queen Boudicca will lead the tribes to war.

Standing against the rising tide of Boudicca's rebellion is Roman Tribune, Gaius Valerius Verrens, Commander of the veteran legions at Colonia. Valerius leads the veterans in a last stand against the unstoppable horde of Boudicca's rebel army. Step by step, the bloodied survivors are forced back into the Temple of Claudius. It is here that Valerius wins lifelong fame and the accolade Hero of Rome.

©2012 Douglas Jackson (P)2012 Random House Audiobooks

Very enjoyable until the end...

I really enjoyed the book and the performance. I was perplexed by the final battle though...there is this great build up and then it's all of a sudden over. I feel like the author ran out of time or something.

Riveting and great narrator

I recommend this book to any who like Roman historical fiction.

In the vein of Lion of the Sun and the fellow books of that series, this book hooks you from almost the very beginning. It's easy to picture the scenes in your head as they are being described, and I found myself getting very attached to the characters, even shedding a tear or two during some of the more emotional scenes.

The narrator is perfect, that's one of the main reasons I loved the book. I'm also excited there's 5 more in this series. :)

I listened to this after finishing the Cicero trilogy by Robert Harris, and I would say this is *almost* as good, but about the common soldier instead. The author does do a good job of helping us to understand both sides of a conflict and allowing us to reach our own conclusions about what is right or wrong.

Highly recommended.

Not for the faint of heart

There is a lot of blood and gore but then this is a book about Roman soldiers. I don't normally read/listen to books with this level of brutality in them but I'm a lover of historical fiction so I gave it a try. The story is believable and intensely personal and detached all at the same time. I found myself torn between the characters and appreciate the author giving equal weight to both sides. The narrator is perfect. It took me a few chapters to get used to the idea of Roman soldiers having proper British accents but Cornelius Garrett is a master and I quickly acclimated. Overall a good book that leaves you thinking.

Good story, well told and well read

Where does Hero of Rome rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Top 3; as a sci-if and fantasy junkie, this was a nice change. Nice to have the historical perspective.

What did you like best about this story?

The historical nature of the story, at times very gory and at times intellectual. The author does a great job of building his characters, and the tension.

What about Cornelius Garrett’s performance did you like?

Good tone and pace, no goofy voices, matched the seriousness of the material.

Any additional comments?

This is a great story that makes you appreciate both sides of the conflict, while still letting you cheer for a hero. It would make a great mini series!

Fun read, but remember its still FICTION lol

My title is written in those words because I read many reviews on historical fiction books that tell me how this or that is inaccurate, Hey! Fellow Reader, it's called HISTORICAL FICTION for a reason?!? If u want to nitpick just read historical books which in no way contain any absolute truths because the written history is done by man & so is the research, it's so annoying to see some reader tell me this or that didn't really happen... Thanks cpt. Obvious it's fiction based off a varying amount of 'known' history, most books of this type will even tell u what parts the author elaborated on at the end

In the end this FICTION novel was entertaining, if I want the supposed truth from a particular ethnic perspective I'd read history, & even then pay attention to the author, the American revolution has diff interpretations... So plz stop trying to point out truth from fact professor, ur ruining the imagination & fun the author is tryin to provide!!

Fun book, even though I'm sure there is a lot of fiction in this fiction!? LoL

Well done book for Roman English history fans

Good read.....interesting take on the Roman conquest of the native tribes. I wish there was a little longer description of final battle between the Legions and Boudica.

I was not entertained

Dealing with technical aspects first, this was my worst experience with Audible or other narrated books. I have been listening to a Kindle reader for a couple of years so that I could see maps, illustrations, notes, ... As this was the first book of the last 15 consumed that offered, I opted to get the Audible reader. HUGE mistake. I guess that the connection between Audible and Kindle has changed recently. I initially could not get the Audible to sync up. When I did, the reading started in the middle of the second paragraph, and no attempt at restarting would allow me to hear the first paragraph and a half. That is odd as every time I paused the reading, Audible took me back to the start of a chapter - and not necessarily the chapter that I had paused at.
I apologize for postponing the actual review. The narrator was one of the worst I have been subjected to in the several hundred readings that I have heard. This is, of course, a subjective viewpoint, but the narrator, while enunciating clearly, seemed to use the same stentorian narration no matter the circumstance. It just really annoyed me, sounding like a bad imitation of Richard Burton. But then part of the blame lies with the author - at least for me. As the Audible forced me to try to end each listening at the end of a chapter, I tried to hear at least one full paragraph each time. I know that a book has enveloped me when I cannot pit it down. The opposite was the case here. I read "Hero of Rome" hoping to find the joy of Simon Scarrow's Cato and Macro books, but this is/was the only Douglas Jackson book that I will open.