Conn Iggulden: Emperor Series (4 books)

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I would have to say this has been one of the best reads ever!! Back when I was a kid I would read like crazy. It seemed that stopped around the time I got to high school. But I always had a book near my bed or I would carry it to school with me and read when I had the chance. It seems I have not lost that desire to read, I just had to find a good book. Honestly, it was hard to select the first book(s) to do a review on b/c I've read about 4 or 5 good ones in the past few months. I decided to select "The Emperor" series due to how infatuated I've become with Caesar and the Roman empire. It's historical fiction which can get a bit frustrating b/c you think you're learning something but end up finding out that history has been twisted a bit to make it a better story. For example, Caesar was apart of the battle that crushed the slave rebelion led by Spartacus. I've since learned that this could be true b/c Caesar was a genius when it came to war and you think they would've wanted him there but there is no proof that he actually took part in it. I won't give away any more examples b/c it will give parts of the books away. All the main characters in history are in this book, Pompey, Antony, Servilia, Cato, Sustenious, Crassus, Cleopatra, etc. The book starts as Julius (Gaia) is being trained as a young boy along with Brutus (Marcus). His dad spared no expense to get him to be both educated in the art of war and to become quite the fighter. Marcus was by far the superior fighter but people just wanted to follow Caesar. People believed in him despite the fact that he was obviously egocentric. He was good at hiding that and making it seem like he was concerned by Rome and the Republic. Perhaps at times he was but he forgot about it too often. Still, these books cause you to grow quite fond of both Brutus and Caesar and in the end, you don't know who you liked more, at least I don't. Through out the story, a few amazing characters were created, the gladiators that were now free men who trained Julius and Brutus were briliant fighters. One who seemed more like a father figure while the other was just a bully who respected strength and toughness and nothing else. I liked them both. The third guy that followed these two around for most of these books was a strange healer from some far off country. He must have possessed some sort of magical ability b/c he could heal people by simply putting his hands on them. He was old yet was quite the fighter. He reminded me a bit of a humble Gandolf from Lord of the Rings. He chose to stay with them only b/c he knew he would see interesting things. Despite all the war and killing he would see. I could go on and on about these books. They are the kind of books you don't want to put down. I would have to say they are probably a bit better than The Gates of Fire. And that was a great book!! Books included in the series: The Gates of Rome: Emperor The Death of Kings Emperor: The Field of Swords Emperor: The Gods of War