Type of bind: Audio Cassette
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9780007193653
Format: Abridged, Audiobook
ISBN number: 0007193653
Label: HarperCollins Audio
Manufacturer: HarperCollins Audio
Quantity: 4
Printing Date: September 06, 2004
Publishing house: HarperCollins Audio
Sale Popularity Level: 3136586
Studio: HarperCollins Audio
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Product Description:
The second volume in the acclaimed Emperor series, in which Conn Iggulden brilliantly interweaves history and adventure to recreate the astonishing life of Julius Caesar -- an epic tale of ambition and rivalry, bravery and betrayal, from an outstanding new voice in historical fiction. The young Caesar must overcome enemies on land and at sea to become a battle-hardened leader -- in the spectacular new novel from the bestselling author of The Gates of Rome. Forced to flee Rome, Julius Caesar is serving on board a war galley in the dangerous waters of the Mediterranean and quickly gaining a fearsome reputation. But no sooner has he had a memorable victory than his ship is captured by pirates and he is held to ransom. Abandoned on the north African coast after hard months of captivity, he begins to gather a group of recruits that he will eventually forge into a unit powerful enough to gain vengeance on his captors and to suppress a new uprising in Greece. Returning to Rome as a hero -- and as an increasingly dangerous problem for his enemies -- Caesar is reunited with his boyhood companion Brutus. But soon the friends are called upon to fight as they have never fought before, when a new crisis threatens to overwhelm the city -- in the form of a rebellious gladiator named Spartacus...
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Rated by buyers 
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I had very boring history teachers in school. How could teachers take so fascinating a subject and distill it just to dates, battles, treaties, etc.? Well, good news . . . Conn Iggulden has painted a "breathing," believable Julius Caesar from youth to death in his Emperor series. Each book continues to draw the reader in and build suspense even though we know what the end must be.
Rated by buyers -
This was a great book and I hope it is not the end of the series. Well written..staying with history and not changeing it, is the mark of a good writer.
Rated by buyers -
This is the third book in the series of four and continues at tremendous pace. Caesar is posted to Spain by his political rivals who, rightly, see him as a threat.
He is successful in his Iberian adventure, but returns to Rome in time for the consular elections. Following his election to high office, the means of which is highly amusing, he cannot sit still for long and soon leaves Crassus and Pompey in charge so that he can take his armies to Gaul to spread the benefits of the Roman culture. Eventually, he makes it into Britain, but that ambitious move is just a stretch too far for the already extended Roman armies.
Many new characters are introduced in this book, both friends an enemies. Some of these are destined to become very influential in the close circle that forms around the most powerful man in Europe of that time. Brutus starts to become dangerously jealous whenever Caesar shows any favour to others, such as Mark Anthony. You can see where it's headed as the story steams at full speed towards the fourth, and final, book!
Rated by buyers -
The Field of Swords is the third book in Conn Iggulden's four volume fictional retelling of the life of Gaius Julius Caesar.
This one starts off a few years into Caesar's turn in Spain. The country has already been pacified and Caesar grows bored with the easy life. This is the overall theme of this book. Multiple times in this novel, Caesar accomplishes something incredible only to discover that the struggle is better and more rewarding than the accomplishment as he chases Alexander's legacy.
The very first half of the novel covers Caesar's triumphant return to Rome and his candidacy for consul. For me this was the best part of the novel. The intricacies of the election, the attempts a to rig and then spoil it (by Suetonius, a bitter man living in Caesar's shadow) and the back room deals cut afterwards are just as thrilling as the battles that have run through the series.
My one complaint in this part of the book was the handling of the actual election itself. Mr. Iggulden seemed to gloss over some details that seemed important even to understand the rest of what he wrote. Who was and was not allowed to vote in the election? What was a voting century? They were mentioned several times, but I did not quite understand what was going on.
On the upside, the actual details of the ballot box and how they would cast their vote was covered in fair detail. I know how dull this sounds, but when you are reading the novel you won't be able to put it down.
This leads to the second half of the novel: Caesar's legendary invasion of Gaul. This is where the Emperor series starts having trouble. Mr. Iggulden just tried to condense too much here.
Don't misunderstand me. The writing is still very well done. Watching Caesar kick the stuffing out of the various tribes while flashing back to watch chaos erupting in Rome at the hands to two competing (and corrupt) senators is well done and exciting. But (near the end especially) time will suddenly leap forward.
You are reading about Caesar preparing to cross over to England. The subsequent chapter will start with Caesar's *second* endeavor at the Britons.
A second time, we have been following the rise of the Gaul's high king Vergingetorix and his consolidation of the disparate tribes and the extreme measures they take while the Romans are away. Everything leads to a tense point as you wait for the Romans to return and see what has happened. Again, the subsequent chapter starts some weeks later.
In both of the above examples, Mr. Iggulden does a fair job on filling you in. It's just that it makes it perhaps too obvious that the author is rushing through the story to end this book at the Rubicon without crossing some arbitrary page limit. Exciting stuff is hinted at and skipped over.
Still, this is another winner overall. I think that perhaps the series would have benefited by having a fifth book fitting between this one and the finale to focus on Gaul and England. Then again, the author has succeeded if they leave you wanting more. I definitely want more.
Rated by buyers -
This series is fascinating. The book is beautifully researched and Iggulden does a fine job of making what could be dry history very interesting reading. This is the third in a four book series and I've enjoyed all of three very much.
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