Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Roman Holiday

Empress of the Seven Hills
Kate Quinn
Fiction

This book is epic, to quote a quote from the cover. Not only is the cover design gorgeous, but so is the language, the descriptions, the dialogue. I loved everything about Empress of the Seven Hills.

I’ve mentioned before how I’m not usually into historical fiction (at least I think I have, and if I haven’t, I’m not). But something drew me to this book and I’m so glad I listened to that something. Empress takes place during the Roman Empire and delves into the lives of several citizens including Vix, an ex-gladiator determined to make his mark and Sabina, a senator’s daughter who wants to travel and be more than an emperor's wife. Their love story is the main plot point, although many other things happen along the way.
I adored Sabina. She was strong, fierce, and sympathetic. Vix, on the other hand, I had a love/hate relationship with, much like he did with Sabina. He could be quite a bastard at times. But then I had to remind myself that during this time in history, most men were bastards.

My only real nit-pick would be the end. I’m assuming there will be a sequel because the book ended on kind of a cliff-hanger. Only a select few had a happy wrap-up and the rest were left with grim futures. I suppose that was the way of it back then, though. I definitely would not have wanted to live during the Roman Empire, that’s for sure.

I recommend this book for anyone who loves history and historical fiction. And even if you’re not into those type of books, you might find something worthwhile here anyway, Kate Quinn is that good.

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