The Gates of Rome by Conn Iggulden.

Hello Readers :)

Recently, I've been reading the book "The Gates Of Rome" by Conn Iggulden, a pretty fantastic book by the author of "The Dangerous Book for Boys" and other historical novel, takes place in the Roman times, following Gauis Julius Caesar, or as he will be later known as, Julius Caeser as a boy, and growing up, until he is in his 20's, which then leads onto the next book in the series, which I know doubt shall be reading!

  As a whole, the story was pretty good, and you could tell Conn Iggulden has researched it, as many of the authors I have read have seemed to have done. It goes over Gaius' childhood, and also goes over his best friend, and "brother", Marcus' life up 'til the time the book ends, ending on a pretty amazing realization for the reader, as you get during some of the novel. He seems to keep it secret that Gauis is indeed Julius Caeser (that is, if you didn't read the blurb, like me.) until about halfway through the novel. The story was, however, very good, and as detailed as you'd want. You can get lost in it, as I realised, at 1AM one Monday evening a few weeks ago!

  The language was understandable, and even uses a good few Latin words, but Iggulden tells the reader what they mean, when they are first used in the story, and example being "Gladiuus" which is a "Short-Sword" in the English language. Although it seems really complex, you understand what they're saying, and strangely, it makes you feel slightly more intelligent, in a weird kind of way.

        The Characters were realistic, as some of them actually existed, however, the author created some of them, to add some artistic detail to it, but to be honest, you couldn't tell the difference between the characters that actually existed, and the ones that Conn Iggulden created. They were believable, and you can understand why some characters do the things that they do (not giving too much away).
        The themes centrally used in this novel is love, friendship, militarism and social differences among the different classes, slaves were talked to alot differently than a fellow man or an army general. The themes were done well, and worked well among the historical background with it.
    The settings and the world have to be one of the most impressive parts of this novel. You feel like a part of this world, and you can't seem to want to leave it all. Like the last book, I could instantly see some of the characters' scenes being played out in my head, like one of the scenes which is particularly gory (again, trying to not give it all away). Adding to that, there are alot of gory moments in it, and the person who recommended this book to me said she felt "Physically sick" during the reading of one of the chapters, so you have been warned. Lastly, you can smell the filth and blood in the streets, you can almost side with one of the two groups in it, and you can see how the events prior to the unfortunate decline of Julius Caesar, and how these have set the scene for the unfortunate death as well.
  Overall, I would give the book a 9 out of 10, because you can really feel the world, and believe me, I ended up only wanting to read the book for 20 minutes, before I went to bed, but ended up reading for 4 hours, covering most of the middle of the book, and ending at about 1 in the morning... and I don't like to think I get sucked into a book often.. Enough said on that point, a good book, and if you like things like Lords of the Bow and other historical novels by Conn Iggulden, then you'll love this book, "The Gates of Rome"!
Signing off for this week, thanks for reading
Dan :)
Conn Iggulden's site is here: http://www.conniggulden.com/
The Gates of Rome Wikipedia Page is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gates_of_Rome

From Where I Stand by Tabitha Suzuma

Recently, after finishing Snakehead by Anthony Horowitz, I started reading this book, From Where I Stand by Tabitha Suzuma. It's not the longest of books, but it's certaintly more quality than quantity!
  The story is really intricate and detailed, and starts when the central character, Raven, is taken to his new foster home, though you don't quite know why.  The story centres around Raven, as he tries to take revenge on the murderer of his mum.  Throughout the whole story, you are really taken into it, and it is, (though I hate using the term) a pageturner. It was also, extremely well structured, starting at the right place, as starting at any other point in the story would either ruin it, or the reader wouldn't know what's going on, and stop reading. The ending, I have to say, was very good, and well thought out. It leaves the reader surprised, and wanting to re-read it, and I'll stop talking about the ending, as I wouldn't want to spoil it. Overall, the story was a good one, and you can tell the author has spent a long time thinking about it.
  The language worked well, using language that everyone would know, and that the characters would actually say if they were in the situation. Unlike the last book I reviewed, it actually swore, but the author could get away with this one, as it's aimed at young people who can cope with the swear words, and have probably said them before.
  The characters were also well developed, and had a history behind them. Also, you needed to really empathise with the central character, Raven, because otherwise the story wouldn't be a good story. You can also empathise with all the other characters, and the situations they're in. At the end of the story, however, your left with a sense of almost betrayal, or injustice, as you realise what happened (again, I'm not trying to give too much away). They were very realistic, and you could almost imagine what they looked like, and, strangely, I spent quite a while realising that this could make a perfect film, minus one or two bits of the story. I liked most of the characters, apart from certain aspects of the character Lotte, because you wouldn't do what she did in such a rush like that, in my opinion, but then again, I haven't been in the same situation, so wouldn't know.
  The themes throughout the story include things like depression, self-harming, the feeling of loss, anger and denial. These ideas are explained perfectly from the point of view of the characters, and the author of this story has experianced a few of these, as she suffered from manic depression, and problems to do with self-harming. You really realise why the characters would do what they do. The author's trying to say that you can cope with these things, although she doesn't say it directly, and how the peoples' minds work.

  The setting was somewhere in London, set in present day.It's a good place to set it, because it means that people can empathise with certain situations, and people have a sense of knowing where the people were. (people can imagine the London underground alot more than the interior of a medieval banqueting hall, in 1540) Also, it's good as the author can use modern themes and explore them better, in a modern day setting.

  Overall, I would give this book 8.5 out of 10. It's an exciting and interesting thriller, and does well as a story. I'd say, read it if your into that genre, or if you've ever seen and liked things like The Shining or Inception.

Note: I would however, give the ending a 9.5 out of 10, it's an awesome ending, and really gives the reader a sense of surprise, as said earlier.

Note: The authors website is here: http://www.tabithasuzuma.com/

The author has however, written 4 books, with characters in similiar situations, in different places in the world. If you loved From Where I Stand, read some of the other work by Tabitha Suzuma.