3 stars

I’m not well-versed enough in Roman history and the history of Caesar to be able to comment on the historical inaccuracies, so I will leave that to other reviewers. From what I could notice though, there were definitely liberties taken and changes made, which in some cases is understandable, but in others is rather odd. Some of the side characters we may not have a lot of accurate information on, but Caesar is a very well-known historical figure with quite a bit of information about his life. The original Spanish cover of this book featured the tagline “the true history of Julius Caesar”, which is something I’m glad was removed from the English translation, as it’s basically stating this book is completely accurate, which it is not.

This book is part John Grisham legal thriller and part military strategy and battle. It jumps between timelines, with the present being the trial of Sulla, and the past moving from Caesar as a child, to his teenage years, and then into adulthood. It also features side parts dealing with other people in Caesar’s life, such as his uncle Gaius Marius, his future wife Cornelia, and people who were sided with Sulla, such as Dolabella. Now I understand that the author wanted to set up the conflicts between Caesar, Sulla, and Dolabella, but it was taken way too far. Dolabella and Sulla are both characterized as villains with absolutely no redeeming qualities. They are brutal, sadistic, power hungry men who only care about riches and alcohol and women. Towards the end there is a scene involving Sulla, Dolabella, and a bunch of slaves that just seemed rather ridiculous. Caesar, on the other hand, is written as the hero who can do no wrong. It is basically the Mary Sue and the Villain archetypes, which is frustrating as these were real people with much more depth to them who deserve to be written better.

There are some instances where you can see the story trying to shine through. You can feel the frustrations of the people of Rome and those that were conquered, the tenseness and fear of battle, and the hopes of those trying to do what is right. However, they mostly get overshadowed by the rest of the story, as Caesar’s heroics and Sulla and Dolabella’s villainy have to be center stage. Had each of these people been written with a more realistic edge instead of by archetypes, it could have shifted the story greatly.

This isn’t a terrible book, but I think those who are knowledgable about Roman history, particularly involving the times of Caesar, will find themselves frustrated at the liberties taken with the story and characters.

3.5 stars

Most people are familiar with the Titanic and its story – the unsinkable ship which sunk on its maiden voyage in the early morning hours of April 15, 1912. Many people are familiar with the story from the James Cameron film, and even if they haven’t seen it, they still know the basic facts. This book tells the story of the Fortune family, who were real passengers on the ship when it sank. While I enjoyed the story overall, I felt that it was missing something in order to make it a more compelling read.

The story mainly follows the 3 Fortune sisters, Flora, Mabel, and Alice, as well as one of the sisters’ love interests, Chess. While the sisters were real people, Chess was a completely original character to the story, though he does take much inspiration from a real passenger aboard the ship. Most of the novel is spent following the sisters along their travels, from the end of their Grand Tour of Europe to the beginnings of their stay on the ship, to the eventual sinking. I understand setting the scene, but it began to drag a bit for me. The ship doesn’t hit the iceberg until the 60% mark, which is a decent way into the book. And while the sinking took a relatively short time in real life (approx. 2 1/2 hours), it almost feels too rushed in the book, with it being done by about the 80% mark. I felt disconnected from the events taking place during the sinking. This could partly be because the Fortune family and everyone they interacted with were first class passengers, so we only get their perspective. What the passengers in first class and the passengers in third class experienced during the sinking are wildly different, though I understand it would have been hard to include third class passenger perspectives without rewriting much of the book. This is not to say that there weren’t tragic parts, but more that there wasn’t enough time spend exploring more of what was occurring.

I also felt a little let down when reading the afterword and discovering the author made changes to the Fortune sisters’ lives. While there isn’t a ton of information on them, there were things that were known but were changed anyway. I think I would have preferred the author stick more to the truth about them, though I understand this would have changed a major dynamic of the novel.

I did enjoy many parts though – the descriptions of the ship itself and all the extravagances it featured were really interesting to read, along with the characters seeing and reacting to these things. I also enjoyed knowing that the author included all real people (besides Chess), as I like to stop and read more about the people themselves as I’m going along. It helps me get more into the story. There were also a few things I didn’t know about the voyage which I learned while reading, which shows that the author did do research before writing.

This was enjoyable overall, and I think it will appeal to anyone who enjoyed the film and like romantic novels, though those looking for a little more action or substance on this particular subject may not find it as enjoyable.

3.5 stars

This was a pretty solid debut dealing with a lesser known part of the war, the Porzellan Manufaktur Allach. While the characters and storyline were fictional, the Allach Porcelain Manufacture was a real part of the war. After finishing the novel I read up on the history of the manufacturing of Allach porcelain and its importance to the Reich. Himmler had a great appreciation for the figurines produced, and helped fund the acquisition of PMA in 1936. I do wish the novel had given a little more info on all of this, as it was a bigger focus of the story.

While I normally enjoy dual timelines, I was a little frustrated with this one. I enjoyed Max and Bettina’s parts, but I felt Clara’s was lacking. She is on a search to find her father, and it seems to go from no leads and information to everything just falling into her lap. Everything came together way too easily and quickly to be believable, and at the same time there was a lot of missing information. The same can be said for Max and Bettina’s parts, such as how she ended up in London and how she left Italy. There are a lot of loose threads that could have been tied up better.

I did enjoy the discussion of art, and how Bettina went from being a “degenerate” artist to one highly prized by the Nazis. The portions dealing with Max and the porcelain were also interesting, as he was a Jew crafting something that was very popular with the Nazis as well. I do think Clara could have been fleshed out a little better; her character and story were lacking and dragged a bit in places. Max and Bettina had better characterizations and storylines, just with the loose threads mentioned earlier.

I think this novel would have worked better as a single timeline, with Clara’s parts being cut, or at least her parts being reworked to give the novel better flow throughout. It is still an enjoyable novel overall; it could just use a bit of polishing up.