04-19-2007, 08:33 PM
[amazon]Medicus[/amazon] by Ruth Downie is a murder mystery, sorta, but it's also a story of a Roman military doctor, Gaius Petreius Ruso, in the vicus and fort of Deva, at the time of Traian's death and Hadrian's assumption of the Imperial duties.
I enjoyed this in spite of a few anachronisms. The feel of being in a frontier fort, the pressures of real life, the cupidity of various officers and their own agendas, the hero's reluctant quest to solve some strange deaths in the vicus, his various obstacles, including his work, inter-office rivalry and a too-pretty slave girl he accidentally acquired make this a fun read.
This is Mrs. Downie's first novel and hopefully she will continue this with several sequels. The specific time period is under done, in this genre, and there is lots of available research, so there are challenges, but the character development and descriptive passages make this a really fine addition to my library.
I enjoyed this in spite of a few anachronisms. The feel of being in a frontier fort, the pressures of real life, the cupidity of various officers and their own agendas, the hero's reluctant quest to solve some strange deaths in the vicus, his various obstacles, including his work, inter-office rivalry and a too-pretty slave girl he accidentally acquired make this a fun read.
This is Mrs. Downie's first novel and hopefully she will continue this with several sequels. The specific time period is under done, in this genre, and there is lots of available research, so there are challenges, but the character development and descriptive passages make this a really fine addition to my library.