On the lush Italian peninsula, a new empire is taking shape. At its heart is the city of Rome, a place of glory and decadence, beauty and bloodshed. Against this vivid backdrop, two boys are growing to manhood, dreaming of battles, fame, and glory in service of the mightiest empire the world has ever known. One is the son of a senator, a boy of privilege and ambition to whom much has been given and from whom much is expected. The other is a bastard child, a boy of strength and cunning, whose love for his adoptive family–and his adoptive brother–will be the most powerful force in his life.

As young Gaius and Marcus are trained in the art of combat–under the tutelage of one of Rome’s most fearsome gladiators–Rome itself is being rocked by the art of treachery and ambition, caught in a tug-of-war as two rival generals, Marius and Sulla, push the empire toward civil war. For Marcus, a bloody campaign in Greece will become a young soldier’s proving ground. For Gaius, the equally deadly infighting of the Roman Senate will be the battlefield where he hones his courage and skill. And for both, the love of an extraordinary slave girl will be an honor each will covet but only one will win.

The two friends are forced to walk different paths, and by the time they meet again everything will have changed. Both will have known love, loss, and violence. And the land where they were once innocent will be thrust into the grip of bitter conflict–a conflict that will set Roman against Roman...and put their friendship to the ultimate test.

Brilliantly interweaving history and adventure, Conn Iggulden conjures a stunning array of contrasts–from the bloody stench of a battlefield to the opulence of the greatest city in history, from the tenderness of a lover to the treachery of an assassin. Superbly rendered, grippingly told, Emperor, The Gates of Rome is a work of vaulting imagination from a powerful new voice in historical fiction.

Reserved for LastEdition as a rabck.

Released on Thursday, December 09, 2004 at about 12:00:00 AM BX time (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada) at Mailed to BC member in Mailed to another BC member, a fellow bookcrosser Controlled Releases.

RELEASE NOTES:

Sending to LastEdition. Enjoy

Arrived today - almost a Christmas present - thank you! It will be my first Iggulden and I look forward to reading it very much.

Edited 30/01/2005: offered on BookRelay as TBR. Will certainly be non-tbr by March 1st, hopefully sooner.

It is off to SpikesMom, once no longer TBR.

05.02.06: An easily read Sword & Sandal version of a Kung-Fu movie. The 2 heroes bounce back like rubber dolls, which is probably a good thing, considering who they are! Oddly compelling, and I would probably read the next one in the series, if it happened to cross my path.

RELEASE NOTES:

As always: Read, Enjoy & Pass it on!

Arrived on this side of the drink and off to Mt. TBR for now... Sadly. I'm in the mood for blood and guts!

This book ROCKED. Yeah, it's gory as anything I've ever read and yeah, maybe the heroes are a bit rubbery and not quite mortal enough, but hey. That's part of the fun. Old Renius is a character like no others.

I'm off to find the next in the series!

Shauney EARNED this in the most recent Historical Fiction swap.

Enjoy it, babe!!!

Picked up from the PO today! Looks right up my alley! Or should I say, in my arena? Thanks WoM! I'm sure I'll be looking for the rest of the series too!