Master and God by Lindsey Davis Review

Reviewed by Delphi Ellis

This book follows the twenty year journey of three protagonists along an intriguing path. Their lives seem fated to include their involvement in the complicated and supposedly tyrannous world of Domitian, the Emperor of Rome.

Davis spends a great deal of time setting the scene for each individual whilst simultaneously giving little away initially about their role in the novel and how their part will play out.  Eventually each character’s influence and personality reveals how their presence in Roman Britain culminates in the events surrounding the Emperor’s precarious place in history.

There is no doubt that the author knows her history and whilst it is difficult to know, perhaps, how people spoke 2000 years ago Davis does seem to give her characters a modern vernacular as if the characters, although historical, are living in today’s society.  As an example, in one of the dialogues one of the main characters refers to another as “a skank”.  The reader may find this lacks authenticity and somewhat soils a great opportunity for the author, writing about a specific – and fascinating – actual historical period, to bring that era to life.

Overall, the author’s description of these events offers a visual banquet to feast upon taking the reader right in to the heart of what military life may have been like in those times.  She openly offers her own interpretation of how significant historical events unfolded and how those events changed the lives of all involved.

RRP: £18.99 (Hardback) / £8.99 (Paperback) / £4.99 (Kindle)

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