Home
/
Fiction
/
Warrior of Rome I: Fire in the East
Warrior of Rome I: Fire in the East
Mar 23, 2025 9:16 PM

Author:Harry Sidebottom

Warrior of Rome I: Fire in the East

AN EPIC STORY OF EMPIRE, HEROES, TREACHERY, COURAGE, AND MOST OF ALL, BRUTAL BLOODY WARFARE . . .

'Enthralling and exciting, you will struggle to put this book down' 5***** READER REVIEW

'A cracking story. Sidebottom's detailed knowledge of the period is remarkable' 5***** READER REVIEW

_______

The year is AD 255.

The Roman Imperium is stretched to breaking point, with its might and authority challenged along every border.

The greatest threat lies in Persia to the east, where the massing forces of the Sassanid Empire loom with fiery menace. There the isolated Roman citadel of Arete awaits inevitable invasion.

One man is sent to marshal the defences and shore up crumbling walls. A man whose name itself means war:

Ballista.

Alone, Ballista is called to muster the forces and the courage to stand first and to stand hard against the greatest enemy ever to confront the Imperium . . .

With a spectacular flair for sheer explosive action and knuckle-whitening drama, fans of Bernard Cornwell will love this recreation of the ancient world.

Praise for Harry Sidebottom:

'Sidebottom's prose blazes with searing scholarship' The Times

'The best sort of red-blooded historical fiction' Andrew Taylor, author of The American Boy

Reviews

Kennedy is described in the literary press as not only one of our finest, but also one of our most humane, writers

—— Church Times

Day confirms, if confirmation were needed, that Kennedy is a singular, superlative author. I hope that the judges of this year's Man Booker prize pay particular attention to it

—— Stuart Kelly , Scotland on Sunday

Kennedy does bleak the way the Russians do epic; unremittingly, awesomely and undershot with redeeming humour

—— Gillian Bowditch , Sunday Times

Once again, Kennedy brilliantly interweaves over-wrought internal dialogue with external outrageous acts. The unfolding tenderness of nature and of amity blend superbly with the casualness of daily horror

—— Catherine Taylor , Independent on Sunday

Day is more than a novel, it is an investigations into the difficulties of being alive

—— Eileen Battersby , Irish Times

Day is a very good novel. It is largely about love, as most novels are, but the author's skill with language... makes the average cliché unique... Historical details become flesh and funny in her hand

—— Katy Guest , Independent

AL Kennedy has built a reputation as one of the fiercest, most bloody minded and thrilling British writers and her new novel more than backs that up... Day is an utterly engrossing read

—— Metro

Day is a remarkable performance

—— Jane Shilling , Sunday Telegraph

This is a remarkably clean lined book, of highly literary construction, that still feels huge and wide ranging. Day is a forceful, wholly achieved piece of work by a writer of enormous power. It ought to win all the prizes going

—— Tim Martin , Daily Telegraph

Well deserved to win the 2007 Costa book of the year award...sophisticated texture...Ms Kennedy manages to make every battle truism fresh

—— Economist

A brilliantly spare examination of loneliness and the search for forgiveness in an unforgiving world… superbly atmospheric… This is Greene at his most existential and metaphysically dense… It remains an astonishing achievement

—— Douglas Kennedy , Writing Magazine

Astounding... This...is the best [Greene novel]...brimming with pain and rage. If you ever have aspirations to write a novel, read Greene. He's the perfect writer's writer

—— Emma Kennedy author of Letters from Brenda , Week

A constantly engaging and witty novel from a tremendously clever writer.

—— Telegraph

Plausiby drawn....strong central characters, interesting subplots and well-sketched minor characters.

—— TLS

As idiosyncratic as it is ambitious...given shape and purpose by a true literary craftsman. The book both keeps you reading and makes you think.

—— Sally Cousins , Sunday Telegraph

I drank in Nigel Farndale's The Blasphemer in huge lungfuls, and mourned it when it was finished. For anyone who loved Saturday, Atonement or Birdsong, this is the generational novel at its best.

—— Mail on Sunday
Comments
Welcome to zzdbook comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdbook.com All Rights Reserved