Blurb
An excerpt from the newly discovered journals of Marcus Agrippa: Military Commander, Politician, Architect, Right-hand man to Caesar Augustus—and impostor.
All Romans lie. It is a statement of fact, not a supposition. How can I be so certain, you ask? Because I am a Roman, one of fame and glory, and I am the biggest liar of them all. My name is Marcus Agrippa, and what I have to tell you would shake the very foundations of Rome itself were my words to come to light today. Hopefully, by the time these writings of mine are discovered in what I hope will be hundreds, perhaps even thousands of years from now, the secret that I have borne most of my life will no longer matter. I can only pray to the gods that it is so, for you see, the name that I wear now with such ease and the one which all of Rome knows me by and admires is not the name that belongs to me. It never did. So, take heed, friend, for if you choose to go further, you will learn of such things that you cannot even imagine. Tales of heroism and deceit, honor and treachery. It is all here, written by my own hand now that I am free to tell what really happened.
This is the story of a slave and a future emperor—two men entwined by destiny, the will of the gods, and a deadly secret. So read on, friend from the future. Read on—if you dare!
My Review
We start this book when Octavius was still a teenager, before he was favored by his uncle Julius Caesar. And by his side, he developed a friendship with a young slave who was the spitting image of Marcus Agrippa. Wait, what? Yes, the author takes us on a bumpy ride as the slave Luan becomes an impostor, impersonating his former master who had met a well-deserved doom. The book, you see, is a memoir, destined to be discovered centuries later so that Agrippa can tell all. Now, I certainly have mixed feelings about this, because the story Cloutier tells is well done without this unnecessary diversion. For instance, we get a perfect impression of Octavius when he learns about Caesar’s death:
Octavius took a deep breath, shaking his head sorrowfully. “Caesar was like a father to me. I don’t know how I can go on without him.”
“Yes, you do,” I said a little more harshly than intended. “You are stronger than any man I have ever met, Octavius, and I know you will not only survive this but grow even stronger from it.”
“To what purpose, Marcus?” Octavius replied in a voice heavy with self-pity. “Without my uncle, I am nothing. I have risen this far and this fast only because of him. Quintus has always been right about that.”
“Nonsense,” I said. “Julius Caesar saw something in you years ago, as did we all. You were born to lead, Octavius, and lead you shall.”
The prose is very good, and the story is easy to follow. Events unfurl in a convincing manner as Octavius and his allies take on the unscrupulous Marc Antony. Battle scenes are well written. The whole impostor thing is made up by the author, and In my opinion it detracts from the novel. Agrippa stands up just fine on his own, without messing him up with this silly deception. As we get deeper into the story, I think we can leave the whole impostor thing behind… well, maybe not. Things can still go badly for him in book two. I’m not so annoyed that I won’t read the next volume; I really like the story. But I wish it had been told straight.
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Impostor-Rome-Novel-Ancient-Emperor-ebook/dp/B0CTR2W6CD
