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Thread: Today I finished reading The Gates of Rome, by Conn Iggulden. Here's why I didn't like it.

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    Post Today I finished reading The Gates of Rome, by Conn Iggulden. Here's why I didn't like it.

    Hi, I'm new to clraik. I don't play neopets but I wanted to share my opinion on this book.

    FOA, english is not my native language. I apologize for my broken english.

    The first problem is the unnecessary historical inaccuracy. I know it's not a problem per se, after all, little is known about the early life of Julius Caesar. But the author has changed even what is known and what did not need to be changed, for example, the kinship of the characters and their positions. (examples in spoiler tags at the end)

    The second problem is that the story is slow paced, and some parts are irrelevant, having no future impact, turning the book boring sometimes.

    The third problem is that the story is too simple. Some characters and their relationships are too simple. But principaly for me, the politics are too simple. The politics are so important for the roman history that it should have been better explored. The book would have been better for me if that aspect had been dealt with in greater depth.

    --
    An historical fiction can be a funny way of learning a bit about history, but not with this amount of inaccuracy, and apparently sometimes the accuracy in this book was sacrificed for just no reason.

    --

    I know that this book is very revered, including by great writers, so I think I may be making a poor judgment. Maybe just because of that I created a too high expectation. Please, let me know your opinion.

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    Mama Bear (03-03-2020),Menine (03-03-2020)

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    Katie Mama Bear's Avatar
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    I'm not familiar with this text, @(you need an account to see links), but I do enjoy historical fiction. I think you've done a great job of articulating the issues you had, and I'm glad that you weren't swayed by popular opinion.

    Like you, I can be pedantic when it comes to historical accuracy; I may not always know enough to be able to identify anachronisms and such, but when I do, they irk me. The example my husband always uses to illustrate this quality in me is the use of "I know a hawk from a handsaw" in a text set during the reign of Queen Mary, when it was originally derived from Hamlet, written a good 40 years after her death.

    I don't think there's anything wrong with having high expectations. You can appreciate positive qualities about a text without needing to blindly praise it.

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