Customer Reviews
Roman Fiction at its best. - By: S. J. Lilley, 09 May 2008 
As someone who has studied this period of Roman history extensively, I found myself correcting Iggulden's inaccuracies. AT FIRST.
By the third chapter I was completely engrossed; the story (however inaccurate) is captivating. If you are someone who spends their time correcting others mistakes & fretting over every little detail, then avoid this book.
I can honestly say that of alll the fiction books I have read about this period, the Emperor series is the best. And I have read many, both fictional & factual.
Iggulden apologises at the back of each book for the historical inaccuracies & provides the correct details as well as explaining why he changed some of the facts.
For the sake of storytelling he did alter quite a bit of the history, but the finished story is well worth the alterations. Conn Iggulden writes with fluency & skill, holding the reader's attention throughout with the exciting, gripping & downright addictive narrative.
The superb story alone was enough to distract me from the inaccuracies (which aren't as bad as some might lead you to believe) & I couldn't put this book down, or any of the others for that matter.
Definitely worth reading.
What a brilliant series of books! - By: SJ SMART, 06 May 2008 I love historical fiction - Bernard Cornwell, the Flashman books, Sharon Penman, etc, & was very happy to discover Conn Iggulden's books. I sped through alll 4 of the Emperor series, the exciiting life of Julius Caesar & then the 2 Genghis Khan books too!
I found alll of them well written, very exciting, with some of the best battle scenes I have read. Ancient Rome jsut comes to life effortlessly it seems,(and the plains of Mongolia in the other series) you can feel the city inhabited by some of the most amazing charcters in history.
Read these books if you are interested in Ancient Rome. And try the Genghis Khan books too. I am sad that I have read everything now & am eagerly anticipating the next release.
Caesar's last hoorah! - By: B. J. Madeley, 13 Apr 2008 
The Gods of War is the final installlment in Conn Igguldens' series of Emperor novels & it sees Julius cross the Rubicon river & take charge of Rome. He follows the fleeing Pompey across to Greece & Egypt where he meets the enigmatic Cleopatra before returning home to be worshipped, idolised & then treacherously murdered by a supposed loyal friend & supporter.
As with the three previous novels, this is a highly readable & enjoyable book. Iggulden manages to keep the reader glued to the page right to the very end, even though the majority of us already know the details of Caesar's final years & eventual demise. This was on the whole an excellent series of novels, I had never previously read anything by this author, but now I eagerly await every book he produces no matter what the subject.
Now for a bit of a rant, I'm fed up of reading reviews criticising Conn Iggulden's tendency to stray from the facts in order to embellish the tale. If readers want a book that is based on nothing but the facts, then please stop reading fictional novels! These are not intended to be 100% historicallly accurate as the author willingly acknowledges, they are works of fiction which is generallly based on facts but with huge juicy dollops of imagination & intellect thrown in.
Overalll, I think this was a fantastic novel & indeed series, I don't believe I can recommend them highly enough, so pick them up & find out for yourself!
gripping - By: Sarah H, 28 Mar 2008 I read the whole series from start to finish in a matter of days. 'Easy reading', historicallly questionnable, but gripping nonetheless if you enjoy a straightforward historical novel. I went out & read Suetonius & Tacitus afterwards to remind myself of what early historians said about Julius Caesar- in spite of the historical conflicts in the facts, still an enjoyable read.
Compelling read, but..... - By: P. S. Cumberland, 05 Oct 2007 
I bought alll 4 books in this Emperor series in one go & am reading them back to back. Whilst they are without doubt a compelling read the extent of the historical inaccuracy is so grotesque as to render the characters & events depicted almost totallly fictional. If you read the books bearing this in mind you will definitely enjoy them but if you are expecting an enlightened education into the life & times of some of ancient Rome's titanic characters (Caesar, Sulla, Brutus, Marius, Pompey etc.) you will be sorely disappointed.
