G923 Book Review of twilight empress by faith L justice
Author: Faith L Justice
ISBN: 9780692460511
Publisher: Raggedy Moon Books
Type of book: 410-451, 461, Roman Empire, Ravenna, Italy, Vandals, Goths, King of Goths, alliances, marriages, politics, barbarians, protection, family, Emperor, Empress, Augusta
Year it was published: 2017
Summary:
Twilight Empress tells the little-known story of a remarkable woman—Galla Placidia, sister to one of the last Roman Emperors. Roman princess, Gothic captive and queen—Placidia does the unthinkable—she rules the failing Western Roman Empire—a life of ambition, power and intrigue she doesn’t seek, but can’t refuse. Her actions shape the face of Western Europe for centuries. A woman as well as an Empress, Placidia suffers love, loss, and betrayal. Can her strength, tenacity and ambition help her survive and triumph over scheming generals, rebellious children, and Attila the Hun? Or will the Dark Ages creep closer and bring down the Empire?
Characters:
Main character includes Placidia, who is both a daughter of an emperor and sister to an emperor. Placidia is open-minded, resourceful, determined and extremely powerful. She is also human and makes human mistakes as well although she tries to rectify them. Although there are other characters as well, they were given short limelight in the book and one doesn't get to know them as well as Placidia and her daughter Honoria. Honoria is Placidia's eldest daughter who seems to be extremely similar to her mother but who is best described as stunted.
Theme:
One cannot fight the time
Plot:
The story is written in third person narrative, namely from Placidia's point of view although once in a while there is a switch to Placidia's brother or to her children or even to her Goth general. While the research and time as well as additional notes and details are impeccable, I do feel that the relationships between Placidia and her children could have been improved and should have been more focused on.
Author Information:
(From the website)
AMAZON US | AMAZON CAN | AMAZON UK | BARNES AND NOBLE | IBOOKS | INDIEBOUND | KOBO
About the Author
Faith L. Justice is a science geek and history junkie, which is reflected in her writing. Her short stories and poems have appeared in such publications as “The Copperfield Review”, “Beyond Science Fiction and Fantasy”, and the “Circles in the Hair” anthology. Faith has published in such venues as “Salon.com”, “Writer’s Digest”, “The Writer”, and “Bygone Days”. She’s an Associate Editor for “Space & Time Magazine”, a frequent contributor to “Strange Horizons”, and co-founded a writer’s workshop more years ago than she cares to admit.
To contact Faith, read her essays and interviews, or get a sneak preview of her historical novels, visit her website at www.faithljustice.com. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.
Opinion:
I was pretty excited to read this book, namely because I studied Roman Empire history, and second of all because I wanted to compare the atmosphere of the dying Empire versus the atmosphere of the Julio-Claudian empire, and I have to say that differences are very striking. (Will write more about that later...) Perhaps with so much focus on Julio-Claudian Rome, I think I expected for Theodosian Rome to be the same, but it wasn't because the empire was stretched thin and one gets an impression that Placidia and others are more of figureheads to manipulate rather than someone like Augustus or Julius Caesar. The author has done a good job in capturing the dying Rome and one feels helpless watching Placidia trying to hold on to a dying empire, knowing that time is against her.
This is for HFVBT
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4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)
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