Book Review - Fire in the East

I was halfway through reading Don Quixote and finding it a little heavy going, The Servantes epic was accidentally/on purpose left out of my bag as I left for work the other day. I couldn’t be out and about and bookless, so a visit to Waterstones was in order.

Torn between many pretty looking titles, I eventually settled on Fire in the East by Harry Sidebottom.



My decision to purchase this particular book was swayed by the sticker they had slapped on the front cover, “Perfect for fans of Conn Iggulden”

A fan of Iggulden I most certainly am, and if the marketing people are trying so hard to sell me this book that stickers are going to come into the equation, then who am I to get in the way of such a process? It got bought.

Sidebottom has set his story in the third century AD. My understanding is that this is around about the time when the Roman Empire is beginning to go tits up.

The city of Arete, on the banks of the Euphrates River, is currently the Eastern extreme of Roman influence. This could be about to change as an attack is expected the following year by a horde of Sassanid Persians. Fire in The East follows the journey of Marcus Clodius Ballista, a former barbarian come Roman military officer, who has just been appointed as the commander in charge of the city’s defence.

I was not too impressed with the first half of the book. The intrigue, I didn’t find too intriguing, and the engagement, I didn’t find too engaging. The comic moments provided no relief; I don’t think my sense of humour was ever aroused to the point of laughing out loud.

I felt there were too many characters for my tiny mind to keep up with. There’s a very helpful list of characters appendix at the end of the book, but as I’m a very linear chap who reads from left to right, I didn’t know it was there until it was too late.

It’s not all bad though, the book really came into its own as soon as those pesky Persians arrive. In some quite exciting battle sequences, the author explores the process of siege warfare, and the use of various types of siege equipment, in a surprising amount of depth. The detail given in no way gets in the way of the narrative’s pace; I was glued to my seat and finished the second half of the book in one sitting.

So what did I think overall? “PART ONE” can be seen written in quite a prominent place on the dust cover of this book, and subsequent volumes are referenced in the afterword. It is clear that follow up novels are to be released, but will I be interested?

The last ten or so pages of Fire in the East answered that question for me. The plot takes an unexpected turn at the last minute, and has left me eager to find out what will happen next.

Yes I will be reading Warrior of Rome, part two, soon after it comes out. This time, I’ll be wise to the location of any hidden lists of characters. That’ll be one thing less for me to gripe about.