A First Class Read

Didn’t want put this book down, however one must eat and sleep. The narrator of this book really brought it to life and I can’t praise him enough.

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Compelling and complex story

It’s unusual to read such a multi faceted story of the Roman Empire, both from the side of the empire and its auxiliary countries. I found the characters subtleties and thought processes fascinating. Motivation for actions were clearly described.
There seemed few of the stereotypes I often find in such fiction. A great performance by the narrator as well

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Great Stuff from Riches A real insight into AD 6

He describes battles so well. You can see and smell the combat. Look forward to onslaught.

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3 people found this helpful

Brilliant !!!

I think of all the Roman novelists Anthony has become my favourite. Brilliantly written novel and as for the reading of it, superbly done. Now getting straight into book two 🤗

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Complexus Romanus

This is a book where I think the author has extended his ambition.  While the exciting Empire series flowed fairly easily this book attempts to be a more in-depth historical fiction.  It's set at a time when the Roman Empire was particularly chaotic and dwells on the fascinating cosmopolitan nature of the legions.  The art of being able to subsume so many different nationalities into the Roman military added great strength but also contributed to the plethora of factions within the intrigues of Rome.For a long time the Germanic tribesmen enjoyed a fearsome reputation as some of Rome's fiercest warriors but when they are slighted by a new Emperor the relationship becomes strained.

In "Betrayal" Riches tracks a wider cast of characters from the nobility to the common soldier.  There is rich detail and depth to them and some fine, although sometimes possibly over-lengthy dialogue.  More than most books I've listened to it does require concentration, there are a lot of lengthy character and place names, mostly in Latin to contend with.  Other reviewers have suggested reading the historical note first and if you wish to do that then in the  Audible UK version it's the very last chapter (14) and lasts about 20 minutes.  While this may help, especially if you are unfamiliar with the period, it does contain significant spoilers to the story . . . then again, as the author points out it is "a big old chunk of history to wrap your head round from cold" so the choice is up to you.

Within the story there is plenty of intrigue, insights into life as a soldier and some very well executed battle scenes though I think the motivational speeches could possibly have been edited a little.  The deep research the author has undertaken is obvious and well used.

I don't know where Riches found Mark Noble as a narrator, he's not one I have heard before but he does a fine job with this.  He puts a lot into his voicing including a quite throat-rending depiction of the Germanic characters.

In all this felt like it had more depth than the Empire series.  As a result it is not quite as easy on the ears though possibly it's ultimately more satisfying.  The author promises us that the characters will provide us with plenty of excitement to come and Betrayal builds a great platform for the remainder of the series.  

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12 people found this helpful

Betrayal

Although I found most aspects of the book very enjoyable
I found that there were to many characters
With similar names
Which I’ve got to admit at times confused me

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Nailed it

I read most Anthony Riche's releases but Betrayal (the first in a trilogy) is beyond a doubt the best by far.. Anthony's excellent description of battle and superb character creation continues but he has polished his story telling .. The characters achieve amazing things without divine intervention or superhuman feats ... All the characters are excellent with there own strengths and personalities

A great balance

Can't wait for the next one

P.S if I ever meet a descendent of the batavi and he doesn't sound like Mark Nobles version I will call him out as a fake .. excellent narration

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4 people found this helpful

hmm

I liked the piece but at first thought there were too many protagonist, that said I got into it and enjoyed the story....

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1 person found this helpful

again brilliant

great story always based on fact, fabulous characters that you really get behind. great pace and all in all another great book .

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2 people found this helpful

Get the book.

I must say I enjoyed it. But it was tough trying to remember the Roman names and who they were. If this was a book, I could flip back to see who Claudius something something is but kinda difficult with an audio book. But if you have a good memory, this is worth it.

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1 person found this helpful