Heard: "The Blood of Gods" by Conn Iggulden

Heard: The Blood of Gods by Conn Iggulden, 2013, downloaded from Overdrive.

Last in The Emperor series. I am glad that this is the last book in the series because these do have exciting and interesting parts my overall response to this novel was "Meh, it was okay." Iggulden had some neat battle scenes in here and his afterword clearly explained the liberties he took with real history to adapt the story. He had to change a couple names to avoid confusion and moved around a few battles to fit the plot.

Caesar has been murdered and a relative in Greece is named in the will as his adopted son. That man, Octavian, is only about 20-years-old but takes the name August Caesar and inherits the MASSIVE wealth of Caesar. He sets out for revenge against the Roman Senators who betrayed and killed Caesar.

Octavian learns that the name Caesar has big influence. Just as important are the thousands of Romans who remained loyal to Caesar Number One thorugh Caesar's gold based patronage. Octavian and his two loyal pals gain command of some Legions, team up with Marc Anthony, take over government in Rome and head after Brutus in Greece.

There are battles. There are political schemes. There is Roman indifference and pride. There are horses. There are many, many dead soldiers. There is not as much of Brutus as previous novels.

Comments:
1. Brutus got to be a bore in the previous novels. Brutus as a spectacularly skilled soldier and commander but was always second fiddle to Caesar. Brutus loved Caesar but Caesar loved Caesar more then Caesar loved Brutus. Brutus got fed up and, after a lot of whining, joined in the conspiracy to kill Caesar.
2. Rome was a fucking mess. Slavery. The politicians and the wealthy could wield absolute power. Women were property. Public safety was with your own blade or body guards.