Sand of the Arena

I bought this book as a Christmas gift and ended up reading it myself. Unlike a lot of historical fiction, this book is chock full of action. The plot is not cluttered up with political observations nor are the main characters solving mysteries or rescuing damsels in distress. The main characters are quite literally fighting for supremacy and in so doing send each other down roads neither thought they would ever travel. The writing style very much matches the clarity of plot with descriptions that unmistakably convey the emotions and drama taking place.

I've been searching for a long time for a book that focused on the world of gladiators. So often, arena fighters are just cardboard background figures in an ancient mystery or political novel. Well, not this book! The spotlight here is on the life (and death) of a group of gladiators from Britannia and Pompeii. The arena action is incredible and the vivid descriptions of thier lifestyle and training seems totally authentic. The main characters are colorful and interesting, especially the hero Quintus ("Taurus" in the arena). His growth from scrawny teen to one of the most popular gladiators in Rome seems to parallel a lot of todays sports heroes. Highly recommended, not only for fans of the Roman Empire, but for anyone who likes a fast paced, action-packed read.

My husband picked this book up last week at a Roman festival in South Carolina. The more he read, the more he raved about it, which got me interested. So I picked it up and started reading. Now we fight about who gets the book that evening. I really didn't think I'd like all the blood, but when you get past that, it's really a story about the brothership that develops among gladiators in a training camp and how those bonds either grow stronger or get destroyed in the arena. This is a part of ancient Rome I never really thought about. But now that I'm reading about it, I find it absolutely fascinating. When book #2 comes out, we'll need to buy two of them !!!!!!