The Fire Waker: An Aelius Spartianus Mystery

The level of knowledge and writing here is way above the norm, with only Saylor and Davis in competition. Pastor is deliberately less of a popular stylist. Roman-born, her complex English is superb, with only very occasional flubs. It is phenomenally readable, with a different rhythm and cadence that deepens the tale. Though it will take the first couple of chapters to acclimate to her style. The only changes I would like to see are to accomodate non-European readers. First, a bit more context - how many of us are that familiar with the Roman tetrarchs and their various honorifics, which are scattered loosely, unlinked to names? And as Ms. Pastor's sense of authenticity has her narrative stay with the many ancient geographical place names involved, this series is definitely a prime candidate for maps, despite the glossaries. Otherwise, a really stimulating new find. Tremendously enjoyable. In the top three (see above) of ancient-Roman-mystery writers. Treat yourself if you haven't already.

It's 304 C.E. The Roman Emperor Diocletian's official historian, his eyes and ears in the far-flung corners of the divided empire, and a fierce soldier, Aelius Spartianus is carrying messages for Diocletian when he receives word from his friend and erstwhile enemy, the Jew Baruch ben Matthias, of a miracle. A Christian brick maker has died and been resurrected by a Christian holy man. As Christians are being thrown to bears and lions in some parts of the empire, this is worth looking into. But when Aelius goes to investigate, the brick maker is dead again, murdered this time. Continuing on his way to deliver a message to the Emperor Maximium (the empire is under divided rule and the emperors Maximium and Constantius are scheduled to abdicate), Aelius soon finds himself tangled in another murder. A judge, this time, one who had been lenient with Christians, killed in a little-used public bath. There are a number of suspects, but before Aelius can sort them out, the bath's Christian slaves have been arrested, Aelius is attacked in a public inn, and a rich and sinister Roman soldier-politician has taken an interest in him. The Roman politics are hopelessly complicated but the setting is richly populated with plebes, slaves, soldiers and aristocrats, with their respective garb, food, positions and abodes. Pastor brings alive the times, giving the plight of women a prominent place in the story and in Aelius' mind. Aelius is an engaging, resourceful, dogged and principled character and readers will hope he has a long and adventurous life.

Ben Pastor sets new standards of excellence for historical-mystery writing with "The Fire Waker", featuring the exploits of Roman army officer/historian/sleuth Aelius Spartianus. This is the second Spartianus murder mystery and every bit as good as the first. Last time, in "The Water Thief", Spartianus searched for the Lost Tomb of Antinous while at the same time stumbling onto a dire plot that threatened to topple the empire at the turn of the 4th Century AD. This time, Spartianus is on the trail of a provincial brick mason who was miraculously raised from the dead by a Christian mystic, only to die a second time under suspicious circumstances. Spartianus's hunt for the murderer leads him into a vipers nest of religious fanatics and political intrigue between rivals vying to become emperor. Pastor is well known for her Martin Bora novels set in Nazi-occupied Europe, and with her Spartianus books Pastor shows she is just as much at home with the Legions in Ancient Rome. She is indeed a master at the craft of writing a mystery that is more than a mystery and a historical novel that is more than a historical novel. In fact, her books defy easy categories. The murder mystery plot, while riveting, is only part of the fun of reading this book. She has an incredible eye for detail and for precise time and place. Each event corresponds to a calendar date. Each setting is an authentic place. When Pastor describes a rain cloud on the horizon, you half-suspect she consulted an ancient almanac to verify the weather on that day in the year 304 in the vicinity of ancient Mediolanum (Milan). Above all, her characters are vividly drawn and fully complex human beings. Her dialogue is superb. As in her Bora novels, the characters in the Spartianus books are never one-dimensional, never all-good or all evil, never entirely what they appear to be on the surface -- just like all of us. Spartianus is a tolerably decent and honorable man who finds himself in perfectly intolerable situations. And as in all her novels, even the minor characters are fleshed out. There are always a couple of intriguing eccentrics. In "The Water Thief" there was the outrageous tranny whore Cleopatra Junior. And in "The Fire Waker", we have the nymphomaniac Helena who uses the wiles of her body in a bid to bring her son Constantine to the throne. The reader knows, of course, that the man-hungry, sluttish Helena will one day be honored as a Christian saint. Such tongue-in-cheek irony is a staple of Pastor's fiction. Saints and demons often occupy the same ambiguous flesh in her novels. And speaking of ambiguous hero/villains, it is good to see wisecracking Baruch ben Matthias back again as the itinerant Jewish merchant/brigand who is variously Spartianus's best ally or worst foe -- with Spartianus never quite knowing which at any given moment. We also meet Spartianus' family and get to know his cold-hearted father, his perfectly dreadful in-laws and his long-suffering mother, who finall

In 304 C.E. Emperor Diocletian sends his official historian Commander Aelius Spartianus on a diplomatic mission. On the dangerous trek to meet one of the other tetrarch rulers Emperor Constantius, the envoy receives a strange missive while in Belgica Prima province. The note claims Christian healer Agnus THE FIRE WAKER allegedly returned from the dead brick-maker Marcus Lupus; however soon after the miracle occurred, Lupus is found murdered in his bed with no third time reanimation. Aelius curious by the rumors decides to briefly stop and investigate the Lupus homicide. His inquiry quickly leads him to the killing of Judge Marcellus who led court cases against Christians and a procurement corruption case that ties back brick making. The local Commander and other officials resent the outsider intruding in their affairs while Aelius wonders how high up the corruption scandal truly goes. Mindful of the John Maddox Roberts' SQXR series though a few centuries into the future, the second Spartianius investigative tale (see THE WATER THIEF) is a superb Ancient Rome whodunit. The story line uses the envoy's sleuthing as a means of providing the audience a deep look at local and regional politics in a period when the once mighty Rome has divided into four rival yet "united" empires. The whodunit is excellent with wonderful twists while the glimpse into the tetrarch as fascinating if not more so. Harriet Klausner

"The Fire Waker" is the second novel by author Ben Pastor in the Aelius Spartanius detective series and it is a every bit as good as its precedessor, "The Water Thief." The story is set at the end of the 3rd Century AD when the Roman Empire is experiencing the strains of overextension, changing demographics and sectarian foment. It is less Roman as a state and more cosmopolitan. The book's protagonist, Aelius Spartanius, is an army officer/historian of Pannonian/Hungarian origins, who works as a special agent for the Emperor Diocletian, who himself lives in semi-retirement in Greece and Croatia and plans soon to abdicate his throne. Spartanius is sent west as envoy to Diocletian's co-emperor, to report on economic and political conditions and secondarily, to check into rumors of the resurrection by a Christian holy man that threatens to deepen a mounting crisis between the Roman authorities and growing Christian church. When Spartanius arrives at the scene of the reported resurrection, he learns that the "raised" man has died again and this time it is clearly permanent. The story moves on to Mediolanum (Milan) where he attempts to hand over a message from his imperial patron, but is rebuffed and winds up in continuing peril from local authorities for reasons not clear to him. What does become clearer as events unroll--including a second set of deaths--is that there is a common thread that originates with the conflict between Christian communities and Roman officialdom. Author Pastor brings a raft of wonderful characters to this story, starting with the principled and thoughtful antagonist, Spartanius, but also including: the enigmatic patrician, Decimus Curius; the scheming, larger than life Helena, mother of emperor wannabe Constantine; the various members of the Spartanius family; and many more. Whether primary or secondary to the novel, they are all wonderfully and fully described players here. All in all, this a beautifully researched and written book, complex and rich in plot and detail, that will please both mystery fans and readers with an interest in classical history. There is not a false note in any of Pastor's writing and the end of the story leaves the reader wanting more from Spartanius and his accompanying characters.