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gatorelgato's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
becki_c's review
4.0
Falco series are incredibly well-writ, with solid accuracy of Roman lifestyle, verbiage, and timeline.
Flaco as a protagonist took some time for me to warm up too (he’d say, “the more the merrier”). But it is his dower personality, his quiet rapier wit, and the overall charm that comes through… despite himself, that makes these books a marvelous read.
Also, the side characters are equally vibrant, interesting, and at times hilarious.
This isn’t a stabby stabby 007 read. The plot is at time ponderous like the bull named Nero, but just you wait, and again, like the bull named Nero, the plot starts galloping to a satisfying conclusion.
Flaco as a protagonist took some time for me to warm up too (he’d say, “the more the merrier”). But it is his dower personality, his quiet rapier wit, and the overall charm that comes through… despite himself, that makes these books a marvelous read.
Also, the side characters are equally vibrant, interesting, and at times hilarious.
This isn’t a stabby stabby 007 read. The plot is at time ponderous like the bull named Nero, but just you wait, and again, like the bull named Nero, the plot starts galloping to a satisfying conclusion.
zurpel's review against another edition
4.0
I previously read The Silver Pigs and enjoyed it. Now I finished Shadows in Bronze and enjoyed it very much. It has been quite a while since I read the first book and while it might be a good idea to read both books together, because the second picks up right where the first left off, I didn't have any difficulties in getting back into the story. It all comes back whenever something specific of the previous novel is mentioned.
After he had previously discovered and put a stop to a conspiracy against Emperor Vespasian, Falco now has the task to tie up some loose ends. People are dying and mysterious people following other people. In order to contact different senators on the emperor's behalf, Falco even has the task to travel to the seaside, where he meets with ghosts and confident young women (read: Helena Justina).
Lindsey Davis manages to paint a vivid image of ancient Rome in her books. Shadows in Bronze had a great plot and I loved to follow Falco in his adventures and with him it certainly never gets boring. It is actually quite difficult to guess what is going to happen next (although it would probably be a safe bet to say that something will go wrong exactly when our hero thinks that finally he has managed to set everything to rights).
I love the writing style (humour on every page) and I love the characters. I even found the romance woven into the main plote quite sweet (not too much but enough to convey Falco's and Helena Justina's feelings).
This is a wonderful humorous historical mystery.
After he had previously discovered and put a stop to a conspiracy against Emperor Vespasian, Falco now has the task to tie up some loose ends. People are dying and mysterious people following other people. In order to contact different senators on the emperor's behalf, Falco even has the task to travel to the seaside, where he meets with ghosts and confident young women (read: Helena Justina).
Lindsey Davis manages to paint a vivid image of ancient Rome in her books. Shadows in Bronze had a great plot and I loved to follow Falco in his adventures and with him it certainly never gets boring. It is actually quite difficult to guess what is going to happen next (although it would probably be a safe bet to say that something will go wrong exactly when our hero thinks that finally he has managed to set everything to rights).
I love the writing style (humour on every page) and I love the characters. I even found the romance woven into the main plote quite sweet (not too much but enough to convey Falco's and Helena Justina's feelings).
This is a wonderful humorous historical mystery.
jonathanpalfrey's review against another edition
2.0
This is a rather long and complicated novel. I don't mind novels being long and complicated, and this is not a bad novel, but I didn't feel sufficiently entertained while being dragged around Italy in the wake of Falco and his mission.
I read through to the end, wanting to find out what happened, because I'd completely forgotten the story since last reading it 28 years ago. But in the end I don't wonder that nothing had stuck in my memory; it's not a story that leaves much of an impression on me.
The relationship between Marcus Didius Falco and Helena Justina, which was such an enjoyable feature of the preceding book, is here intermittent, fretful, and uncertain. Despite travelling separately for different reasons, they keep accidentally bumping into each other, but they're not always glad to do so.
This book is a part of their story, and people who want the whole thing will want to read it, but for me at least it's not much fun, and this isn't one of my favourite Falco books.
I read through to the end, wanting to find out what happened, because I'd completely forgotten the story since last reading it 28 years ago. But in the end I don't wonder that nothing had stuck in my memory; it's not a story that leaves much of an impression on me.
The relationship between Marcus Didius Falco and Helena Justina, which was such an enjoyable feature of the preceding book, is here intermittent, fretful, and uncertain. Despite travelling separately for different reasons, they keep accidentally bumping into each other, but they're not always glad to do so.
This book is a part of their story, and people who want the whole thing will want to read it, but for me at least it's not much fun, and this isn't one of my favourite Falco books.
cyrce's review
4.0
Off the heels of his misadventures in The Silver Pigs, Falco is on clean up duty in Shadows in Bronze. After exposing the conspiracy against Vespasian, Falco has decided to accept work for the new Emperor of Rome in order to raise his status. All so that he can be deemed worthy of his lady love, Helena.
The work, however, does not go as expected, and leads to yet another conspiracy against the Emperor!
Unlike the other mystery novels I’ve read, I do like how the plot of this book flowed seamlessly from the first one. It wraps up all the threads started in the first book. The relationship between Helena and Falco was compelling as well. Rather than end up together permanently, the pair of them fight and fall in love and fight once more. The clashes and misunderstandings between them make them seem more real to me and the way Helena is integral to the mystery Falco is working to solve doesn’t seem forced. I can’t wait to get my hands on the next in the series.
The work, however, does not go as expected, and leads to yet another conspiracy against the Emperor!
Spoiler
For most of the book, Falco is dealing with the fallout from uncovering the conspiracy and his relationship with Helena has suffered for it. After dumping a body down into the sewers and witnessing the death of a man involved in the conspiracy he accidentally stumbled upon, Falco is sent off to deal with the remaining plotters and warn them of the danger that may be stalking them. The problem is that he ends up falling in with Helena Justina again.Unlike the other mystery novels I’ve read, I do like how the plot of this book flowed seamlessly from the first one. It wraps up all the threads started in the first book. The relationship between Helena and Falco was compelling as well. Rather than end up together permanently, the pair of them fight and fall in love and fight once more. The clashes and misunderstandings between them make them seem more real to me and the way Helena is integral to the mystery Falco is working to solve doesn’t seem forced. I can’t wait to get my hands on the next in the series.
rosannelortz's review
4.0
In Shadows in Bronze, the second book of the Marcus Didius Falco series by Lindsey Davis, Marcus goes undercover to find out more about the conspirators whom he thwarted in the previous novel. As they explore the towns of the Italian countryside, Marcus and his nephew Larius become door-to-door salesmen, offering lead pipes at a cheap deal and tax free.
"Every householder knows the hazard; a man and a boy at the door selling something you don’t want. Unless you feel strong, these whey-faced inadequates land you with anything from fake horoscopes or wobbly iron saucepans to a second-hand chariot with mock-silver wheel finials and a very small Medusa stencilled on the side, which you subsequently discover used to be painted crimson and had to have its bodywork remodelled after being battered to all Hades in a crash…"
The plot to overthrow Vespasian using silver from his own mines has ended, but some of the pardoned conspirators are a little too interested in the annual shipment of corn to Rome’s granaries. To complicate matters further, a sinister, green-cloaked man named Barnabas seems to have a vendetta against the surviving conspirators, and Marcus must risk his own neck to put a stop to Barnabas’ killing spree.
Marcus continues his relationship with Helena Justina despite the obstacles posed by their disparate social standings and their determination to willfully misunderstand each other. His friend Petronius and nephew Larius add interesting subplots to the story as Petronius tries to keep his shrewish wife happy and Larius learns about the facts of life from his uncle.
The opening quote illustrates many of the things I’m loving about these books: the cheeky narrative tone, the wide range of historical detail, the lovely way it parallels with life in modern day America. Lindsey Davis has quite a gift for words. I found myself stopping two or three times to read especially humorous descriptive passages aloud to my husband:
"The town of Herculaneum was very small, very sleepy, and if any interesting women lived there, they were hidden behind locked doors…. Unlike Pompeii, where we had to bawl to make ourselves heard, in Herculaneum you could stand in the Forum at the top of the town and still hear the sea gulls at the port. If a child cried in Herculaneum its nursemaid dashed to gag it before it was sued for a breach of the peace. At Herculaneum the gladiators in the amphitheatre probably said ‘I beg your pardon!’ each time their swords did anything so impolite as landing a nick. Frankly, Herculaneum made me want to jump on a public fountain and shout a very rude word."
One of the things that makes Lindsy Davis’ descriptions so colorful are the memorable similes. When describing a small boat that he has stolen, Marcus says: “It bobbed in the wavelets like an intoxicated fruitfly dancing at a rotten peach.”
It’s official. I’m a Marcus Didius Falco fan. It’s going to be hard to make myself read anything else until I’m done with the whole series.
"Every householder knows the hazard; a man and a boy at the door selling something you don’t want. Unless you feel strong, these whey-faced inadequates land you with anything from fake horoscopes or wobbly iron saucepans to a second-hand chariot with mock-silver wheel finials and a very small Medusa stencilled on the side, which you subsequently discover used to be painted crimson and had to have its bodywork remodelled after being battered to all Hades in a crash…"
The plot to overthrow Vespasian using silver from his own mines has ended, but some of the pardoned conspirators are a little too interested in the annual shipment of corn to Rome’s granaries. To complicate matters further, a sinister, green-cloaked man named Barnabas seems to have a vendetta against the surviving conspirators, and Marcus must risk his own neck to put a stop to Barnabas’ killing spree.
Marcus continues his relationship with Helena Justina despite the obstacles posed by their disparate social standings and their determination to willfully misunderstand each other. His friend Petronius and nephew Larius add interesting subplots to the story as Petronius tries to keep his shrewish wife happy and Larius learns about the facts of life from his uncle.
The opening quote illustrates many of the things I’m loving about these books: the cheeky narrative tone, the wide range of historical detail, the lovely way it parallels with life in modern day America. Lindsey Davis has quite a gift for words. I found myself stopping two or three times to read especially humorous descriptive passages aloud to my husband:
"The town of Herculaneum was very small, very sleepy, and if any interesting women lived there, they were hidden behind locked doors…. Unlike Pompeii, where we had to bawl to make ourselves heard, in Herculaneum you could stand in the Forum at the top of the town and still hear the sea gulls at the port. If a child cried in Herculaneum its nursemaid dashed to gag it before it was sued for a breach of the peace. At Herculaneum the gladiators in the amphitheatre probably said ‘I beg your pardon!’ each time their swords did anything so impolite as landing a nick. Frankly, Herculaneum made me want to jump on a public fountain and shout a very rude word."
One of the things that makes Lindsy Davis’ descriptions so colorful are the memorable similes. When describing a small boat that he has stolen, Marcus says: “It bobbed in the wavelets like an intoxicated fruitfly dancing at a rotten peach.”
It’s official. I’m a Marcus Didius Falco fan. It’s going to be hard to make myself read anything else until I’m done with the whole series.
sidin's review
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
queencarolrules's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
justus_jonas's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75