Reviews

Gates of Rome by Alex Scarrow

malteliest's review against another edition

adventurous dark lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

thebenj's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

lulitta2's review

adventurous funny informative fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

jakewjerrard's review

fast-paced

3.75

fueledbyrobert's review against another edition

4.0

Now that's more like it! Gates of Rome was a definite improvement over the last 2 Timeriders books. The existing characters were developed nicely, and the new characters (Caligula, Rashim) were interesting and entertaining. However, he spent too much time on the side characters in the middle of the book in my opinion. I would've preferred to have been reading about Liam, Maddy and Sal than Cato and Macro, and while it might have advanced the plot, I felt that it bogged down the book a bit.

Spoiler

And FINALLY, Maddy told Liam. Gah, I was so fed up of waiting for her to do it, but it was worth the wait.

This book advances the overarching plot of the series well too, and the end was something of a surprise as per usual. Really good book overall. One thing though: I'd advise anyone thinking of getting this against reading the blurb on the back of the book as it completely spoils the first 180 pages. Just a heads up.

P.S. Spongebubba is awesome.

heather34's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

zoeebone's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

charonlrdraws's review against another edition

2.0

If I'm honest here, I enjoyed the first book the second was alright and the others haven't really made much of an impression to be honest. And yeah Gates of Rome follows the same shit different era and I just lost interest and back in 2014 I met Alex Scarrow he signed my copy of the first book and it was great. I mean yeah he has some great ideas and all but yeah this is my lowest rating for one of his books.

I will attempt book six but I am noticing a repetitive pattern nothing changes, and where's the character development? I missed that it happened in the first three books and it just disappeared, and that's a shame but maybe I'm just sick of time travel storylines. I mean it has been done to death but in this series it follows the same pattern again and again.

A summery for Gates of Rome:

Liam O’Connor should have died at sea in 1912.
Maddy Carter should have died on a plane in 2010.
Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2026.

But all three have been given a second chance—to work for an agency that no one knows exists. Its purpose: to prevent time travel destroying history...

Project Exodus—a mission to transport 300 Americans from 2070 to AD 54 to overthrow the Roman Empire—has gone catastrophically wrong. Half have arrived seventeen years earlier, during the reign of Caligula.

Liam goes to investigate, but when Maddy and Sal attempt to flee a kill-squad sent to hunt down their field office, all of the TimeRiders become trapped in the Roman past.

Armed with knowledge of the future, Caligula is now more powerful than ever. But with the office unmanned—and under threat—how will the TimeRiders make it back to 2001 and put history right?

titou's review

adventurous slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

melbsreads's review against another edition

3.0

3.5 stars. It was only a matter of time before this series tackled Ancient Rome, and it did it in a pretty great fashion. The idea of a multi-national group of people going back in time from The End of Days to try and change the course of history was fun, but then I spent a decent chunk of time cringing (as, I suspect, I was supposed to) when the Vice-President of the US took over and decided that they should announce themselves by blasting Born in the USA on the way into Rome, and that they should inform Caligula that they were there to teach him about "The American way". Because UGH UGH UGH UGH UGH. Mostly because it was a multi-national group and why the hell should America get to be in charge, but partly because the Vice-President (who was an asshat) clearly had no idea of how much of the modern world came from Roman practices and ideals. History: it's important, kids.

So yeah, I liked seeing the team explore Ancient Rome. But I could have done without the douchey Vice-President of America Will Rule the World proportions. And I especially could have done without a robot that looks and talks like Spongebob Squarepants, because that is officially the WORST IDEA OF ALL TIME.