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Collen McCullough's Rome Series

MissMarplestein
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Collen McCullough's Rome Series

Post by MissMarplestein » Wed February 18th, 2009, 4:03 pm

Just curious if anyone has read the Rome series by Colleen McCullough - some of the books in the series include - The Grass Crown, The Last Man in Rome, Caesar's Women, etc. The series is all about Caesar's life; from a young boy to his rise in the political arena...very good books.

"I have dreamed thee too long,
never seen thee or touched thee
but known thee with all of my heart.
Half a prayer, half a song,
thou hast always been with me,
though we have been always apart." Man of LaMancha

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Christina
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Post by Christina » Wed February 18th, 2009, 11:18 pm

Sorry, Miss Marplestein, I've not read those book but I just had to say that I love the extract in your signature! :-)

Ash
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Post by Ash » Thu February 19th, 2009, 12:41 am

I picked up Last Man in Rome and ended up tossing it in the trade pile. I tried three times, and just couldn't get into it. I do have an aversion to Roman history stuff, and it really has to click fast for me (I loved Quo Vadis, so its not just the size of the book). This one is probably as well written as her other ones, but I had to move on.

MissMarplestein
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Post by MissMarplestein » Thu February 19th, 2009, 12:43 am

[quote=""Christina""]Sorry, Miss Marplestein, I've not read those book but I just had to say that I love the extract in your signature! :-) [/quote]

Thank you...it's from the movie Man of LaMancha - the song is Dulcinea. The movie is one of my all time faves, and the first time I heard the song I knew I would name one of my cats by the same name...4 years ago I finally got 2 kittens and one is named Dulcinea, the other Miss Marplestein...but the song is beautiful.

"I have dreamed thee too long,
never seen thee or touched thee
but known thee with all of my heart.
Half a prayer, half a song,
thou hast always been with me,
though we have been always apart." Man of LaMancha

MissMarplestein

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Tanzanite
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Post by Tanzanite » Thu February 19th, 2009, 1:03 am

I read The October Horse and didn't care for it - it was too long winded for me without really accomplishing much.

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Susan
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Post by Susan » Thu February 19th, 2009, 1:24 am

[quote=""MissMarplestein""]Just curious if anyone has read the Rome series by Colleen McCullough - some of the books in the series include - The Grass Crown, The Last Man in Rome, Caesar's Women, etc. The series is all about Caesar's life; from a young boy to his rise in the political arena...very good books.[/quote]

The series actually starts before Julius Caesar. I read and enjoyed the early books, but stopped reading either Casear's Women or Casear...I can't remember which and I don't recall why I stopped though. It was too long ago. I learned a lot about ancient Rome from these books. McCullough has wonderfully detailed glossaries.

The First (not Last) Man in Rome is about Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla as is The Grass Crown. Julius Caesar starts appearing in The Grass Crown as a child. Lucius Cornelius Sulla is once again in Fortune's Favorites along with a young Julius Caesar.

These are all the books in the series:

1. The First Man in Rome (1990)
2. The Grass Crown (1991)
3. Fortune's Favorites (1993)
4. Caesar's Women (1996)
5. Caesar (1997)
6. The October Horse (2002)
7. Antony and Cleopatra (2007)
~Susan~
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annis
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Post by annis » Thu February 19th, 2009, 1:47 am

This is a very good series, but I'll probably incur someone's wrath by saying that I felt a bit more rigorous pruning wouldn't have gone astray. "Antony & Cleopatra" was a bit of a disappointment, but Colleen McCullough hasn't been in the best of health for some time now, and perhaps it shows in A&C.

Allan Massie's Imperial trilogy is very good as well
1. Augustus
2. Tiberius
3. Caesar

I'm looking forward to David Blixt's take on the Flavians, too :)

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Toelistangan
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Post by Toelistangan » Thu February 19th, 2009, 6:50 am

I read Antony & Cleopatra and I like it. McCullough made a good narration on the political situation during that period of time (around 40 BC) as well as description on main characters and their political problems.

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sweetpotatoboy
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Post by sweetpotatoboy » Thu February 19th, 2009, 10:24 am

I've read all of the series except Antony & Cleopatra (which I'll get to shortly). IMHO, this is some of the best historical fiction written in the last 15 years - although the first 4 or 5 books are definitely the best of the bunch.

The October Horse was very plodding and difficult to get into, though ultimately worthwhile. This from someone who had read and loved the previous books in the series. For someone coming new to the series at that book, it could have been close to unreadable, methinks.

I heartily agree with the recommendation of the Massie books. Extremely readable. Should be read in the order they were written, although they are not strictly chronological. But there are actually 6 books in the series. The other books are Antony, Nero's Heirs and Caligula.

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Post by Carla » Thu February 19th, 2009, 3:10 pm

I've read all except the most recent (Antony and Cleopatra - haven't got round to that one yet). I thought Caesar's Women was the weakest, as not much seemed to happen in that one.

Overall the series does a tremendous job of showing how the Roman Republic turned itself into the Roman Empire. I like the racy style and the way all the characters have their individual quirks, especially in the first three (First Man in Rome, Grass Crown, Fortune's Favourites). When Caesar comes to the fore in Book 4 he seems to dominate the series and tends to eclipse everybody else.
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