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`Gladiatrix` by Russell Whitfield

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rex icelingas
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`Gladiatrix` by Russell Whitfield

Post by rex icelingas » Fri March 27th, 2009, 6:51 am

Yes theres a score of Gladiator HF out there already but this is a new twist and an interesting one also

Of course Female gladiators were about during the roman Empire and although the author does make a few Historical blunders during the novel its a great read.
Gladiatrix tells of an abducted Spartan trained to become a Gladiatrix,yes there are Parallels to the Russell Crowe movie but still has plenty of originality.
The fight scenes are told very well indeed,neither too short or too long just right to keep your attention
the novel is at times somewhat steamy and full of colourful language-be warned!
The characters are Interesting if a little one dimensional,why is her Dacian arch-nemesis always in a bad mood?
Its an easy going read,easy to get into and easy to pick up or put down,certainly I would purchase another book by this author,any chance of a sequel?

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Post by Carla » Fri March 27th, 2009, 11:19 am

I think Russ is working on a sequel, but I don't know the details or when it might be due for release.

I enjoyed Gladiatrix as well, especially the character of Lysandra. She's so utterly tactless and so sincerely convinced of her own superiority, even when being comprehensively outmanoeuvred by the genuinely canny characters like Balbus, that it gets quite endearing in an odd sort of way. I can see how she has a talent for making enemies, though!
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cw gortner
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Post by cw gortner » Tue March 31st, 2009, 3:52 am

I interviewed him a while back on my blog; he's a nice guy. I enjoyed Gladiatrix, too; I felt he took a chance with a lead character who basically was far too arrogant for her own good.
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Divia
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Post by Divia » Tue March 31st, 2009, 4:24 am

I have this on my TBR pile. I got it off of Amazon Vine a few months back. I'm looking forward to it.
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Post by annis » Tue March 31st, 2009, 5:54 am

Carla posted her review of "Gladiatrix" on the old HF Forum and Russell came along and chatted a bit. I'm sure I asked him if Lysandra and Sorina might meet up again in the future and settle their score and he indicated that they might.
It's been a bit controversal- some readers have found the sex and violence a bit much and comment that it has a gamer aspect, but I liked it.

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Divia
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Post by Divia » Fri November 13th, 2009, 1:40 am

This book has a lot of sex and violence. This is written by a guy with a guy in mind.
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Post by CindyInOz » Thu December 10th, 2009, 11:33 pm

I've just finished Gladiatrix and wow, talk about action packed! There were one or two scenes I found difficult to handle (the brutal rape in particular, for obvious reasons), but in short, I simply couldn't put the book down.

Definitely written with male readers in mind, but I have to say that those are my favourite reads.

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Gladiatrix II

Post by parthianbow » Fri December 11th, 2009, 10:33 am

I enjoyed Gladiatrix a lot. I'm also a guy, and Rome is my thing :D , but I think it has a distinct appeal to those who like military/gladiator style HF too. I 'know' Russ from emails and contact from him about a collection of short stories he was valiantly trying to get publishers to back. WQe keep in touch, and I can tell you that he's nearly finished the sequel to Gladiatrix. Not sure when it'll get to print though...but I would assume next year. Let's hope so!
Re the above collection - it was to be a charitable effort, to raise money for Help for Heroes, and despite its list of well-known HF authors, of which I was one of the minnows, it failed due to the lack of publishing interest. Hopefully it will come off one day. :cool:
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Re: `Gladiatrix` by Russell Whitfield

Post by Margaret » Tue May 24th, 2016, 3:37 am

Hated this novel. I thought it had racist stereotypes in it, but that's from the perspective of an American who grew up in Texas, where black men were lynched as late as 1942, generally because people accused them of raping - or simply expressing interest in - white women. Hateful, despicable stuff that cannot be condemned too strongly, and this novel seemed to re-introduce that mind-set (though the author is British and evidently did not intend a racist message connected with the history of the American South).
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