Black Horse Odyssey by David Harris (NF)

[parthianbow]

The subtitle of this book is "Search for the lost city of Rome in China".

I have mixed feelings about this text. Firstly, I hold it in some affection, because I read it when researching my first novel, The Forgotten Legion. However, while it was interesting to read about someone who has visited the area where Roman legionaries might, just might, have ended up after the battle of Carrhae in 53 BC, the book is extremely thin on archaeological or historical evidence.

So what we end up with is an account of the author's trips to western China, his difficulties with officialdom, his financial worries, his personal relationships, and some funny accounts of his socialising with the Chinese who took him in and befriended him. Hmmm. Not what I was looking for, or how the book is marketed.

It aims high, but rather falls flat on its face thanks to lack of real substance. A real shame, really. 2 poor stars out of 5.