The Iron Hand of Mars: A Marcus Didius Falco Mystery

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing entry in the Falco series.
Review: Falco is off his home turf and it shows in this book. Barely a mystery at all, the ongoing Falco /Helena relationship has never been more tedious. Helena's brother is nicely sketched but his emotional crisis is forced and not believable. The murder is easily forgotten for chapters at a time. The ending is a disappointment.

Rating:
Summary: Thriller in Germania nicely Roman
Review: Lindsey Davis has the uncanny ability to capture the Roman attitude and prejudices toward the lands across the Alps. The Romans considered those tall, blonde, celtic warriors to be the most foreign of foreigners, with their hideous rites of human sacrifice and odd Druidic worship. Falco and company tread where most Romans feared to tread, both in foreign, barbarian territory and through the battle grounds of lost legions, slaughtered by the enemy. Yet Davis also understands that people are people, and that some aspects of nature never change, such as trade and prosperity being reliant on local army installations, as the Gauls and Celtic tribes within the Roman province are. The somber tone of this novel is broken up with the humorous and familiar universal traveler with his traveler's woe. As Americans, it is sometimes difficult for us to appreciate what it is like for Europeans who live among Roman relics, whose history is intricately tied to that of Rome. It is easy to overlook the place of Germania in the Roman world, and the fact that it was the tribal north who finally conquered Rome. The Iron Hand of Mars should not be overlooked, nor underestimated. It is a thrilling adventure into unknown territory combined with the humor of travel and the problems of having too many relations.