Reviewed by Taylin

TITLE: Nova Praetorian

AUTHOR: N.R. Walker

PUBLISHER: Blue Heart Press

LENGTH: 394 pages

RELEASE DATE:   October 24, 2018

BLURB:

Quintus Furius Varus is one of the best lanistas in Rome. Tall and strong in build, fearsome in manner, and sharp of wit, he trains the best gladiators bound for the arenas of Rome. When Senator Servius Augendus seeks personal guards, he attends the Ludus Varus for purchase of the very best. He puts to Quintus an offer he cannot refuse, and Quintus finds himself in Neapolis, contracted as a trainer of guards instead of gladiators.
Kaeso Agorix was taken from his homelands of Iberia and delivered to Rome as a slave. Bought by a senator to be trained as a guard, his fate is handed to the man who would train him. Absent free will, Kaeso knows his life is no longer his own, though he soon realises the gods have favoured him when he learns his new master has a kind heart.

Quintus and Kaeso forge a bond that far exceeds the collar at Kaeso’s neck, and together they discover the senator’s move for promotion has an ulterior motive. Thrown into a world of politics and conspiracy, of keeping enemies close, they move against time to save Rome before traitors and the gods themselves see to their end.
And in doing so, see the dawn of the nova praetorian–the new guard–rise.

REVIEW:

Quintus’s father had built one of the best gladiator schools of its time, and Quintus intended to keep it so. After losing his parents at an early age, Quintus exceeds his father’s wishes. It was an unusual feat considering he was raised by the Gladiators. As such he could outfight them all.

With risk to his life, Senator Servius Augendus needs guards, and he wants the best. However, he doesn’t leave the Ludus with Quintus’s men, he leaves with Quintus himself, using the threat/blackmail of – join his household or defy a direct order from Rome.

Without a doubt, I loved this novel. I haven’t long come back from a holiday in Rome, and whether that influenced my love of gladiator style stories, I’m not sure. There wasn’t a character, good or bad that I didn’t like. Each of them had their place, and none were superfluous. It was purely a case of where they fit into the tale.

In the opening pages, lots of similar names are thrown at the reader, possibly to show how busy the household is – and it made things a touch confusing. But, events soon even out to a much more natural pace.

At the senator’s residence, Quintus gets to work. It is also where Servius’s personality slowly reveals itself – playing to his audience one minute, cold and calculating the next. He is an ambitious, power-hungry man who will tread on anyone to achieve his goal. So, when a new batch of slaves arrives, Kaeso, an Iberian man with defiance in his eyes, shows he could be problematic, the senator gives him to Quintus to tame, combining their fates. Quintus soon realizes that Kaeso’s defiance would either get the man (and Quintus) killed or aid him in becoming a great guard.

Raised in privilege yet understanding the lot of a slave more than most, Quintus is strong in both mind and body, and acts as such – the man is no pushover. He understands that Kaeso, a week earlier, was a free man. It isn’t long before the sexual tension rears its head along with many other emotions that arise when dealing with such a spirited stallion. Quintus is also aware that any favor shown to Kaeso can also be seen as a weakness, and used by the senator, placing targets on more than one back.

Told in the third person from Quintus and Kaeso’s POV. There is a useful glossary of Roman terminology at the start. Regardless, it doesn’t take long to get hold of what everything is. The tone of the storytelling is very much in keeping with anything Roman on TV and books I’ve previously read. Dialogue is delightful. It is in the same style as Spartacus, the series. The more I read this story, the more I was sucked in by the world on the page, and the more I wanted to keep reading. Sadly, sleep and work had to intervene.

Nova Praetorian is more than brawn, sex and politics. It is exceptionally sexual, though it is balanced with other elements, including investigating who is plotting what inside and outside the Roman Senate. Determining who is good, astute or cleverly scheming, kept me guessing for much of the story. Add to the tale, the gradual movement from lust to love between two men of such differing backgrounds was a pleasure to read. And their loyalty to one another when danger from all angle’s looms, is lump in the throat time.

RATING:

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