Ambush: (Previously titled Blood Forest)

Description

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED UNDER THE TITLE BLOOD FOREST 'A BLOODY PAGE-TURNER' Mail on Sunday For fans of Bernard Cornwell, Simon Scarrow, Ben Kane and Conn Iggulden, a spectacular debut where honour and duty, legions and tribes clash in bloody, heart-breaking glory . . . ____________ AD 9. Fifteen thousand battle-hardened Roman legionaries strike deep into dense forest. Awaiting them are deadly, hostile Germanic tribes. In a clearing they find twelve massacred and strung-up legionaries. Is this a threat, or a warning? There is just one bloodied, broken survivor. He has no idea who he is. Only that he is a soldier. And now he must fight. As the legions are mercilessly cut down, the nameless soldier joins a small band of survivors trapped in the forest. If they fight together they have a slim chance of staying alive. But whose side is the soldier on? And is it the right one? _____________ 'Blood and guts, but also a clever exploration of the moral ambiguity of war and loyalty to a flag' Mail on Sunday 'Gives Rome's legionaries a contemporary voice - brutal, audacious and fast paced' Anthony Riches, author of the Empire series 'Historical fiction written by a real war veteran who knows all there is to know about blood and bonding in battle. An earthy and powerful read' Sport Review: Bloodforest, blutig im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes - Die um die Varusschlacht gesponnene Geschichte des Hauptakteure Felix ist spannend zu lesen. Der aus der Sicht eines römischen Legionärs beschriebene Untergang der römischen Legionen und das Leiden ihrer Soldaten wirkt authentisch. Die Ausweglosigkeit der von Arminius diktierten Schlacht muss für die Römer furchtbar gewesen sein. Ebenso furchtbar wie die zuvor erfolgte Unterdrückung durch diese brutale Militärmacht, der nicht nur die germanischen Stämme geradezu hilflos ausgeliefert waren. Die Opfer, die Arminius selbst und die germanischen Stämme für ihre Freiheit brachten, verdienen auch heute noch Respekt. Dabei kann dahingestellt bleiben, ob der Ausgang der Schlacht für den Verlauf der deutschen Geschichte dienlich war. Review: A Brilliant Story of a Man Haunted by War - I’ve never been in the infantry, much less a Roman legion, so all I can say is that BLOOD FOREST sure feels authentic. Most of this novel takes place among a contubernium of eight men of the Seventeenth Legion, deployed across the Rhine in not-quite-pacified Germania. It all begins when a scrawny, naked man covered in blood is discovered lurking at the site of a horrible massacre of a Roman detachment. He tells the rescuers that he doesn’t remember his name or where he came from, although he is clearly desperate and on his own. The cavalry commander, a charismatic allied German called Arminius, treats him kindly and dubs him “Felix” (lucky). Unluckily for Felix, his sandals give him away as a former legionary. Arminius takes him to the Roman camp, where he is assigned to a tent unit with six other soldiers dominated by the fearsome veteran Titus. This tight-knit group is far from pleased to have Felix thrust among them. It’s increasingly evident that he harbors a secret, but perhaps not one he will fully admit to himself, let alone to others. The mystery of Felix’s origins takes BLOOD FOREST to a different level than most swords-and-shields sagas. For those who are unfamiliar with events of 9 AD, I won’t spoil the story by relating more of the plot. Suffice it to say that everything he experiences made me believe, “Yes, it probably was just like that.” Geraint Jones, who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, clearly knows how soldiers think and talk. Their profanity and brutality sound true to life, and all eight men and their centurion, Pavo, come across as real, sympathetic characters. Considering that this is the author’s debut novel, he deserves high praise for his achievement. By the end, the reader will understand a complicated man who must reconcile his honor with his humanity--and whom, I hope, we will meet again in a sequel.