Just on a second reading of the three long historical novels by Adrian Goldsworthy that comprise his "Vindolanda" saga about Roman Britain. He is a noted historian (nonfiction) whose specialty is Roman military history. It is rare for a "real" historian to produce fiction, and rarer to produce pretty good fiction! But there was a big cache of documents - real documents - found at a long gone British Roman outpost called Vindolanda which gave unrivaled information about the real life of Roman soldiers at provincial postings, so I'm guessing he seized the opportunity to bring the documents to life.
Given his interest in military history, the novels have a LOT of bloody fighting. Goldsworthy gives the details about the damage the various types of swords floating around at that time could do the human body. Spouting blood, gouged eyes - mucho of that. But, for some reason, even though I don't like bloody fiction on the page or the screen, I seem to be able to glance over those parts pretty easily.
What grabs me are the many fascinating details. I have to compare the series to the 20+ Jack Aubrey and Steven Maturin novels about the British navy produced by Patrick O'Brian, likewise an enthusiast and learned man on his subject. Similarly, Goldsworthy's novels focus on two characters, particularly his hero the centurion Flavius Ferox, and his friend Vindex. Goldsworthy is able to imbue these characters with a surprising amount of nuance, and even manages to make the other characters distinct and memorable - again, this is very similar to what O'Brian accomplishes. Alas, the women are not so well drawn - again similar to O'Brian in this. But the novels are not really about women.
There's also something about his writing style that I am still trying to figure out. That's one of the reasons I'm rereading. I'd like to describe his plotting as "intricate," but that's not the right word. The plot is jerky rather than smooth, but "confusing" isn't right either. It's more that his writing style manages to capture the rhythm of how real life might have unfolded for a centurion on the border. Time moves slowly - it's a pre-modern culture - and events only belatedly fit together. I like the way the writing style conveys the swirl of events.
The third novel just came out and "completes" the series (he is working on a new trilogy), but the door was left open, and I have a feeling that eventually there will be more.
