What do you think?
Rate this book
Throne of the Caesars #3.5
Smoke & Mirrors
A tense and brilliantly dramatic short story from the bestselling author of the Throne of the Caesars Series.
Maximinus Thrax is desperate to raise money for the army, but his advisors dissuade him from taxation, fearing another uprising. The spy Censorinus is sent to Abonouteichus to steal the secrets of rich and powerful men who have confided in the oracle there.
36 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 20, 2017
4 people are currently reading
108 people want to read
About the author
Harry Sidebottom
41 books521 followersHarry Sidebottom is Lecturer in Ancient History at Merton College, Oxford, and part-time lecturer in Classics and Ancient History at the University of Warwick. He has written for and contributed to many publications, including Classical Review, Journal of Roman Studies, and War and Society in the Roman World.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 6, 2017
Story: 9 (brief but well done)
Characters: 8 (cheerful lead but too brief for much development)
Accuracy: 10 (like, if you believe Lucian)
This is a short story that takes place during the Throne of the Caesars series. A young frumentarius is sent on a mission to recover petitions from a wealthy temple in Asia Minor, the reasoning being that they suspect some pertain to the health of the emperor and are thus treasonable which means they can execute them and confiscate their goods to provide funds for the emperor who’s not proving entirely rational in his demands for coin. As you can tell from this, the story’s rather limited in length and scope and I’d say its the better for it. I wouldn’t mind seeing Censorinus given a larger role in future books (he’s friendly and enthusiastic enough for all that he’s a cold-blooded killer) but expanding his story would have just meant padding it out beyond what the plot can support. The stealth scenes are well done and feel like the literary equivalent of sneaking around all those temples in Assassin’s Creed: Origins. The look at how Greek temples and oracles worked is interesting on a dramatic level. The novella tells a complete story that takes us to new areas and has a clear purpose. And that’s about as much as you can expect from a story of this length.
Characters: 8 (cheerful lead but too brief for much development)
Accuracy: 10 (like, if you believe Lucian)
This is a short story that takes place during the Throne of the Caesars series. A young frumentarius is sent on a mission to recover petitions from a wealthy temple in Asia Minor, the reasoning being that they suspect some pertain to the health of the emperor and are thus treasonable which means they can execute them and confiscate their goods to provide funds for the emperor who’s not proving entirely rational in his demands for coin. As you can tell from this, the story’s rather limited in length and scope and I’d say its the better for it. I wouldn’t mind seeing Censorinus given a larger role in future books (he’s friendly and enthusiastic enough for all that he’s a cold-blooded killer) but expanding his story would have just meant padding it out beyond what the plot can support. The stealth scenes are well done and feel like the literary equivalent of sneaking around all those temples in Assassin’s Creed: Origins. The look at how Greek temples and oracles worked is interesting on a dramatic level. The novella tells a complete story that takes us to new areas and has a clear purpose. And that’s about as much as you can expect from a story of this length.
October 17, 2017
Another quality novella.
Sidebottom changes his style slightly here. Instead of gripping narrative, erudite learning and big battles we get Bond esque spy missions. As Maximinus' wars drain the coffers new revenue streams ( morally grey ones) are needed. He gives us the interesting characters we expect, the lowest of politics and a wonderful insight into Ancient Religion. A fascinating read. Really enjoyed it!
Sidebottom changes his style slightly here. Instead of gripping narrative, erudite learning and big battles we get Bond esque spy missions. As Maximinus' wars drain the coffers new revenue streams ( morally grey ones) are needed. He gives us the interesting characters we expect, the lowest of politics and a wonderful insight into Ancient Religion. A fascinating read. Really enjoyed it!
August 24, 2021
Another excellent side story. Gave me a whole lot of goosebumps reading this. Glad I picked it up!
May 22, 2017
Another brilliant book!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews