Monthly Group Reads: OCTOBER 2013 (Group Read 1) Pride of Carthage by David Anthony Durham

[Nate]

For those interested, Mary Gentle wrote a series of books about this mercenary woman called Ash set in an alternate history wherein Carthage built a successful empire. I'd link them but I'm on my phone. Haven't read them but they look very interesting.

[Darcy]

Here you go Nate: Mary Gentle's first Ash book A Secret History

[Bryn]

I have the 4-in-1: Ash: A Secret History. Damn good and very realistic in feel as far as the mercenary soldiers go, and the politics of whom they contract to. Shutting up now because it's fantasy.

[Dawn]

Bryn wrote: "Shutting up now because it's fantasy."

Much appreciated! :)

[Nate]

I'm glad you liked it so much, Bryn. Makes me more comfortable with the fact I bought all four in paperback already :D

[Justin]

Those do sound intriguing. Thanks for the heads-up.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Nate wrote: "I'm around page 300 and I think this is an excellent book. The cast is nice and big and they all have their own nuanced personalities. So far I'm finding Hanno, Silenus, Vaca, Imilce and of course ..."


I usually don't like too big a cast of characters because many authors chop and change between them too much. Or they change between them just when I am getting into a scene with a different character. Pride is one book where I actually enjoyed the big cast. felt he plotted their paths well.

[Nate]

Okay this might be an idiotic question but I just read a scene where a Roman officer tells the "surrendering" Numidians to sit on their "black asses." weren't Numidians Berbers and thusly looked more middle-easternly? It's something I always wondered about.

[Justin]

Good point, Nate. I just dug around online and it seems that no one is quite sure, with reasonable arguments on both sides as to whether they were more 'Mediterranean' in appearance, or more black. It looked like there was something of a consensus that, back in the day, they would have been darker skinned than the inhabitants of the region today. Maybe this is just an instance of an author taking a liberty because the historical record isn't clear.

[Michal]

Hi Nate, you might be right. I posted this earlier in the discussion, but I think you might find it helpful:

http://weaponsandwarfare.com/?p=8322

[Nate]

mixal wrote: "Hi Nate, you might be right. I posted this earlier in the discussion, but I think you might find it helpful:

http://weaponsandwarfare.com/?p=8322"

Very interesting!

[ECH]

I managed to get through this one just in time for reread months. I really liked many parts of it (a book with Romans in it without a Roman protagonist, halleluiah), however I had some trouble getting through the middle of it.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Me too, Beth. I mention it in my review. The author really went off on some tangents in the middle. With Hannibal doing some deep thinking over many, many pages.