Emperor’s Knife
Alex Gough
This time, I care about Silus
Emperor's Knife is the second novel in Alex Gough's Imperial Assassin series, starring Gaius Sergius Silus as the Assassin of the series title. I was disappointed by the first novel, Emperor's Sword, which I described as emotionally flat. Lots of stuff that I should have cared about happened to Silus in Sword -- for instance, his daughter and his wife were murdered and died in his sight and in his arms. But I didn't care. I don't know why. It's a puzzle. I guess Silus just didn't feel real to me.
Emperor's Knife is much better. This time I cared about Silus and his problems. That meant that the suspense and excitement part of the action novel worked much better. It is difficult to engender suspense in a reader who doesn't feel the emotions of any of his characters.
Emperor's Knife takes place mostly in Rome. The story begins in Britain, where the three Roman co-emperors are: Septimius Severus and his sons Caracalla and Geta. Septimius dies very early in the novel. He enjoins Caracalla and Geta to rule together as joint emperors. There is precedent for this -- that great Marcus Aurelius shared his empire with his brother Lucius Verus. But there is little love between Caracalla and Geta -- neither wants to share. They travel to Rome to politic for rule. Silus accompanies them and, as one of Caracalla's trained assassins, is in the thick of the battle and the intrigue.
So, Emperor's Knife certainly felt like a step up from Emperor's Sword. I will continue the series.