Wrath of the Furies

Starred review from August 10, 2015
A highly suspenseful plot and a moving resolution distinguish Saylor’s masterful third novel featuring Roman sleuth Gordianus the Finder in his younger years (after 2014’s Raiders of the Nile). In 88 B.C.E., King Mithridates of Pontus, who views himself as the military heir to Alexander the Great, has had an impressive string of victories against Roman forces in Asia. Gordianus, who has settled in Alexandria, is reeling from the revelation that his guide and teacher, the poet Antipater, betrayed his people to spy for Mithridates. When Gordianus learns that Antipater may be in peril, however, he concocts a way to enter Ephesus, a city now controlled by the Pontic king, to come to the poet’s aid. Gordianus’s arrival coincides with a horrific plan by Mithridates to coordinate simultaneous massacres of tens of thousands of Romans trapped in areas under his control. Even readers who know how history played out will be engrossed. Agent: Alan Nevins, Renaissance Literary and Talent.

August 15, 2015
In Saylor's (Raiders of the Nile, 2014, etc.) newest novel of the ancient world, Mithridates, who styles himself Shahansha-King of Kings-has conquered Roman colonies from the Euxine Sea to Persia. That doesn't trouble Gordianus, a young Roman who's living comfortably outside Alexandria with his beautiful slave, and lover, Bethesda. Sadly, during Egypt's civil war, Gordianus lost touch with his beloved tutor, Antipater of Sidon. Thought "the greatest of all living poets," Antipater joined Mithridates' court and was soon trapped in internecine machinations. Now, he's known as Zoticus of Zeugma, a spy. Then Gordianus receives a cryptic scroll suggesting that Antipater's in peril. The poet is in Ephesus, the jewel of the east, and Gordianus sails off to help him; to escape detection as a Roman, he pretends to be mute, with Bethesda acting as his interpreter. Once in Ephesus, his muteness is perceived as evidence of a prophecy. Trapped in the maelstrom of back-stabbing royal intrigue, Gordianus is a hero to root for, but other characters are stock, with Mithridates in particular having minimal back story. While the relentless action and subtly drawn settings keep the pages turning, the story is a bit heavy on royal court politics. With a plot driven by the place of Roman and Greek gods in ancient societies, Gordianus must deal with the Grand Magus and Great Megabyzoi, and he learns that the Furies, those troublesome winged sisters older than Zeus, must be appeased with a virgin sacrifice. Only then can Mithridates approach the goddess Artemis to bless his evil scheme. Religious war, ethnic cleansing-everything new is old again in the era of swords, togas, and defeated generals executed by being forced to swallow molten gold.

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Starred review from September 15, 2015
This is the latest in historian Saylor's Novels of Ancient Rome series (following Raiders of the Nile, 2014), and it is every bit as good as its history- and tension-packed predecessors. The driving force behind this series is the fact that, in approximately 88 BCE, Rome and the Roman Empire were up for grabs, with rebellions breaking out in Italy, chaos in Egypt, and Mithridates cutting a bloody swath through Roman Asia. The best place to be is far away from the trouble, and, in the first mysteryof this series, our hero, young Roman citizen Gordianus, is sent away by his father on a tour of the wonders of the world. Here, Gordianus' tutor, a renowned Greek poet named Antipater, has been seduced into the service of the sadistic Mithridates, based in Ephesus. Antipater manages to get part of his diary to Gordianus (Saylor's inclusion of Antipater's entries about Mithridates' cruel public amusements are painfully vivid). Gordianus (and his slave/lover Bethesda) leave the small fishing village near Alexandria where they are staying out of harm's way to try to infiltrate Mithridates' palace and rescue Antipater. Their journey to and through Ephesus sustains a high level of suspense, while Saylor gives readers great sandals-on-the-ground details of the ancient world. Those who have read Saylor's Roma Sub Rosa novels, about Gordianus the Finder as a mature detective years later, should especially enjoy seeing him as a clever but still green young man.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)