I ADORED this one. Kane wonderfully blended history, action, and melodrama together in great ways. Although some reviewers were not happy with the focus on Aurelia's story I am so damn glad we also got a good amount of social history focus in this. Rather than feel jarring with the military parts, it gives us a look into the Roman home front and how it was impacted, as well as vice versa. At last, an ancient warfare novel that not only gives us excellent battles but also sympathy for those in society who do not have as much as a voice. For the first I've read in a military fiction novel, Kane even gives us a (gasp!) gay character, and not in a creepy lecherous way!!
The character stories are great once again and feel like modern versions of Victorian period novels. I felt vindicated thinking this because in the authors note at the end Kane mentioned Beau Geste!
I could go on and on but suffice to say I really love this series. This is the Punic wars series I desperately wanted when I was 14. I'm happy to say the wait was worth it.

Tackling an epic time of history, one in which the outcome will determine the future of Western Europe and beyond, is a heady task to say the least and Ben Kane has met the challenge. Think about the enormity of the consequences of this decade's long conflict between Carthage and Rome. If Carthage wins then our world today would be different in some fashion...hmmm, sounds like a good idea for an alternative history story; but I digress.

Cannae - 50,000 Roman soldiers, 8000 Carthaginians - that is indeed a lot of blood. This second book in the series takes off where Hannibal Enemy of Rome ends. Rome is reeling from Hannibal's successes in crossing The Alps and defeating every legion it comes up against, leading to the twin disasters of Lake Trasimene and Cannae. The main characters, Hanno and Quintus have grown much during this time, are now war hardened, blooded infantrymen. The author does a superb job in his development of his characters, both major and minor, good guys and not so good guys. You can still feel the emotion and struggles of Hanno regarding his slave past, his love for Aurelia and the intense friction between he and his brothers. Quintus in the meantime has rebelled against his father and has secretly become an infantryman rather than suffer the indignity of being sent home.

The story goes back and forth between Hanno, Quintus and Aurelia so we get good views and descriptions of the daily lives of a Carthaginian phalanx, a Roman maniple and the struggles of those left behind to keep the family out of the clutches of unscrupulous loan sharks. The author is in top form as he brings us into the lives of these perplexed individuals as they contend with the fact that their countries are bitter foes and yet they have emotional bonds with each other that transcend the hostilities.

The two major battles of this book, Lake Trasimene and Cannae are dramatically retold and one cannot help but wonder at Hannibal's military genius and the confounding inability of the Romans to counter that genius. The end of this episode finds Hanno exultant and Quintus wondering how he is still alive. This well crafted story is a must for any who love stories that bring you the agonies and ecstasies, the highs and lows of human emotions in a war torn country. Well done Mr. Kane, looking forward to the next installment. I rate this book at 4.8.

The real art with books like this, where anyone with half an interest in history can tell you that Hannibal lost, eventually, is how to write the story fresh, exciting and even how to keep the reader on the edge of their seat. I always remember reading Frederick Forsyth’s The Day of the Jackal and being held captive, kept guessing and on the edge of my seat - even though I am/was old enough to know that De Gaulle didn’t die in that way at that time. So I think it says much about the quality of Ben Kane’s writing that he pulls off the story with ease. It’s exciting, it flows like a river in spring flood, it’s sometimes tense, mostly thrilling, always well-worth reading.

I suppose there is a slight familiarity breeding comfort-type feeling. I wasn’t as blown away as I was reading the first, but that’s only because by the second (of three) I know the characters, the story so far and so it would really have to be a monumental work to throw me off a cliff like that did. It is however, at least on a par with the first, maybe not better, but it doesn’t need to be. It’s job is to get us from book one and set up the third in the trilogy, which will of course see Hannibal, or Rome, win, or lose...

I have been surprised by these two books. I’m not sure why really. I’ve read Ben Kane’s work before, but maybe long enough ago to have forgotten what a superb writer he can be. I was also surprised, after book 1, that he could do it again. I shouldn’t have been. The good characters are still with us and are developing nicely. I still feel a bit frustrated that Hanno doesn’t stick on on (one of his) older brother(s), but there you go. I’m not really sure how his part in this will end, and that’s as it should be. The climactic battle at Cannae is handled really well - Giles Kristian had better watch out there. Aurelia is the chief character on the Roman side and she has developed to be a cut above a lot of the women characters in Hist Fic books like this. Still, BK has always has written strong - and interesting - female characters. And I think possibly one of the main reasons why I’m liking these books so much is, that the religion ‘everything in the hands of the gods’ nonsense is pretty much kept to a minimum.

My only quibble is, that he could have looked a bit more at why/how Hannibal inspired such devotion and loyalty in his troops. An inspired General, isn’t enough. The Cannae tactics aren’t earth-shatteringly different to do it, I didn't feel. Why the Carthaginians is obvious, but as this is the Second Punic War, only a generation after the first, where the Carthaginians haven’t had time to replenish their armies with Carthaginians and have to take in mercenaries and allies, I think I’d have liked a bit more in that direction. However, the books aren’t really about who Hannibal was and why and that would be too restrictive for BK, I’d guess. Here, he wants to tell the tale and its background from the point of view of those who fought and were affected by it, which is, as ever, open to discussion and interpretation. If he tried to write about Hannibal, he’d no doubt suffer from Scholar-Attack, as all the dusty old professors who have devoted their lives to the study of Hannibal, would pop up to poo-poo his conclusions. Better to shoot high, aim low - as Yes once said. My other qui…my TWO quibbles are all that, and an occasional feeling that he spreads himself a little thin over the social media. I agree that it is a superb way of interacting with your readership, potential readership as well, However, one gets the feeling sometimes, that he barely has time to do what after all IS his job, that of writing books. Hence the “today’s 5,000 word target reached!”- type posts here and there. What I read - and to be fair to BK, it isn’t just him, other writers are infected with this disease - “switched the Writing Machine on for a couple of hours while I went out on a bike ride, gave a talk, walked for charity, got back and, hey presto! 5,000 words done. Let’s send it off and see if the Agent can make a book out of it!” Remember knitting? Your Gran used to sit there twiddling wool into incredible knots with skill built up over generations and handed down to her from her mum and her mum’s mum…and then those knitting machines? Where someone like me (if I’d had the interest) could have connected some wool to it and moved the shuttle thing from left to right and a couple of hours later, there’s a jumper! I could write 5,000 words in a day, no bother. The’d be absolute shite, but I could do it alright. I'd be fine if an author posted "wrote 17 words today - but they're the result of 8 hours hard work and they're the best 17 I've ever written!" I'd buy that book! It's about quality, not quantity. And a book doesn't have to reach a certain number of words before it's 'a book.' Nor is it finished, just because it has reached a certain number of words. I don't want that. Personally, I’d like to feel that BK does all these other things after he’s sweated over the writing of the book. Partly because if his books are excellent as it is, think how they’d be if he put his mind to it? Or at least, I’d like to get the impression he was books first, all the other, fourth and fifth. Just me. Buy this one, and the one before, they're excellent.

More musings masquerading as reviews : Speesh Reads

There seem to be at least two ways you can read this book. The first one is to focus on the “clash” of the great cultures of Rome and Carthage, their military endeavors against each other, and how Hannibal's genius forever changed the way generals thought about battles. This aspect is written really skilfully and on many occasions I had a very hard time to put the book down. The second way to read this book is to focus on the lives of the 3 POV characters, and here the result is a bit uneven. The whole description of everyday life of soldiers, officers, and citizens is really detailed and engaging. The only problem is that the love life of the main characters is (at least for me) too much like form some YA drama. I felt quite embarrassed when I was reading some parts of the book. I think I might have been more tolerant if the rest of the book was not so good, but here the contrast caused that I had quite strong reaction to it as a reader. Luckily, these more cheesy parts were not that extensive and my impression of the book improved a lot as I was reading the book (hence the 4 stars). I look forward to the next book in the series!