* I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.*
Tullus, a roman Centurion, and Decimus, a roman Optio, save Tribune Norbanus' life after a bloody but victorious battle resulting in their promotion to the rank of Praetorian Guard. A couple months later, Tullus resigns because he wants to start a family with Eliana, a young noblewoman that he met at a party but when he asks her to run away with him, she refuses. Broken-hearted and finding no other reason to stay in Rome, he takes his mule and heads for Pesae. On the way to his destination, he meets Paullus Gabinius who introduces him to the life of the circus. Tullus learns about his magic powers, befriends a leopardess named Celestra and renames himself the Leopard King. All goes well until one day when Paullus comes back from an errand in the city, dead. The circus group decides to avenge Paullus by confronting his killers but ends up getting tangled instead in a very messy political situation where the odd are against them.
Good debut novel. I think that Uner did a very good job with the excellent world-building. He depicted very well what the Roman Empire was all about: sex, corruption and power. He also seemed very knowledgeable on the subject of the Roman Empire and he made me feel like I was actually living in the 1st century. I really liked the way that he wrote his story in the POV of every character so you know how they all think. I felt like I was living in their heads. The writing was very fluent and the incredibly rich vocabulary only made the book even better. The plot was very well planned and written without confusion all the while keeping it exciting and mysterious. However, I have to admit, The Leopard Vanguard started off very slow and info-dumpy and only got interesting at about 25%. In addition to that, I found the connection between Anna and Tullus very fake. To me it was more like a relationship where they were like "I'm single. You're single. Want to be together?" and while they were together, I had the impression that his heart still belonged to Eliana (since he practically ran to her after Anna was out of the picture). I would've wished for perhaps more development on the magic because we really didn't see a lot of it. Although there were several typo mistakes and punctuation missing, in general it was a pretty good book and an enjoyable read. I will certainly read the sequels.
3.5 stars
Tullus, a roman Centurion, and Decimus, a roman Optio, save Tribune Norbanus' life after a bloody but victorious battle resulting in their promotion to the rank of Praetorian Guard. A couple months later, Tullus resigns because he wants to start a family with Eliana, a young noblewoman that he met at a party but when he asks her to run away with him, she refuses. Broken-hearted and finding no other reason to stay in Rome, he takes his mule and heads for Pesae. On the way to his destination, he meets Paullus Gabinius who introduces him to the life of the circus. Tullus learns about his magic powers, befriends a leopardess named Celestra and renames himself the Leopard King. All goes well until one day when Paullus comes back from an errand in the city, dead. The circus group decides to avenge Paullus by confronting his killers but ends up getting tangled instead in a very messy political situation where the odd are against them.
Good debut novel. I think that Uner did a very good job with the excellent world-building. He depicted very well what the Roman Empire was all about: sex, corruption and power. He also seemed very knowledgeable on the subject of the Roman Empire and he made me feel like I was actually living in the 1st century. I really liked the way that he wrote his story in the POV of every character so you know how they all think. I felt like I was living in their heads. The writing was very fluent and the incredibly rich vocabulary only made the book even better. The plot was very well planned and written without confusion all the while keeping it exciting and mysterious. However, I have to admit, The Leopard Vanguard started off very slow and info-dumpy and only got interesting at about 25%. In addition to that, I found the connection between Anna and Tullus very fake. To me it was more like a relationship where they were like "I'm single. You're single. Want to be together?" and while they were together, I had the impression that his heart still belonged to Eliana (since he practically ran to her after Anna was out of the picture). I would've wished for perhaps more development on the magic because we really didn't see a lot of it. Although there were several typo mistakes and punctuation missing, in general it was a pretty good book and an enjoyable read. I will certainly read the sequels.
3.5 stars