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A Winter War

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A Winter War

By: Tim Leach
Narrated by: Gordon Griffin
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A disgraced warrior must navigate a course between honour and shame, his people and the Roman Empire, in the first of a new trilogy set in the second century AD, from the author of Smile of the Wolf.

AD173. The Danube lies frozen. On its banks gather the clans of Sarmatia, their riders winter starved by sickly herds and blighted crops. Petty feuds cast aside and their disparate numbers united in the face of a great enemy. For across the frozen waters stands the mighty Roman Empire, and its Legion marches ever closer.

But the Sarmatians are proud, and they are cast from the ice itself. They were trained from young to ride and fight and kill on its slippery surface. They cannot lose.

They charge...

Alone on a bloodied battlefield awakens Kai. Surrounded by the bodies of his people, fallen to the Legion, to have survived is a disgrace. In the aftermath of such defeat, he must navigate a course between honour and shame, his people and the Empire. It is a journey that will take him far to the West, beyond everything he has ever known.

2021 Head of Zeus©2021 Tim Leach (P)2021 Head of Zeus Action & Adventure Ancient Historical Historical Fiction Mystery Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction
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The Sarmatians are harrying the Eastern edges of the Roman Empire in the second century AD.
Tim Leach has won awards for his historical fiction and here he has the chance to immerse us in his research, but also some leeway to use his imagination. History hints that Sarmatian women also rode to war, and he builds this into his world-building effectively.
Leach's forte is bringing the people's lives and the landscape to the forefront of the tale and he indulges in both here.
Good stuff: this is more imaginative than just heroes and swordplay, with realism the winner; we get a convincing feel for the period.
Not so good: he overworks the landscape and people analogies so that they can overshadow the story. We spend a lot of time in the characters heads without them coming truly to life.
Overall: enjoyable and better than most of its rivals.

Tribe of horsemen destabilises Rome

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Couldn't stop listening! I loved the writing style and historical period. The characters are well realised and interesting to follow. Highly recommended.

Enthralling

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As always, anything Roman has an aura of the fantastic. I was hoping to ‘meet’ and hear about emperor of that time, and it’s always interesting to hear the way the author would depict such a massively famous historical figure.
An interesting book, good plot, interesting characters, both likable and irritating. A good read, a good narrator, a solid purchase for anyone considering.

Beyond the known.

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Really enjoyed this. Visceral, thoughtful and tense. A great weaving of historical whispers and imaginative leaps.
Can’t wait for the next instalment and to see what Tim Leach can do in a more familiar landscape.

Atmospheric and engaging prose

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This was a good book! I was hoping that it is not a series if books, but I will now most likely buy the rest of the series

Better than expected!!

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