"Brush with Darkness by Jamie Maltman" Topic

"Anyone who's been reading my reviews for the past year and a half has gotten a pretty good idea of what I like and I don't like. I prefer my fantasy to be epic rather than urban. I was tired of vampires years ago. And I like dwarves and weird westerns. You might want to add one more "like" to that list: Romans. I've had a soft spot for these ancient imperialists ever since I took Latin in high school. My own fiction frequently features them, and I'm likely to read any epic fantasy which includes an homage to ancient Rome. It is, in fact, what my wife and I first bonded over. All of which brings us to this month's self-published novel, Brush with Darkness.

In Brush with Darkness, the part of the Romans is played by the Pazians. The Pazians control much of the known world, including the analogs for the Greeks (the Izari) and the Jews (the Benjai). And just like the historical Romans, they are frequently at war with the barbarians living beyond their borders. The story opens with the 7th Legion chasing a group of Scentari raiders, who have just destroyed a Pazian town located in territory the Scentari were driven out of a generation ago. The chase does not go as planned, as the Scentari now have access to dark magic.

Simon Baroba is a half-Benjish legionary with the 7th. He's not much of a warrior, but he's been recruited as an aide to Camp Perfect Garas, largely because of his skill with maps and diagrams. Simon used to be quite the artist when he was younger, but his instructors did their best to discourage him from doing anything but copy the works of the great masters. Because of this, he tried to find success elsewhere by joining the legions. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of glory in taking part in a losing military campaign…"

Full review here
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Amicalement
Armand

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