Para Bellum is such an enjoyable read. Simon Turney’s first real stand alone novel really packs a punch.

Its got a great cast of characters that are collectively swept up into the novel as it races along, dragging the reading with them.

The action is non stop, leading to a hugely enjoyable read, with a very satisfying conclusion.

Great stuff.

Reading a Simon Turney's novel it's a good way to learn about less known or obscure part of the history.
The last century of the Roman Empire, ante 481 AC, are quite complex and this novel is a grippeing and action packed way to learn about part of it.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Focalis awakes one night.. his solider senses tingling.. all is not right.

The past has come back to haunt him.. he knows why.. he’s been waiting for this day all his life… he would have accepted his fate, but not today, he has his son to think about.

It’s been many years since Focalis and his bunk mates acted on behalf of the empire but its time now to get everyone back together to come up with a plan.. there has to be a way out of this mess..the issue is it’s the Goths that are after them and they won’t give up easily.

We don’t learn quickly the events that have led to the Goth’s vengeance.. Focalis is struggling with his part in something.. but what? And what could they have done to earn the Goth’s attention? I loved the development.. perfectly paced with intrigue.

Innocents pay a heavy price along the way and we see a shift in Focalis.. vengeance is the word for this tale.. but who will have the last sword strike?

As Focalis and his son set out to round everyone up things quickly sour.. it’s clear quickly not everyone will make it out alive and the past has taken its toll on many.. but they aren’t done for yet!

What we end up with is a desperate fight of some of the legions finest.. against hundreds of Goths… the twist hit’s hard now and the truth of what happened years ago becomes clear.. is there anywhere safe for Focalis?

I’ve deliberately tried to keep the review spoiler free.. it’s too good to spoil.. but truth be told Simon Turney is a master at his craft. Historical fiction is his era but plots are his bread and butter. You can tell the effort put in to set the scene, tp pick the right moment in time but what Turney’s talent is, is to weave such a fascinating tale within that period setting, it’s the characters, the progression and depth, the energy.. the laughs… the torment..

Turney hints in the authors note around his own knowledge of the era, but that’s what makes him so good at writing.. so prolific..he knows how to expand on history.. there’s no point rehashing what’s been done..he gets the detail in but it’s all about the characters he creates.

What I really loved was the characters development, each man has their own talent and those scenes when they got to shine were brilliant..the enthusiasm bounced off the page!

Simon is a firm fav here on David’s Book Blurg.. and continues blow me away with his work. 5/5 stars.

The author describes Para Bellum as a story of revenge and a very compelling one it is too. Taking advantage of the fact that little is known about the fate of Fritigern following the murder of his brother, the author imagines him embarking on a single-minded mission to track down and kill the legionaries involved. It’s a scenario Flavius Focalis, along with his fellow legionaries, has been preparing for for years, fortifying his home, keeping weapons close at hand and ensuring his son Martius is trained to defend himself. And it’s just as well because when Fritigern’s men come they do so with deadly intent.

Flavius Focalis, although battle hardened, was never a cold-blooded ruthless killer, just a loyal soldier carrying out orders that he now realises were at best foolish and at worst the product of ruthess ambition. He is haunted by memories of the event and, being a Christian, wonders if he deserves to be punished for his sins. What trumps that though is his determination to honour the memory of his dead wife by keeping his son safe whatever the cost, even if that means him sacrificing his own life in the process. As it turns out, Martius has inherited a lot of his father’s fighting spirit.

Much like The Magnificent Seven, each member of the group brings different skills, whether that’s a prowess with artillery, the ability to come up with a cunning plan or expertise in creating ingenious defensive mechanisms. And, of course, there’s something to be said for sheer muscle even if it does result in some rather grisly encounters. (Those who are squeamish might want to skip some of the deadlier skirmishes.) And like The Magnificent Seven, not all of them will survive the cat-and-mouse game and be there as the final credits roll. Having said that, don’t underestimate the author’s ability to spring a surprise or two.

Para Bellum has all the full-on bone-crunching action and meticulous historical detail you’d expect from a Simon Turney novel but with the feel and pace of a thriller. As Para Bellum is a standalone novel, you don’t need to have read any of Simon’s previous books to enjoy it, although you’ll probably want to after this. And he leaves us with the prospect of another standalone to come, saying ‘there is another tale that I am twitching to tell’. If it’s as good as Para Bellum, I can’t wait.

<i>I would like to thank NetGalley and Head of Zeus for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.</i>

I found Para Bellum outstanding and I am very much looking forward to devouring this author's backlist now that I have discovered him! I loved everything about this, and after I get my thoughts together I'll improve on this review. But for now, heart eyes will have to suffice 😍

AD 381, five years after a Roman governor, Lupicinus, ordered the slaying of a king of the Goths & his attendants at a feast in their honour. This act led to war within the Roman Empire & Emperor Valens was burned alive after taking refuge in an abandoned building following defeat in battle. Now the Goths have embraced Christianity & become part of the Empire, except for Fritigern, brother of the murdered king. He has sworn that he will have vengeance on those responsible for his brother's death.

After one of the soldiers involved, Flavius Focalis now retired, is ambushed at his villa in the middle of the night, he & his young son, Martius, barely escape with their lives. Focalis has been expecting retribution ever since he followed Lupicinus's orders & he sets out to warn his former comrades of the danger. As Fritigern pursues them across the Empire, Focalis races to save his friends - will they have to run for their lives forever or should they make one last desperate stand?

I love the author's "Damned Emperor" series so when I saw this standalone set in the later Roman Empire I had to read it. Unlike the 'DE' books, this one is set in a time when Rome is no longer at its zenith, its territory is contracting rather than expanding, the once glorious towns are starting to crumble, & paganism is beginning to fade into memory as Christianity is the main religion of the Empire now. The author's attention to detail is so good that the reader feels as if they were actually there. The main characters are a band of antiheroes who admit that their actions were wrong & one could almost empathise with Fritigern's point of view as he seeks revenge for his fallen brother if he weren't so determined to sacrifice hundreds of his own men to get it. This is a book of almost non-stop action & it is very very violent in parts (it's about former Roman legionaries what would you expect?). It's a gripping, non-stop chase & I couldn't put it down. If it ever gets made into a film there's a role in here with Dave Bautista's name on it.

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Head of Zeus -- an Aries Book, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

An intriguing and very enthralling book interpreting a little known event around 376/77AD that Simon Turney has (rather well) turned into a revenge story. It centres on a father, his son and the fathers ex tent party colleagues against Fritigern, leader of a merciless Thervingi war band and hell bent on revenge, who chase them around Thrace and the Black Sea coast culminating in a standoff of epic proportion. Thoroughly enjoyable read.

An enjoyable read though I thought it was stretching thinks a bit.
The main protagonist was part of an 8 man tent party of Romans acting as honour guard to a Roman general who invites two Goth kings to a meal to resolve differences between the Goths and the Roman empire.
The Roman general through a drunken error orders his men to kill the Goths. One king is killed but the other escapes and vows revenge regardless of any innocents who get in the way.
Several years after the incident the group who have scattered and gone into hiding, find they are being hinted by the Goth king Fitigern and almost a thousand warriors.
Can the tent party survive and at what cost.
Any lovers of Ben Kane and Simon Scarrow or previous readers of works by Simon Turney will enjoy this.
Gave it 3 stars even though I enjoyed it as 8 against a thousand seems an unlikely scenario from which to have a chance of emerging unscathed..

This is a long review – I think all you really need to know is that if you like Turney’s books you will love this one. But if you need to know a bit more …

On the Danube border a treacherous Roman general invites a pair of Gothic chieftains to a conference and then tries to have them assassinated. Only partially successful, one chieftain escapes and rampages around what-is-now-Bulgaria until the Romans reassert partial control, largely by integrating the Gothic invaders. That chieftain, Fritigern, drops out of the historical record and this novel is about what happened to him.

The premiss of this enjoyably dramatic novel is that, after a few years, Fritigern gathers a death squad to exact revenge on the elite Roman unit responsible for the assassination attempt. Our story follows that elite Roman unit, who had dispersed and gone to ground, but now need to reassemble and work out how to defend themselves against impossible odds.

The set in 382, 6 years of the battle of Adrianopole. It has a very visual, cinematic, feel – they have to exploit the landscape and cities to track, hide, and escape. That rural and urban landscape tells its own story about the end of the Roman Empire as it transitions into the medieval era (into Christianity, multiculturalism, and that mix of corrupted power and a desperate underclass). There are a series of set scenes: farms, ports, fortified villas and cities, connected by imperial posting stations that ironically serve the hunters better than the hunted. The author skilfully leads us from one to the other as the hunters close in.

In many ways it reminded me of Harry Sidebottom’s A Falling Sky – an imperilled journey brings father and son together and that sense of a trek through enemy territory that must end somewhere and somehow. The structure and pacing are the same, but the vibe is different – this is more Mad Max and Rambo (as the author suggests) than the American Civil War memoirs and Cormac McCarthy novels that Sidebottom cited for his book.