⋙ Descargar Gratis Lady of the Eternal City Empress of Rome Kate Quinn 9780425259634 Books

Lady of the Eternal City Empress of Rome Kate Quinn 9780425259634 Books

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Lady of the Eternal City Empress of Rome Kate Quinn 9780425259634 Books

One thing about Kate Quinn's books that drew me was the setting. Reading historical fiction with only battle scenes can be off putting because I read to enjoy stories about culture, and wartime does not present as much as the domestic social life. It is the perfect blend of drama: romance, comedy, tragedy. The characters are authentically from their time. 
She never attempts to weave a modern conscious in any of them. Authors who create the modern character in historical fiction are a thing I despise. And that's not to say all historical fiction characters should be brutal and apathatic, because good principles have existed since the beginning of man. Cultures, however, tend to vary. This alone contributed to the reality of the story. 
It is highly emotional, in a subtle way that never made me feel I was witnessing a pity party. It's a crime against readers, to burden them with a character who does nothing but whine about his pathetic state of existence, i.e., forbidden love, dilemmas....
There is something remarkable about this book, even more underlying than the sadness. There was love - all forms of it - in different shades. Like a matryoshka doll, there's complexities inside complexities of relationships between each character.

*
1. Vix and Empress Sabina are in love. Not in that maddening, foolish way (especially as years pass) but beneath their passion are two friends who are always, in some way, loyal to each other. 
But of course they break up, make up, and take other lovers. Sabina's station is higher than Vix's. Unlike some female protagonists in romance novels, she never attempts to give up her place in society for a love that will never be accepted. Vix is fine with that. They are used to carrying on in secret. 

2. Vix is fond of his wife. He loves her, perhaps less than Sabina, but Mirah has become a part of him - and he tries to protect her, to keep her.

3. Vix's devotion to Emperor Trajan, the deep pain he feels with the emperor's passing. 

4. There is Sabina and Hadrian, the married couple who both love Greek culture, and so they get along well. Their marriage is still something of a sham - they feel little desire for one another. 

5. Hadrian and Vix are something like frenemies. They hate each other, but Hadrian relies on Vix, and Vix has no choice but grudgingly respect the emperor. Time and time again Vix saves the day - and in the end, Vix carries out a special request from the emperor. Years lessen their animosity. 

6. Lastly, but not least, is Hadrian's and Antinous' love story. Antinous brings out the best in the emperor, who deep in his mind is demented. Antinous is like the sun, chasing away the night demons from the soul of his beloved. Hadrian is a person who fights to conceals his 'something not quite right. ' Antinous gives him a reason to keep it hidden. 

*

Antinous is the star of the novel. He is killed, readers are broken hearted, and grief unites the two people who love him most; Vix and Hadrian. The dislike is still there, but for once they have something heartfelt in common.

Quinn started something great and she never let us down. I hope this book becomes a classic in the years to come. Who said it stops at Shakespeare? 
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Lady of the Eternal City Empress of Rome Kate Quinn 9780425259634 Books Reviews

Kate, what have you done to my sleeping schedule!?! I like to read in bed so I can gently go to sleep, but it didn't happen with this book. This is the first volume I read in the series, but I had no trouble catching up with the story, and it moved right along until the end. The characters were well defined and the plot provided plenty of tension which kept me from putting the book down way past my bedtime.

Up until now, I had thought of Emperor Hadrian as a sort of genial, staunch, resolute builder of walls. Well, resolute he might have been, but it seems he was not all that genial. In fact, apparently he was a bit of a bully, or a tyrant, depending on your point of view. The only thing keeping him in check was the realization that he might find himself remembered badly by posterity at best, or assassinated at worst. So Hadrian put on a good face that probably saved many lives once he learned to control his meaner impulses.

This self-control was aided by the beautiful young Antonius who came into his life and who just happened to be the adopted son of the turbulent Praetorian Vix, an ongoing character in the series. Antonius became the secret lover of the Emperor and his devotion calmed the wild beast, though their affair eventually became a bone of contention for everyone that came in contact with the royal court. At first I was a little dubious about the whole thing, but one quick peek at Google enlightened me and made the story even more delicious (as good historical fiction should). Not only was Antonius quite well documented, he was even deified in some circles. Wow. What a surprise to me.

This is only one subplot in a book full of subplots. Suffice it to say that I came out of this with an enhanced knowledge of this great Emperor's reign, a satisfied frustrated love story or two, and a sense that I was there. What more can a reader ask?
One thing about Kate Quinn's books that drew me was the setting. Reading historical fiction with only battle scenes can be off putting because I read to enjoy stories about culture, and wartime does not present as much as the domestic social life. It is the perfect blend of drama romance, comedy, tragedy. The characters are authentically from their time. 
She never attempts to weave a modern conscious in any of them. Authors who create the modern character in historical fiction are a thing I despise. And that's not to say all historical fiction characters should be brutal and apathatic, because good principles have existed since the beginning of man. Cultures, however, tend to vary. This alone contributed to the reality of the story. 
It is highly emotional, in a subtle way that never made me feel I was witnessing a pity party. It's a crime against readers, to burden them with a character who does nothing but whine about his pathetic state of existence, i.e., forbidden love, dilemmas....
There is something remarkable about this book, even more underlying than the sadness. There was love - all forms of it - in different shades. Like a matryoshka doll, there's complexities inside complexities of relationships between each character.

*
1. Vix and Empress Sabina are in love. Not in that maddening, foolish way (especially as years pass) but beneath their passion are two friends who are always, in some way, loyal to each other. 
But of course they break up, make up, and take other lovers. Sabina's station is higher than Vix's. Unlike some female protagonists in romance novels, she never attempts to give up her place in society for a love that will never be accepted. Vix is fine with that. They are used to carrying on in secret. 

2. Vix is fond of his wife. He loves her, perhaps less than Sabina, but Mirah has become a part of him - and he tries to protect her, to keep her.

3. Vix's devotion to Emperor Trajan, the deep pain he feels with the emperor's passing. 

4. There is Sabina and Hadrian, the married couple who both love Greek culture, and so they get along well. Their marriage is still something of a sham - they feel little desire for one another. 

5. Hadrian and Vix are something like frenemies. They hate each other, but Hadrian relies on Vix, and Vix has no choice but grudgingly respect the emperor. Time and time again Vix saves the day - and in the end, Vix carries out a special request from the emperor. Years lessen their animosity. 

6. Lastly, but not least, is Hadrian's and Antinous' love story. Antinous brings out the best in the emperor, who deep in his mind is demented. Antinous is like the sun, chasing away the night demons from the soul of his beloved. Hadrian is a person who fights to conceals his 'something not quite right. ' Antinous gives him a reason to keep it hidden. 

*

Antinous is the star of the novel. He is killed, readers are broken hearted, and grief unites the two people who love him most; Vix and Hadrian. The dislike is still there, but for once they have something heartfelt in common.

Quinn started something great and she never let us down. I hope this book becomes a classic in the years to come. Who said it stops at Shakespeare? 
(hide spoiler)] (less)

 

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