Title: A Slave to Historical Mysteries
Product review: Saylor has a surer footing than he did in his first book, though it's still not a "tight" novel. Gordianius plays Batman to Eco's Robin but at a leisurely pace.Saylor is at his best in describing the unforgettable horrors of slavery which underlie the plot. True, it's viewed through 20th/21st century eyes, but we're talking a novel and not a treatise.Saylor's gay message tends to intrude in his novels. His male-male relationships are complex, but each novel has one canned male-female scene repeated virtually verbatim from his first book. Bethesda, though, is a wonderful character.I admire the research put into the books. While the books aren't yet full literary strength compared to Ellis Peters, I suspect Saylor puts in months of research for any given novel.Keep them coming, Steven.
Would you say this review depicts the product in a flattering or unflattering light?
