The Last Roman (The Praetorian Series - Book I)
The Praetorian, I
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3.9 • 52 Ratings
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Publisher Description
As war consumes the nations of our world in the year 2021, Navy SEAL Jacob Hunter is sent on a mission to Syria to apprehend a crazed terrorist leader armed with dangerous biological weapons. It’s a routine mission for a man who has spent the entirety of his military career fighting in what many have dubbed World War III, but his life is about to become everything but predictable.
As their mission unravels around them, Hunter discovers a curious trinket that belies all rationality and our understanding of the universe, but he is drawn to it nonetheless, bewildered by its uniqueness. Unable to control his urges, Hunter touches it, and in a flash of brilliant light and intense pain, the team is no longer in contemporary Syria – but in Ancient Rome during the reign of the emperor Caligula.
They stand dumbfounded, unable to comprehend the paradox they’ve created, but the bleak truth of reality soon overtakes their disbelief. The fact that they should not be there becomes obvious almost immediately, as does the thought that with every breath they take, everything history has worked so hard to achieve is at risk of unraveling. Staying alive suddenly becomes a secondary objective, superseded by the theory that their mere presence in Ancient Rome has caused irreparable damage to the timeline.
This won't be an easy task for Hunter and his friends as they will quickly encounter numerous Roman figures straight from his old history books, each with their own agendas, schemes and machinations, including the Caesar himself, who history remembers as little more than an insane tyrant who once tried to appoint his horse as the head of state…
Customer Reviews
Fun & compelling yet poorly written
Mixed feelings- I really like this book, it’s a unique plot and a topic I’m rather interested in, as I studied Latin & Classical history for many years. However, it’s mediocre military-fanfic. The author clearly has no military experience (at least none that I could confirm from his author bio) and it’s thoroughly unbelievable in terms of historical accuracy. A lot of it just isn’t well written and could have used a more attentive editor. Very clumsy with the romance side plot. However, I still can’t stop reading. I’m not even mad about it. I actually got distracted by reading a different series, yet I still went back to The Last Roman. I couldn’t get the story out of my head and I needed to keep reading despite my eyes practically rolling out of my head with all the cringe factors. I’d still recommend it for those who enjoy both time travel and Classical history- with the caveats of course. Just think of it as GRRM’s genre of historical fantasy, although set in our own world. This first book was free, and I’m actually seriously considering purchasing the rest of the series. (That’s how Apple Books hooks us.) I hate making this comparison because the two authors are unrelated despite the shared last name, but it also reminds me a bit of Michael Crichton’s “Timeline”. 4/5 stars may seem high for as much criticism as I’m making here, but seriously I’m fascinated by the plot. So yeah, if you’re into time travel + Classical history + military fanfic, definitely give it a try. Just don’t expect NYT Bestseller-quality writing or accuracy.
Enjoyable Read
Story line moved along well.
The Last Roman (The Praetorian) - Book 1
The story started out with a Bank, but by the
Middle it became a history tale. So I think I will pass on the rest of the books.
Ken