Storm of War is the 13th book in Anthony Riches’ brilliant series. They’ve flown by! After a couple of recent additions that felt like the author was losing impetus with the series, this latest addition was a much more enjoyable read.

The book gave me everything I’ve come to expect from Anthony Riches writing at the top of his game. There’s action, fights, wonderfully bad language, humour and passion. I love dipping in to see how Marcus and his familia are getting on, and will continue to do so for some time.

The author can’t let this series go, thank Goodness. This is, astonishingly, number 13 in the series.
There are a few reasons for the success of the series, great writing, a turbulent period in Roman history and a brilliant cast of main characters. Back in 2009 when the series started, it was about a young Roman joining the army battling in Britain to hide him from an Emperor taking down his family.
Young Marcus and his colleagues have changed and evolved through the books, (and have seen off a few Emperors too!) and the last book saw our band of brothers out of the army and keen for relaxation and retirement.
Sadly at the start of this book they return, almost home, right in the middle of an “emperor” power struggle between Severus, Niger and Albinus. Drafted into Severus’s’s forces they are given commissions to work with a legion spearheading an attack on Roman forces at thrace where they will be heavily outnumbered and it is clearly a diversionary suicide mission.
This has everything you could want, the author retains his touch.

Storm of War (Empire XIII) by Anthony Riches

It is 193 AD and the grand plan of Marcus, Scaurus, Dubnus and their comrades to escape the clutches of the Roman war machine once and for all founders when their ship home is met by soldiers who have one job, and that is to recruit any man who can stand up into the ranks of the Roman army. There is a new emperor on the throne, Septimius Severus, and his mission is to destroy the ‘imposter’ emperor of the East, Niger – once he’s seen off another imposter in Rome, of course. The heroic reputations of Scaurus and his men proceed them and it’s not long before Severus dispatches them eastwards on a suicide mission – to take on Niger with only one legion, delaying him while Severus prepares an almighty army to crush him underfoot. The mission is accepted. It will be at a great cost.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this series since its beginning, thirteen books ago, and I am so pleased to see it continue into what the author describes as its ‘second cycle’. This means that there is much more to come and that makes me very happy indeed! It’s difficult to review a book this deep into a long-running series without giving anything away from before. Suffice to say that Storm of War does mark a kind of new beginning for our favourite Roman centurions and tribunes. This means that if you haven’t read any of the other books then you could start here. There are also some handy little catch-ups in the story, which recaps Marcus’s struggles from the past – not to mention his less than ideal relationships with past emperors!

Storm of War introduces some new characters to the series, including the tour de force that is Septimius Severus. What a man he is! Anthony Riches does a great job bringing this powerful, charismatic and utterly terrifying man to life and his scenes with Scaurus and Marcus are among my favourite moments of the novel. I think only Scaurus and Marcus could stand up to him. There is a sense that they have nothing to lose but honour and that they can never lose.

There is action throughout, including a battle, which feels different from most others in Roman military fiction. I think this is partly because this is civil war and the soldiers fight men they have previously served beside. It’s a dirty battle, harrowing and…. well, you must read it. But there’s more to the novel than battles, there are journeys, spies, great bits on boats, and it’s told with expertise and humour.

The author likes to take us to the limit of what we can endure with these deeply loved characters and I will admit I was as traumatised as I was gripped! This is a great story about a time of Roman history I know relatively little and the author certainly knows his stuff when it comes to Roman military action and keeping his readership on the edge of its seat.

And what a cover!