Crispina Posted November 29, 2010 Report Share Posted November 29, 2010 Just to blow a little bit of a smokescreen over Crispina's little 'memory incident'. A thought struck me today. It may not have aired over in the states, but in the UK we had a brilliant TV cop series that gained itself quite a cult status. It was called "Life on Mars", and the sequel was "Ashes to Ashes". The common character between these two was a so-called 'old-style' copper called Gene Hunt. Although M. Didius Falco is, thankfully, nowhere near as 'old-school' as Mr. Hunt, I can't help seeing parallels between the two. I would say that, had Gene Hunt found himself in Ancient Rome, he would have made a cracking Private Informer. Anyone from this side of the pond care to comment? Crispina has lots of little "memory incidents". Thanks Clayton. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crispina Posted December 14, 2010 Report Share Posted December 14, 2010 Ok, finished "Time to Depart". Not as good as I had hoped, in fact I found myself rushing through the last five chapters just to be done with it. But, I will say I still learned something - I always do with each book. That I can not complain about. In "Time to Depart" there was a heck of alot of stuff going on! And with my easily distracted mind, that's not a good thing. Not sure why Ms. Davis added the "skip baby", perhaps he will become an important character in future novels? As always there is a rousing ending and I do enjoy how well she writes action. Picked up the next, "A Dying Light in Corduba", and like this book right off. I've read six chapters so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crispina Posted January 18, 2011 Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 "Dying Light in Corduba" - this was good. The next, "Three Hands in The Fountain", has a more contemporary feel about it -serial killer and all; but it was also pretty good. Nice descriptions of the aqueduct systems, and since I had learned more about aqueducts from some of the UNRV forum threads I could visualize the characters' romps through the tunnels,ect. better. This morning I picked up "Two for The Lions", one I'm anxious to read; Nephele mentioned this as the first book she read in the series, I think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crispina Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 On a lighter note: I finished "Two for The Lions" last night. Very good story. Although a certain person wasn't Didius Falco's favorite, and I understood that, I still was shocked and a bit saddened by the loss of this "certain someone" at the end. Even tho he deserved it I guess! And as I read about the execution and gladiatorial combat, my imagination was MUCH better than watching it unfold on "Spartacus and Gods of The Arena". Well done, Lindsey. Now on to the next book, "One Virgin Too Many". I really don't know what to think with a title like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crispina Posted February 26, 2011 Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 "Ode To A Banker", finished this 12th. book of the series yesterday. Many characters to keep straight, but Ms.Davis can make them all unique and very interesting. Not as much humor as in the other novels, but it is a good mystery overall. Plus the ending was a surprise, to me anyway. Now, on to "A Body in The Bath House". Have no idea what to expect from Didius Falco in this one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crispina Posted March 21, 2011 Report Share Posted March 21, 2011 "A Body in The Bath House". This started out pretty well; but, I found it a bit slow going. The story may not be as good as in other books in the series, however the background information on bath construction, workers and their tools and building materials was very interesting. One gets a sense of what it may have been like to visit a building site and interact with these people. Lindsey seems to have also lost much of her sense of humor that she wrote with so well in previous books. Although I realize these are more serious times for now family man Falco! I'm waiting on "The Jupiter Myth", the next book in the series, from my library. It's one of the few titles they do not have on their shelves. Another interesting fact - it seems that every other book has damage or the spine coming unglued, one time I found food stains on several pages and an interesting bookmark! Who is this other reader of Lindsey Davis's Falco??? I guess it's a real mystery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CiceroD Posted March 21, 2011 Report Share Posted March 21, 2011 She made a few early mistakes e.g. not realising the mainly fire duties of the Roman vigils but her research has improved enormously the more she has written and where possible the few early errors have been explained or at least are consistently applied. I noticed that her detective character Falco has a best friend (Petro) who is a member of the vigiles, and he seems to be more policeman than fireman. At least, from what I've read so far in her novel Saturnalia. -- Nephele She does run roughshod over Roman naming conventions, doesn't she? This is especially so with women. As I recall Falco also lights "a match" in Silver Pigs (or Shadows in Bronze). That being said I've loved (LOVED) the series ever since I picked it up. It's probably because the characters are so vivid. What preoccupies me is: what will Falco do when Domitian succeeds Titus? I think our "Sam Spade in a toga" will be the first to be purged! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostOfClayton Posted March 22, 2011 Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 She does run roughshod over Roman naming conventions, doesn't she? This is especially so with women. Have a look at her comments on Roman naming, about halfway down this website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crispina Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 "The Jupiter Myth", this book was done very well. Also lots of romance , and a sad ending for an admired character! As usual, Lindsey Davis can write an action scene so well you seem as though you are right there in the middle of the amphitheater. Yes, I've had quite a few "but, wait a minute..." moments when reading her books. I totally missed the one about the match. ha. Next up - "The Accusers". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostOfClayton Posted April 15, 2011 Report Share Posted April 15, 2011 For those who are interested (and i most certainly am), the whole Falco series is now available on the Amazon Kindle Store. I'd like to think this had something to do with the fact that I registered my desire to have them on there, but somehow I doubt it. Nothing on the Apple bookstore yet, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metella Posted April 15, 2011 Report Share Posted April 15, 2011 ROCK ! I am zipping off to Amazon now .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crispina Posted April 25, 2011 Report Share Posted April 25, 2011 "The Accusers" - finished this book the other day. It was ok, but won't be one of my favorites. It was interesting to read about Rome's judicial system, although not sure how much was fact and how much was "Lindsey" . Which brings up a question - did ancient Rome really have the equivalent of newspapers for news? Ms. Davis keeps mentioning "The Daily Gazette". Now, I know that aint' right. or is it? Wasn't there just a town crier type of person who stood on a podium in town and read recent events and edicts to the populace? or did I get that from HBO's "Rome"? Today I picked up the next in the series, "Scandal Takes a Holiday". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostOfClayton Posted October 25, 2011 Report Share Posted October 25, 2011 (edited) Just finished 'Time to Depart'. This is my favourite so far. It was set entirely in Rome, the second in the series to be so. However 'Time to Depart' really allows the Vigiles to come to the fore. They are now a much more three dimensional unit, fully explained and fully functioning. Much more than a loosely referenced team of fire fighters who are mainly there to reinforce the roll of Petro (a main character, and leader of one cohort). Also, the style has changed a little from the previous novel 'Last Act in Palmyra', which was a proper whodunnit. With TTD, the criminal becomes known partway through, and the rest is concerned with the action involved in tracking them down and seeing them get their comeuppance. Exciting stuff to the last, with a few lifechanging occurances for Falco thrown in for good measure. To recap. My favourite so far. Edited November 25, 2011 by GhostOfClayton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostOfClayton Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 I've now completed 'Three Hands In The Fountain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostOfClayton Posted January 16, 2012 Report Share Posted January 16, 2012 Addednum to the above: Thanks to Crispina, who VERY kindly made a trip to her local library, borrowed the book, and scanned the last two pages for me. It turns out there was an interesting turn of events in the very last line, so it was especially welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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