It took me a while to get into the book - by chapters 5 and 6 it started to pick up for me. There is a lot of emotion, action, and a sense of mystery throughout the novel.

I thoroughly enjoy flashback scenes - this book has them clearly marked with clean cuts to them, so thank you, author!

As a historical fiction novel about Rome, I'll admit the names threw me off for a second, which I think is the reason it took me a bit to get into the book.

Overall, it's a solid choice - I've already recommended it to some people who enjoy tales of Rome and Greece to get their opinions on the book!

fantasies set in Ancient Rome aren't something I see much of. So this book immediately felt original and something different, something that the shelves need.

Hackett's Invicta: Fall of Rome struck a good balance between fantasy, history and action. I enjoy historical fantasy that isn't led by the fantastical element and maintains gritty, real history. This book achieved that. It had all the elements of a rip-roaring historical read with plenty of battles, violence and politics and (occasionally) a little bit of naughty language.

The story isn't focused solely on Orephus, which at first I was surprised about but it did work, because it showed what was happening in a wider context and introduced elements that weren't focused on the fantasy. There was a strong cast of supporting characters; from Orephus' likable brother Gargarus, to the nefarious Volusian who made my skin crawl. Hackett isn't afraid to kill his darlings - no spoilers but at one point, I screamed "no!" and scared the kittens sleeping on my lap.

Lastly, the ending - which again, I won't reveal, felt like things were concluded neatly and made sense, but scattered the breadcrumbs for more to come...which definitely created the anticipation for the next in the series.

There were some times when the language used wasn't quite right. Modern terms (as in post-Roman Empire) did tend to creep in such as "knights," "turncoat" and "pants"(trousers). Whilst the meaning still was clear, these to me, are phrases and ideas which wouldn't have been around in Roman times so it pulled me out of the story slightly. However, this is the historical snob in me being pernickety. These instances were quite rare so I was able to look past it.

Overall, this was great. Hackett's book has a fresh new idea that walks the line between history and fantasy skillfully. It's a book that's really easy to get stuck into (once your tongue gets acclimated to the names!) I

I would recommend and I'm definitely keeping my eyes open for the next one.