What a fun read.
Adam Lofthouse writes in an engaging style, drawing the reader into the story from the very first pages. Shield of the Rising Son is told in a dual timeline 20 years apart, telling the stories of father and son, Albinus and Faustus. Albinus is an experienced and celebrated soldier while Faustus is still looking for his place in the world.
Each are drawn into the power struggles of the roman Empire - and the rivalries engendered with the struggles for ultimate power, of Commodus for Albinus and Septimus Severus for Faustus. The author contracts the open, violent world of the Roman legions with elicit, underworld life of the Frumentarii, the Roman spy network.
The author has a deep understanding of Roman culture, ambition and history and uses his knowledge to great effect, creating a story with credible fictional characters dropped into the historical world.
Albinus and Faustus are wonderful, colourful, unique characters, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, living and working in a world dominated by deceit and distrust.
It makes for a wonderful combination on which to rebuild the Roman world for Shield of the Rising Sun.
Adam Lofthouse has written a wonderful, entertaining and absorbing novel that will grip the reader from the first page to the last. The third in the series, it can easily be read as a standalone - you certainly do not have to have read the previous 2 books to get the full experience of this wonderful book and its lively characters. I can highly recommend it.

An excellent portrayal of the life of a Roman soldier, from his youth joining the Legions to the exhaustion and brutality of an experienced soldier. Albinus has protected Commodus, Caesar's son, all the while trying to survive himself in this brutal world. Well written and exciting battles!

The author, Adam Lofthouse has skilfully researched an eventful period in Roman history, the years 172 to 175 AD. He carefully linked in three main protagonists with the critical events of Marcus Aurelius’ reign.
All the key characters are well developed and believable, each has inherent human flaws making them somewhat vulnerable and likeable.
Even though it is the third book in the series, it can easily be read as a stand-alone novel. Lofthouse cleverly brings the reader up to date with the underlying plot by use of his characters dialogue and thoughts. The battle scenes are exceptionally well written and graphically show the true horror of hand to hand fighting
I found the plot to be quite confusing at times, it was difficult to follow with the story going backward and forwards over a number of years. Fortunately, this doesn’t distract too much from the enjoyment of the overall novel.

Wow, that was another historical fiction book that I thoroughly enjoyed!

It was so well written and I loved the descriptions of Roman era and the battles that went on! The descriptive writing style really made it easy to picture the scenes.

I really enjoyed the fact that we got to read the story from three different characters' perspectives. The three main characters being Albinus, Faustus and Calvus. Despite the three different perspectives, the story flowed freely and was easy to follow.

Going back to the characters all three of our main characters had such likeable personalities making it easy to fall in love with them, and root for them.

This is actually the third book in the series, but despite not having read the first two, I didn't feel like I missed anything.

If you're a historical fiction fan and especially of the Roman era then this is definitely a book for you!

Thank you to Pigeonhole, NetGalley and Adam Lofthouse for the chance to read this book.

This is the third and final book in the Path of Nemesis series by Adam Lofthouse, while I feel like you could most definitely jump into this book without having read the previous two you would be doing yourself a disservice by doing so. While a general recap is offered for major events, I feel like you would be missing some great details to help with understanding of the story and well as just robbing yourself of some fantastic historical fiction.

The series and of course this book focus on a member of the Roman army who is also a single father (not giving too much info to avoid spoilers) which is an aspect of ancient life not often explored in historical fiction. This is a fantastically written story, with excellent action interwoven with struggles involving the daily and family life of Albinus.

The story does take place over two separate time lines, which can get a bit confusing, I found myself trying to puzzle out what timeline we were currently in occasionally, but it's still a very enjoyable book I would recommend to friends, family and anyone with an interest in ancient Rome and historical fiction.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book covers a range of characters covering two timelines, notably a boy and his father with different areas and battles throughout the Roman Empire. I found it to be a creative storytelling, but I would have appreciated it more if it had flowed a bit better. I had a little trouble getting the sense of the characters too, but this may have been due to the fact this is the final in the series so far.

I could not get into this book. The author kept jumping around in time & plot lines.Maybe it is because I didn't read the first books, but I think the author needs to provide better notices when time shifts and when plot lines change.

Although this is the third book in the Path Of Nemesis series, it is the first book that I have read by Adam Lofthouse. I did not feel like I had missed anything out by jumping straight in at book 3 but I will definitely be taking time to read the first 2 books and other works from Adam.

I loved this book and in my mind he can rightly take his place alongside the other greats of this genre such as Bernard Cornwell and Conn Iggulden. In my opinion Adam actually takes this genre to another level as not only does he give you the feeling of the danger, risk and action of large wars, as the others do, but he also gets into the emotions of his characters with tales of love, grief and mental health being brought to reality within the story. Also Adam concentrated on telling the story and there was not too much concentration on latin terms and unnecessary information. The only negative feedback I would give on this book, and this is very minor and just my opinion, but I would like to have seen a better flow of timescale through the 2nd Century as I sometimes got a bit lost as to where we were in regards to timescale.

I am already looking forward to the next work from Mr Lofthouse and can't wait to have more of his work on my bookshelf

This is the third of three novels set in the Rome of the first and second centuries A.D. The stories revolve about the career of a soldier that fought for the Roman empire during a lifetime spent as a professional warrior attached to one of the legions that comprised the army of that nation. I did not have the opportunity to read the first two and did miss some of the action described in which Albinus Silus, the soldier described took part in. While pertinent events were described in retrospect it would have been better to read the books as the character and feelings of Silus are carefully outlined. Additionally, based on this book I did miss literature of an excellent nature.
Albinus' wife had to flee her marriage; a decision described in a previous book, and leaving a son to be raised by one parent. He is still looking for her, but tied to his enlistment in the army. During a battle with attacking Germanic tribes Albinus distinguishes himself by stopping an attack by the enemy using a unique means to do so. The battle took place in the midst of winter across the frozen Danube and Albinus stops the enemy by chopping up the ice in front of a charge by them. His action is noted by Marcus Aurelius, the ruler of Rome who rewards him by making him the protector of his son, Commodus, who is next in line to rule the nation.
The novel continues with Albinus' actions to protect Commodus as well as raising his son in the midst of an adventurous career as a professional soldier. Mr. Lofthouse has done the research necessary to bring to life a tumultuous period for the Roman empire with the rise in Christianity and many wars enveloping the nation. A well-done engrossing novel even if not read in conjunction with the first two.