"Pompeii", Robert Harris
In an odd sort of meaningless coincidence, whereas the previous book has action set in the ruins of Pompeii, this one is set in the town itself over the four days before the eruption. It got given to me in a kind of 'you've got a background in archaeology, you'll like this, it's set in anceint Rome' way. Eh?It is, however, very good indeed, and follows Marcus Attilius, the aquaduct engineer, as he tries to find out why his water supply is suddenly failing. Shades of Dante's Peak really, with the various signs in the ground and the wildlife building the tension up to what we know's going to happen and they don't.
Each chapter is preceded with extracts from modern scientific publications on the eruption and I can't decide whether they work or are too incongruous a note, breaking the mood of the period.
Other than the chapter notes, a couple of other things jarred - the slaves are generally painted as more reliable, loyal etc than many of the freemen, and our hero is of course terribly decent in his treatment of them - now I'm not saying they wouldn't have been, it just feels a bit like a modern 'ooh, there have to be slaves but we'll make them lovely and treat them well'. Also, while a lot of the populace are running about in 'we must sacrifice a bull to Vulcan' mode, the main protagonists are made to be pretty un-religious in their outlook, which again feels oddly too modern.
Anyway, corrupt officials, murderous villians, nubile heiresses and Pliny the historian all combine to make for a very entertaining book - and it's not just about the big bang, there's a good deal of plot going on for your money.
posted by Izzy @ 10:25 pm
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