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jbjcubs's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting read and not difficult to get through, but still a star below I, Claudius and Claudius the God I think. Looking forward to picking up Graves’s autobiography soon.
robertwhelan's review against another edition
2.0
Found the writing boring, it just didn't click for me.
benjrussell's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
mr_houses's review against another edition
2.0
Un libro que recordaba con cariño de mi juventud y que no ha resistido una segunda lectura en mi edad madura. Imagino que la primera vez, desconocedor de la historia de las guerras bizantinas en la Península Itálica y menos crítico con los libros que caían en mis manos, me causó una impresión que ahora no alcanza. Carece de diálogos y caracterización de personajes. Recurre al testimonio de un viejo pedante como vehículo al igual que hizo en Y0, Claudio pero, a diferencia de éste, no se compensa con el inmeso panorama histórico de la dinastía Julio-Claudia. Aquí asistimos a una profusión de escaramuzas, hazañas bélicas y campañas pormenorizadas en las que las conquistas, asedios, retiradas y traiciones se apilan terminando por aburrir. La indignidad de Justiniano y Teodora y la honradez de Belisario no incluyen matices y tampoco se utilizan con habilidad.
em1246's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
A huge number of characters in this book which made it hard to follow at time. I thought the audiobook narration was fantastic. Feel like the book would be more aptly named Count Belisarius and Antonia as a lot of the book focused on his wife.
avidcobwebber's review against another edition
3.0
Almost there... 50 pages to go, but Graves's dreaming profile on the cover has begun to haunt me. I loved the Claudius books to the very end of the Earth--
Belisarius is not far from it in style, definitely worth a try, but I found it way too heavy on battle details. Feels like every: Single: Page: hundreds of these soldiers, thousands of the other, this many walls, that many battering rams, this much gold... It truly baffles me that a poet would be so focused on data like this!
Clearly I enjoyed the Claudius books for the high-profile intrigues, the trickery, and the cultural details. Here the narrative feels streamline, lacking twists and turns but marching straight on... by the ten thousand...
I might put it down for today, but 50 pages? I know I'll be back for more.
Belisarius is not far from it in style, definitely worth a try, but I found it way too heavy on battle details. Feels like every: Single: Page: hundreds of these soldiers, thousands of the other, this many walls, that many battering rams, this much gold... It truly baffles me that a poet would be so focused on data like this!
Clearly I enjoyed the Claudius books for the high-profile intrigues, the trickery, and the cultural details. Here the narrative feels streamline, lacking twists and turns but marching straight on... by the ten thousand...
I might put it down for today, but 50 pages? I know I'll be back for more.
geeves1097's review against another edition
4.0
This book was a gift from my friend Reed. I really enjoyed reading this book. If you are at all interested in the Eastern Roman Empire, this is a good pick.
You can tell the author read a lot of Procopious. The history was mostly well founded and follows the timeline of actual events.
My only issue was it got old hearing about how awesome Belisaurius is over and over and over, but now having finished the book, it had to be that way because of how shit on he was at the end.
A nice, fun, historical fiction that really pulls you into the Medieval Greek world.
You can tell the author read a lot of Procopious. The history was mostly well founded and follows the timeline of actual events.
My only issue was it got old hearing about how awesome Belisaurius is over and over and over, but now having finished the book, it had to be that way because of how shit on he was at the end.
A nice, fun, historical fiction that really pulls you into the Medieval Greek world.
oneeasyreader's review against another edition
4.0
Written as a semi-historical account, Count Belisarius is perhaps better understood as a love ode to its protagonist, who always does the right thing .
It is not a masterpiece of characterisation, except as to Belisarius' wife Antonina, but the book holds up as still very readable, with notweworthy asides such as letters about elephants and other such diversions:
The breach was sealed up again, but when the Goths came next night to resume work they were confronted by a placard reading: 'Road closed. By Order of Belisarius.'
As to its historical worth, I suggest appreciating Graves' efforts but proceed with caution. The Ostrogothic nation did not exist at the Battle of Adrianople, and the comment:
Compare the fine, simple story contained in the four Gospels, obviously born among illiterate peasants and fishermen who never studied either grammar or rhetoric, which the wearisome philosophic Christianity of our time!
...feels a bit off even for someone writing contemporaneous with the time period - the Gospels are hardly simple. That being said, the breakdown of internal politics and religion serve as useful lodestars.
Still a very good flowing read.
It is not a masterpiece of characterisation, except as to Belisarius' wife Antonina, but the book holds up as still very readable, with notweworthy asides such as letters about elephants and other such diversions:
The breach was sealed up again, but when the Goths came next night to resume work they were confronted by a placard reading: 'Road closed. By Order of Belisarius.'
As to its historical worth, I suggest appreciating Graves' efforts but proceed with caution. The Ostrogothic nation did not exist at the Battle of Adrianople, and the comment:
Compare the fine, simple story contained in the four Gospels, obviously born among illiterate peasants and fishermen who never studied either grammar or rhetoric, which the wearisome philosophic Christianity of our time!
...feels a bit off even for someone writing contemporaneous with the time period - the Gospels are hardly simple. That being said, the breakdown of internal politics and religion serve as useful lodestars.
Still a very good flowing read.
tomleetang's review against another edition
3.0
A far cry from the glory of I, Claudius, but still an interesting read for those who want to learn about exciting times in the Byzantine Empire - as long as you take the historical accuracy with a pinch of salt. If there is a piece of salacious gossip to be had, Graves is sure to incorporate it, no matter how questionable its veracity.
I think Robert Harris did a better job bringing his slave narrator, Tyro, to life than Robert Graves does with his Eugenius. There's not much in the way of characterisation, and a lot of the time Count Belisarius just reads like a very blandly rewritten account of the era, one that takes ancient sources and just rehashes them in English with little in the way of authorial invention.
I think Robert Harris did a better job bringing his slave narrator, Tyro, to life than Robert Graves does with his Eugenius. There's not much in the way of characterisation, and a lot of the time Count Belisarius just reads like a very blandly rewritten account of the era, one that takes ancient sources and just rehashes them in English with little in the way of authorial invention.