Simon Scarrow is an author I avoided until I came across his trilogy, Young Bloods, about the Duke of Wellington and Napoleon Bonaparte. I thought it was some of the best historical fiction I had read.
I wish I could say the same about his series on Ancient Rome, centred on the exploits of two centurions, Cato and Macro. I cringe when he uses dialogue like, ' C'mon, sunshine. Let's be 'avin' you.' Seriously? Or when he says, ' There are more things in heaven and on earth, Cato, than are in any of those books you read.' Plagiarism?
The clincher came when he finished off one of the books with the immortal line, 'Just promise me, Cato, no more adventures.' The last time I read that was at the end of a Famous Five book by Enid Blyton.
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