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Book rec: Lindsey Davis's Marcus Didius Falco series
Okay, one more post because I had to drop by and make squeeing sounds about the book I started reading tonight. I'm already 2/3 of the way through because I can't put it down -- well, I forced myself to stop for a while because I wanted to get some writing done tonight, but I can't wait to pick it back up again. :D
The book is The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis, and it's the first in a series of historical murder mysteries set in Ancient Rome. Assuming nothing horrible happens in the last third of the book (I reallyreallyreally hope she doesn't kill any main characters, because I adore all of them!) I am already addicted and will be dashing off to the library for the next few books in the series. Luckily there are a LOT of them.
And the book is an absolute delight. The narrator, Marcus Didius Falco, is basically an Ancient Roman private detective. The general tone of the books is similar to a hardboiled P.I. novel, except that the narrator only thinks he's hardboiled, but is in fact a HUGE pushover for the book's large supporting cast consisting of his friends and his ginormous, mostly female family, all of whom basically have him wrapped around their finger. He reminds me a lot of Harry Dresden minus the magic (his narrative voice is very similar), although he starts out with a lot more of a support system than Harry has. His best friend Petronius is a Roman city watchman who TOTALLY makes me think of Peter Burke in almost every conceivable way, and there is a fantastically snarky, practical love interest who reminds me of Terry Pratchett's typical heroines. (I was trying to figure out what Falco and Helena's dynamic makes me think of, and finally got it: Moist von Lipwig and Adora Belle Dearheart from Going Postal. Though there is a lot more genuine animosity between Falco and Helena at first.) And, yeah, I know that I'm comparing every single character to someone else, but they really are very much themselves -- it's just that I'm only starting to read the series and I'm still at the "these people make me think of all these other people" stage.
But basically, the characters are adorable, the setting is very vivid and (as far as I can tell) well researched, and the story alternates between laugh-out-loud funny and heartrendingly serious. If you like light, breezy historical fiction -- and once again with the caveat that I've only read the first 2/3 of a book in a series that's got like 15 books in it -- I wholeheartedly recommend!
The book is The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis, and it's the first in a series of historical murder mysteries set in Ancient Rome. Assuming nothing horrible happens in the last third of the book (I reallyreallyreally hope she doesn't kill any main characters, because I adore all of them!) I am already addicted and will be dashing off to the library for the next few books in the series. Luckily there are a LOT of them.
And the book is an absolute delight. The narrator, Marcus Didius Falco, is basically an Ancient Roman private detective. The general tone of the books is similar to a hardboiled P.I. novel, except that the narrator only thinks he's hardboiled, but is in fact a HUGE pushover for the book's large supporting cast consisting of his friends and his ginormous, mostly female family, all of whom basically have him wrapped around their finger. He reminds me a lot of Harry Dresden minus the magic (his narrative voice is very similar), although he starts out with a lot more of a support system than Harry has. His best friend Petronius is a Roman city watchman who TOTALLY makes me think of Peter Burke in almost every conceivable way, and there is a fantastically snarky, practical love interest who reminds me of Terry Pratchett's typical heroines. (I was trying to figure out what Falco and Helena's dynamic makes me think of, and finally got it: Moist von Lipwig and Adora Belle Dearheart from Going Postal. Though there is a lot more genuine animosity between Falco and Helena at first.) And, yeah, I know that I'm comparing every single character to someone else, but they really are very much themselves -- it's just that I'm only starting to read the series and I'm still at the "these people make me think of all these other people" stage.
But basically, the characters are adorable, the setting is very vivid and (as far as I can tell) well researched, and the story alternates between laugh-out-loud funny and heartrendingly serious. If you like light, breezy historical fiction -- and once again with the caveat that I've only read the first 2/3 of a book in a series that's got like 15 books in it -- I wholeheartedly recommend!
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The characters and family relationships carry on being brilliant. You've got some real treats in store. Congrats on finding this series.
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Thanks for the rec (after all, you already got me hooked to Dresden Files and Ben January)!
I think a bit part of my summer is going to be spend in the company of these books.
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