Marius' Mules: The Conquest of Gaul Review

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(More customer reviews)Marius' Mules is a good historical fiction novel that follows Caesar's conquest of Gaul, starting in 58BC. I have a little trouble with the name of the book, as it suggests the time of Marius and Sulla when something alluding to Caesar would feel more appropriate. The title is a reference to a legionary reform of Gaius Marius just before Caesar's birth, where the legionaries consolidated their personal kit so it could be carried individually on the march. Since some of the legions under Caesar's command in Gaul were born in the time of Marius, Caesar's uncle, it is a theme of the book.
The characters are believable and the historical content is quite good with lots of attention to detail that does not come at the expense of a good story. Turney does a good job of depicting the campaigns primarily through the eyes of senior legates and centurions, which of course brings people like Caesar and Labienus into the scenes without having them dominate the landscape. Labienus could certainly have played a bigger role, and as a character I would say he was grossly under-utilized.
I don't want to spoil the story by going into too much detail, and while my review focuses on some criticisms I want to stress that I enjoyed it very much. At times I found myself differing with the author's depiction of real characters and also some of the political motivations surrounding the events, but overall it is a very noble effort and I rarely read a historical fiction where this is not an issue. Having read this on the tail of Conn Iggulden's absolute garbage "Emperor" series, I welcomed the relief of discovering my trauma is not permanent and that I could enjoy a Caesar story once again.
There is one glaring problem with this book: it reads like a first draft that was not edited. We can all deal with a typo here and there, but, Marius' Mules reads like an unpolished DIY rather than a professional novel. This is really a shame because all the potential for a great book is present. There is literally a lack of editing visible on virtually every other page, from poor punctuation to double words or too many words and the occasional sentence that makes little or no sense. This makes for a very awkward read at times, and I found myself being conscious of it more than I would prefer, and I happily would have solved this problem for a free copy of the book.
A dialog of Caesar's, like, "This (money) is to be used sparingly, as it has to last, but should certainly be enough to cover these units", does not sound like the efficient Caesar I have come to know from the primary sources. A good editor would have axed "as it has to last". Or, "I can't really understand" instead of "I don't understand". Or, "I will want you commanding the cavalry" instead of "I want you commanding the cavalry" or "you will command the cavalry". I just opened the book and these jumped out at me; a few examples. Not nearly the most egregious but I wasn't taking notes.
Also, I have to say the dialog could certainly have been better, and at times it feels too modern. For example, a centurion at one point says something to the effect of, "Ours is not to reason why, it is to do or die". If I am not mistaken, this is from the Charge of the Light Brigade poem written in 1854. Perhaps it is appropriate, but something more original would be appreciated.
Overall I very much enjoyed this story, and with some extra editing it has the potential to be high quality historical fiction. On balance my complaints are minor, and I recommend people support this author by giving it a chance and hopefully he can tighten it up in the future.

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(Please note 2nd edition now available as Marius' Mules: The Invasion of Gaul, ISBN 1907986162)It is 58 BC and the mighty Tenth Legion, camped in Northern Italy , prepare for the arrival of the most notorious general in Roman history: Julius Caesar.Marcus Falerius Fronto, commander of the Tenth is a career soldier and long-time companion of Caesar's. Despite his desire for the simplicity of the military life, he cannot help but be drawn into intrigue and politics as Caesar engineers a motive to invade the lands of Gaul.Fronto is about to discover that politics can be as dangerous as battle, that old enemies can be trusted more than new friends, and that standing close to such a shining figure as Caesar, even the most ethical of men risk being burned.

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