Review: Goblins at the Gates by Ellis Knox

[Brian G Turner]

Goblins at the Gates is an odd book that mixes fantasy with Roman Historical Fiction. I expected a lighthearted romp, but the book quickly showed itself to be a far more serious work. There's something of L Sprague de Camp in a David Gemmell story to this, which is both a positive and a negative.

The setting is well-realized, with some great attention to detail in terms of historical accuracy - you know the author's done their research when you laugh at the Roman jokes in there. And there is a pleasant - almost ridiculous - quality to some of the characters, not least Metellus and his servant Avi, who demonstrate some great interplay.

But this is where I felt the story let itself down a little - I wanted to see more depth to the characters, yet the story is so focused on immediacy that there's little if any exposition to really explore the inner drives to a fully satisfying degree. This is especially true with the more serious character leads, and resulted in more tell than show as some of their experiences were summarized rather than lived in.

Aside from that, the story is pretty decent and often enjoys a strong atmosphere. The "goblins" have less in common with the wimpy creatures of role-playing games and instead are a monstrous dark horde that must be stopped by a combination of Roman soldiers and Dacian tribes - and their sorcerers.

Another curious point about the setting is that it's based in the later part of the Roman Empire - so expect more 4th century Constantinople than Rome.

Overall, there are more strengths than weaknesses to this story, but it's probably going to be enjoyed the most by those with a niche interest in fantasy, Roman and Byzantine history.

Available at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

 

[BAYLOR]

Sounds interesting . Does the book set it set itself up for sequels ?

 

[Brian G Turner]

I supposed it's possible - but it's very much a self-contained story.

 

[althea]

I have just bought this book from Amazon for my kindle. It sounds right up my street.
As soon as I finish Past Mortem by Ben Elton(highly recommend it),I will read it.

 

[WaylanderToo]

I've just finished it, all in all I'd have to agree with Brian on this with the proviso that I'd not consider myself a fan of (Eastern) Roman history. It did drag in a few places but it also managed to keep me interested and curious as to have many of the characters and/or events were real (the answer is quite a few).

One thing to say though is that at 540 pages this is not a short book in these days where anything longer than 20 pages seems to have been split into "thrillogies" (that was initially a mistype but I really do like that word!!)

 

[kythe]

I finished this book a few days ago and just wrote a review on Goodreads. Here it is:

Goblins at the Gates is a very unique look at a Roman Legion's encounters with sorcerers and magical creatures. The characters are strong and the story moves along at a good pace, with some twists and turns.

It is an odd fantasy where I feel I learned more about history from this "Alt-Earth Tale" than any dry factual book on Rome. I found myself looking up descriptions and events in the story, and now know far more about actual Roman and Byzantine history, politics, and military than I ever would have otherwise.

I did hope for more backstory on the goblins themselves, as well as the origins of the magic. It feels an open end when all we see is references to "legends" about goblins which repeated themselves in a different context. However, the overall payoff is worth it and I am interested in reading more from this author.