Semper Fidelis

A Novel of the Roman Empire

By: Ruth Downie

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Back at his post as a doctor in the 20th legion in Roman-occupied Britain, Ruso uncovers a new danger even closer to home than the neighboring barbarians.

As mysterious injuries, and even deaths, begin to appear in the medical ledgers, it's clear that all is not well amongst the native recruits to Britannia's imperial army. Is the much-decorated centurion Geminus preying on his weaker soldiers? And could this be related to the appearance of Emperor Hadrian?

Bound by his sense of duty and ill-advised curiosity, Ruso begins to ask questions nobody wants to hear. Meanwhile his barbarian wife Tilla is finding out some of the answers -and is marked as a security risk by the very officers Ruso is interrogating.

With Hadrian's visit looming large, the fates of the legion, Tilla, and Ruso himself hang in the balance.

©2013 Ruth Downie (P)2013 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Downie injects a modern who-done-it twist into the imperial action." ( Kirkus)

This series is great

whats odd is I never like the new one when it comes out. Its never as good as the last one, which I always come to love. And I love this one now. These stories are a lovely weave of historical fiction, muder mystery, fantasy heroism, and postcolonial politics. For some listeners it may just be a murder mystery with an exotic backdrop, and is certainly enjoyable on that level, but there is a lot more to the narrative if you are open to it. Thats the difference between good and great. These are great. Can't wait for the next one. Do we get to go to Rome ? is Justinus still alive? Will they ever have children? Oh I cannot wait

Better than the prior book

I really enjoyed this book better than the earlier. This keeps moving. More action and twists. If liked earlier stories then you’ll enjoy it.

I love these stories

Russo and Tilla are a fun duo. They are very committed to each other and fun

Wonderful series. More Ruso and Tilla please!

Any additional comments?

I started with Medicus and felt compelled to listen to the whole series back to back. Wonderful characters and a fascinating period in history, when two completely opposite cultures combined, collided and coexisted in waves of order and disorder. I actually wrote to the author to find out if there would be another installment. She was kind enough to email me back with the good news/bad news: good news - the next book is being edited right now. Bad news - it won't be out til next summer :-(

Medical Mystery, History, Love Story!

This SERIES by Ruth Downie has it ALL. Simon Vance does a terrific job narrating the voices. I always reserve judgement for deeper men’s voices when they do women’s voices. He does excellent! 4/5 only because he sounds a bit tired at times.

Her stories are compelling, I found myself listening at every opportunity, relistening to bits to catch details I might have missed or because I enjoyed exchanges so much. I have re-enjoyed these books over again as well! (Something I rarely ever do! They are that good of tales)

If you love history, ancient civilizations, medicine, and a good story well told- this is the series! I do hope there are allot more to come.

Hadrian is here!

The series is moving right along with Tilla and Ruso diverted to a posting far away from the Emperor's planned itinerary... in order to run right into the imperial procession. I think this outing features the best mystery of all the books and I'm delighted to say that my favorite character, Tila, is as delightful as ever. I did miss Albanus. Can't he somehow become attached to Ruso so he can stay where the action is? Valens makes a return performance as well as Ruso's arch enemy Mettelus. As always, the dialogue is humorous and the relationship between Tila and Ruso hasn't grown stale at all. It's at the heart of all the books.

All I can do is hope that Ruth Downie is busy working on the sixth in the series. She left us with a slight cliff hanger. Totally recommend.

Did Emperor Hadrian Really Incite Such Values?

Any additional comments?

We are now familiar with Medicus (doctor/surgeon) Gaius Petrus Ruso's courage to live by his values coupled with a certain social clumsiness in either gaining allies or gaining appropriate audience or understanding for the problems and the truth of them. His forte is his observation and persistence in following up where clues take him. Usually he gets unexpected help from innocent quarters, especially from Tilla (Daludicca in Celtic British), first his patient, then slave, then wife, who has the same intelligence and ability to put facts together. Also usually, in the first three books, there will be a couple of bright well intentioned allies who welcome his trust and good intentions toward the patients and soldiers and work to be of service to him. Also, there are the in- between characters who neither wish to harm or help him, but make life challenging, messy and interesting. Check again. And usually there are just enough evil characters, maybe just one or two, who make your spine tight and your teeth grind, to create a real hero's test for Ruso; but this time there was such a pervasion of sickening evil being perpetrated on the soldiers, just in about the first half of the book, that personally, I wondered if I had got the wrong series, or author and wondered further if I could actually finish this latest episode. I have little admiration for this era of Roman Culture, for the tyranny and nearly insane or completely narcissistic (in the psychological dysfunctional sense) acts to maintain power and the nearly absent respect for fellow human beings, or failure to see others as worthy of respect, and this volume seemed to be heavy with these failings, much more than books 1 through 3. I envythe author's ability to write about this, and keep rescuing her hero, dripping, often maimed, from the muck of evil-doers for whom the truth is a terrific threat and who will avoid it at all costs "to keep the peace " - surely an applicable, if anachronistic Orwellian phrase. Her books come about a year or year and 1/2 apart. I may skip the next one. The introduction to geography, interaction of cultures, and history is always exciting to me, and though I admire Ruso's ability to persist through much hardship in bringing the truth to light, Downie never giveshim real ease or success with it. Well, yes, where would the story then be? My conclusion isthe widespread corruption and violence of that age is just a little too front and center for me, especially in this, the darkest of the series.

Keeping up the good work

The story continues and the characters are developing. Russo and Tilla have learned to trust each other at last. It is a great read, and Vance is a superlative narrator

Hooray! Gaius Ruso is back and still exasperated.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely, and I've already recommended the rest of the series, which has become one of my favorites. The practice of ancient Roman medicine is really fascinating, and Ruso is a reluctant hero who is often grumpy, usually justifiably so, and bewildered by Britons in general and his wife in particular. He has money problems, is misunderstood by his family back home, and has to endure work politics that can turn deadly.The characters are showing a lot of growth as the series progresses, but Ruso and Tilla still continue to work through their mutual culture-shock, and that can lead to some amusing and often tense situations. The emperor Hadrian & his wife are interesting additions to the story this time. I'm always sad when I finish a Medicus book because I know I won't get to be with these characters again for what always seems like a very long time.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Semper Fidelis?

Tilla interacting with the Queen.

Have you listened to any of Simon Vance’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

He IS the voice of Ruso; I hope he keeps reading the all the upcoming books. He does a good job differentiating the characters with tone, accents, etc. and can do a nice job with women's voices without sounding silly or exaggerated.(except for Ruso's step-mother, who is imperious and sometimes quite silly.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I giggled often & laughed a few times, which is always good in an otherwise serious story. It isn't the sort of book to engender extreme emotion, unless you count being overjoyed at the chance to meet up with these characters again.

Any additional comments?

I LOVE this series.

Well done!!

Highly recommend! Witty author great historical research. Tightly woven plot, great character development. Everything you could want in a work of non-fiction! Kudos!