As they stepped out on to the sand, the air about them exploded in a frenzy of cheers and wild yelling, accompanied by the thunder of trumpets and the steady beat of the drums.

I am very conflicted about this book. While I enjoyed the book and storyline, there was just some aspects that I did not like.The main theme of the book is based on the bible verse (Roman 8:28) "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose." . Caros, a former gladiator who won his freedom, buys Pelonia from the caravan for a ridiculous price because he does not want to see her sold to a brothel. Of course, as you can guess, Pelonia's fiesty and surprising behavior draws Caros to her. I was pleasantly surprised by the uniqueness of her character. This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Overall I found the book to be interesting and it does feel like each chapter builds on the previous one, though I did find some chapters spoke to me more than others - such as the finding the balance between the athlete and the normal person as I do struggle to switch off at times myself. However I did also find the challenges that are set at the end of each chapter for you to put into practice what you learnt to be not very unique as I have seen them in other places on YouTube before.

I personally, wouldn't have minded having an x-rated copy of this book. Maybe Harlequin has something similar in one of their more "adult" lines. Gladiator + slave = yes please. Slaves during these times were often used for more than just cleaning *ahem*. The only thing that would ruin it is that I wasn't a big fan of Caros. He is supposedly pretty hot, but his personality ruined it for me. He was sort of soft to me. Maybe because I did want to see a more rough and dominating male as the love interest. But then, I had to remind myself, "settle down this is a Christian romance..." The Gladiator... Macro and Cato are still quite a double act (Cato being the straight guy, with Macro not usually intending to be funny *laughing just thinking about it*). I won't ruin the plot so far, but they're each strong enough character's to carry a chapter on their own. They are Optio/Centurion's/Prefect's/Tribune *smiling*, depending on what fate has carved for them. Here they are stranded in a different scenario and up against the odds once again. This time against a former slave, a former Gladiator, and an entire army of risen men and women. The Gladiator has battle knowledge, a really good strategist, and this is not what they need. But it appears to be more personal, especially where Macro and Cato are concerned. Oh, and Cato's has a young love to consider, and vice versa. Truly good characters and well written... So far, so good, though the start I didn't find to be the best entrance into the book, it was necessary. When a Roman general is betrayed and his family murdered by a corrupt prince, he comes to Rome as a gladiator to seek revenge. Feeley, Gregory (March 2005). "When World-views Collide: Philip Wylie in the Twenty-first Century". Science Fiction Studies. 32 (95). ISSN 0091-7729 . Retrieved 2006-12-06. What surprised me is that the story did not provide any people to root for. There were no heroes. At the beginning of the book, I was convinced that, of course, the Romans were the good guys as they were the main characters trying to take the chaos in hand. But they weren't so good. They were convinced of their excellence and superiority. If you think of them as occupying Nazis, you get a better view of their sway. In terms of the slave rebellion, you get a view of the systemic subjugation and de-humanization of huge numbers of people - another Nazi quality. The Romans actually believe that slaves are to be used as cogs in a machine, the industrial agricultural machine, for example; that they don't need really to be fed well, etc.; that it doesn't matter if children are taken from mothers. (It all sounds familiar because it was done in this very country just a 150 years ago and not 2000 years ago!) From our point of view, the "heroes" are flawed. At the same time, the members of the slave army elicit our compassion, but they have a desperation that leads to gross violence, acts of revenge, and so forth.

So the author had to confront the problem of a "truthful" ending that comported with both history, that is, continued Roman domination, and at least this reader's sympathy with the slaves and feelings of revulsion for the Nazis. He manages this pretty well in a cliffhanger last couple of chapters. He also lays the ground for more books!