Aelaric dipaksa menemani Maximin – rahib ternama di Inggris, utk mendampinginya ke Roma. Di Roma, kota ini sangat mengesankan Aelaric yg tampan dan berdarah muda. Dia bertemu dgn Lucius yg kelak menjadi pasangan sesama jenisnya. Ternyata dirinya dijebak dalam konspirasi tingkat tinggi yg melibatkan surat-surat yg dibawa Maximin utk diserahkan kepada kaisar. Sayangnya surat tsb lenyap seiring Maximin ditemukan dlm keadaan tewas. Siapakah dalang dibalik konspirasi ini?

Ini novel pertama author yg saya baca dan sejujurnya saya kurang menikmatinya. Petualangan Aelaric terlalu dihiasi deskripsi keindahan Roma abad 7 dan filsafatnya malah jadi cenderung kurang fokus pada inti permasalahannya. Misterinya baru terkuak secara beruntun dari mulut si dalang sendiri, malah menurut saya jadi kurang menggigit. Sejarah Roma pada Abad Kegelapan ini digambarkan penuh skandal dan intrik, tetapi entah bagaimana saya koq kurang tertarik. Apakah karena cara penggambarannya yg monoton dan terlalu filsafat atau terjemahannya yg kurang enak dibaca?

Review published on Goodreads on the 6th January 2019

Translation:

Aelaric was forced to accompany Maximin – a famous monk in England, to accompany him to Rome. In Rome, this city impressed Aelaric who was handsome and young blooded. He met Lucius who later became his same-sex partner. It turned out that he was framed in a high-level conspiracy involving letters brought by Maximin to be handed over to the emperor. Unfortunately the letter vanished as Maximin was found dead. Who is the mastermind behind this conspiracy?

This is the first novel that I read, and to be honest, I don’t enjoy it enough. Aelaric adventures are too adorned with descriptions of the beauty of 7th century Rome and their philosophy instead tends to focus less on the core of the problem. The new mystery unfolded in succession from the mastermind’s own mouth, but in my opinion it became less bite. The history of Rome in the Dark Ages is described as full of scandal and intrigue, but somehow I am not interested. Is it because of the monotonous way of drawing and too philosophical or unreadable translation?

Addiitonal Related

 

Tags: , , ,