Masinissa: Ally of Carthage
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Masinissa: Ally of Carthage is the first part of the story of the experiences of the Numidian Prince and later King Masinissa during the Second Punic War between Rome and Carthage. Masinissa’s involvement in the war was substantial, even pivotal, and he is still revered today across North Africa as the founding father of the Amazigh/Berber people. The story begins in 2013 BC in Carthage, which has been Masinissa’s home for several years. He has fallen in love with Sophonisba, the beautiful daughter of one of the most senior Carthaginian generals. The two make promises to one another before Masinissa embarks west to enter the war as the commander of a substantial cavalry division. In terms of the wider world, Rome and Carthage – the most powerful nations of the time – have been at war for five years, ever since Hannibal crossed the Alpine passes and inflicted catastrophic and crippling defeats on the Roman armies at the battles of Trebia, Lake Trasimene and, most devastatingly, at Cannae, where an army of nearly 90,000 Romans was completely destroyed. The main theatres of war at this moment are the Roman siege of the Greek city of Syracuse in Sicily – which is being innovatively and belligerently defended, not least by the philosopher and scientist Archimedes – and the war in Iberia, which Masinissa is about to join with his Numidian forces.
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2 primary books#1 in Masinissa
Masinissa is a 2-book series with 2 released primary works first released in 2020 with contributions by Rob Edmunds.
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Provided in digital form by the author for the purpose of reviewing, this is the first published work of Rob Edmunds, and the first of two books in the Masinissa series.
Covering the Second Punic War (Romans Vs Carthaginians) from the perspective of Masinissa, Numidian prince allied to the Carthaginians, this reads as a deeply researched work of fiction, based strongly on the real events commencing in 213BC in Carthage, and then the Iberian peninsular (Spain), the relevant fields of war.
While Hannibal is the Carthaginian general with whom we are most familiar (him with the elephants in Italy), the event of the Alps crossing took place some 5 years prior to this storyline, and is referred to in context and adjacent action only.
Largely we follow Masinissa as he leaves his lover, daughter of a Carthaginian General, and leads the Numidian forces to war against the Romans. With a somewhat slow start the main character is introduced, and the political and military stage is set, making it possible to read this book without any prior knowledge of the conflict, although the many references to places and people who form the background of the conflict reach a point where they just wash over the reader (well, they did for me).
There is plenty of action on the battlefield, but it was also good that the author wasn't afraid to let the occasional battle be summed up after the fact, and not just make this a catalogue of action - given it's linear storyline (with just a few infills to keep the plot intact) it benefited from mixing up the constant battle scenes.
While it ended abruptly, I suspect that the second book will carry on quickly, but I can't help thinking that with no major resolution to the novel, it is really shaping up to be a single story across two books - at only a few pages over 200, it is by no means a long read. The writing is good, and I was very pleased to find no typos, which often plague self published works!
And so to stars - lacking a conclusion hurt the read for me, but I was also provided with the second book, which I am not reluctant to read. It was a unique viewpoint, the Numidian side, as opposed to the Carthaginian or Roman, so it picked up points for this.
3.5 stars, rounded up.
