Gladiators ready! - Gladiator II reviewed by Katherine Roberts, author of The Horse Who Would be Emperor

According to the National Literacy Trust, kids (particularly boys) are not reading for pleasure these days, preferring films and online games for their thrills. Bad news for children's authors and publishers, but perhaps understandable when such games and films are available 24/7 on their smartphones. To quote the Roman poet Virgil: "The gates of hell are open night and day; smooth the descent, and easy is the way."

Thankfully, my younger readership shouldn't be too distracted by the new Gladiator movie with its 15 certificate, although the level of violence and gore is not much more than can be found in many kids' books for the 10+ readership (including mine!). It's where I heard these lines from Virgil, but if there were any raunchy scenes of a sexual nature unsuitable for younger viewers in Gladiator II, I missed them. So what, besides poetry, can you expect from the much-hyped sequel to the original Gladiator (2000)?

As can be expected in the final days of the corrupt Roman Empire, there's plenty of action with gladiatorial battles galore. Paul Mescal delivers a convincing performance as our brooding gladiator hero, although I couldn't help comparing him to Russell Crowe in the original film, possibly because the two actors look very alike when covered in blood and gore with an expression of righteous fury. As a girl viewer, I found myself wistfully wishing the gladiator of the title could have been our hero's wife, who fights alongside him in the opening battle scene... female gladiators (known as gladiatrix) did fight in the arena alongside the men, so it might have worked :-) However, such a switch would not have been kind to the backstory, which is revealed in snippets as the film progresses. If you've not seen the original Gladiator, then these earlier scenes might be a little confusing, being seamlessly inserted into the action without any clumsy "20 years earlier" prompts to indicate the time jump, but they work well enough and are just about believable for those who remember the plot of the earlier movie. For me, the two Roman co-emperors Caracalla and Geta steal the show, upstaged only by Geta's pet monkey when he names it Consul. While the sequel lacks the emotional depth of the original, it makes up for this with breathless action scenes and impressive set pieces that must surely rival the games that took place centuries ago in the Roman Colosseum.

Gladiator II is a true crowd-pleaser for ages 15+. But younger gladiator fans need not miss out! My latest book The Horse Who Would Be Emperor is set in Emperor Caligula's time before the Colosseum was built, and contains plenty of gory gladiatorial battles as well as death-defying chariot races... back then, both of these took place in the Circus Maximus, which was perfect for my plot centred around Emperor Caligula's favourite racehorse Incitatus 'the Swift'.

Incitatus, or 'Little Pig' to his grooms, had 18 staff to look after him, including his stylist Livia (a slave girl, daughter of a murdered gladiator) and young charioteer Marcus (son of a conspirator in a group of high-ranking officials who are planning to assassinate the mad emperor and restore the republic to Rome). Various attempts are made on the emperor's life, involving the two youngsters. When these fail, Livia is condemned to death fighting tigers, while Marcus battles to control Incitatus in a doomed chariot race. As the story builds to a climax in the Circus Maximus, and Caligula's madness escalates, how can Marcus and Livia (and the emperor's horse) possibly survive?

Extract from 'The Horse Who Would Be Emperor' by Katherine Roberts:

Marcus felt as if he'd just lost the lead on the final lap of a chariot race. He experienced the same sense of having victory snatched from his grasp at the last moment. His father's words echoed in his head: Better to lose a race than die in one. His grip slackened, and the gladius almost dropped out of his hand.  It would be best to surrender, then the soldiers might go easy on him until his father got back from Britannia to sort things out.

Then he glanced sideways at Livia's pale face and realised that if he didn't do something quickly, she'd die. Whatever he did now - short of actually killing someone - Marcus would live to see another day. But Livia was a slave who had dared challenge a soldier of Rome, albeit with a wooden blade. Her death would be public and painful, and they would probably execute her mother at the same time. So he tightened his grip on his stolen sword, swallowed his fear and launched himself at the soldiers with a fierce yell. To his surprise, Livia was right on his heels, her wooden sword raised, yelling too. He thought she sounded a lot more scary than he did.

You can read the rest of the story in paperback, or download the Kindle edition on special offer for only 99p until Christmas (links below).

The Horse Who Would Be Emperor

* ebook special offer - only 99p until December 31st *

The paperback is just £7.99 with still plenty of time to order before Christmas!

Katherine Roberts writes fantasy and historical fiction for young readers.

More at www.katherineroberts.co.uk