The Tiger Warrior by David Gibbins
It seems that it has been quite a while since I have been asked to review one of the many ‘Indiana Jones’ novels that are around. But once again as I read this book I was back into the realm of lost artifacts, speculative history, as well as action adventure.
This time Gibbins is speculating about the fate of Crassus lost legions after the battle of Carrhae. History has recorded that 10,000 Roman Legionaries were captured by the Persians and sent east as slaves. There is some evidence that some of these men escaped, but from that point everything is speculation.
In ‘The Tiger Warrior’ Gibbins suggests that some of these men, the very toughest headed further east and ended up in the court of the first Emperor of China. Two thousand years later Jack Howard discovers evidence of Roman trade with India and the Silk Road, eventually discovering a valuable treasure stolen by the Romans from the tomb of the First Emperor and hidden in India.
I found this book far more entertaining than the previous book I had read from this author. As always, Gibbins’ research is exemplary and his knowledge and understanding of archaeological processes and techniques is outstanding. However last time I felt that the action of the story was frequently halted while lengthy explanations were given. This time the action is non-stop with an absolute minimum of historical exposition. I kept waiting for the historical background, but virtually everything was saved for the extensive historical notes found at the back of the book.
For fans of this genre, this is going to be a welcome addition to the collection. If you haven’t yet tried anything beyond ‘The DaVinci Code’, this book would be a good choice.
