Former Roman Legion Legate Gaius Marcus Linneus is reduced in rank to Centurion and banished by Emperor Marcus Aurelius to Tripolitania in Northern Africa. He finds his new command, a Shadow Legion, a reduced century of dishonored legionnaires, as much punishment as his dishonor. Castra-Augustus, a small fort in the southern Sahara, is under attack by an unseen enemy who takes soldiers at night, leaving only shredded clothing.
Gaius discovers an ancient city carved from solid rock half-buried by shifting sands. When Rashid, who claims to be a Berber salt merchant, arrives just after two more legionnaires disappear, Gaius questions him and learns the name of the ancient city – Hamad Rus, home of the Kashites who once lived East of Eden. Their long-time enemies, the Inyosh, the undead Children of Lilith, had driven the Kashites west into Northern Africa millennia earlier. Casting a spell to destroy the Inyosh, the Kashites had instead changed them into formless wraiths that killed to obtain blood for their god, Nergal. Now, the Inyosh have awakened.
SHADOW LEGION by J.E. Gurley is a very intense novel. Based on the description, I did not think I would enjoy this book, but Gurley is one of my favorite authors, so I decided to give this story a chance. Unlike the author's previous action-packed zombie novels, the storyline moves at a very slow pace. The reader is inundated with Roman vocabulary and desert descriptions. Constant emphasis on the heat, the sand, and the punishment of Gaius. All of it made the first half of the novel an absolute struggle.
I have a policy of finishing any book I review, so I stuck with it, even though I felt as if I was being punished alongside Gaius. I'm glad I did. I soon realized Gurley took his time for good reason, moving everything into place for a spectacular battle between broken Legionnaires, demons and an ancient entity. The Romans needed to suffer throughout the book, so they'd accept the nature of their enemy, in order to make a final stand.
In a way, this is more the story of a dishonored soldier atoning for his past actions, while discovering what is truly honorable. For a man such as Gaius, this requires facing off with an enemy unlike any other he has ever fought. He must also learn to break free of the xenophobic mindset Rome has pounded into him. The war he wages in the desert will be lost if he cannot win the war waging in his soul.
On a side note, the supporting characters are just as impressive as Gaius, and they really brought the fire to the story, literally and figuratively. (The only change I would make is moving the vocabulary list to the beginning of the book.)
If you enjoy stories such as The Red Badge of Courage (Stephen Crane) and Pompeii (Robert Harris) or period TV shows like Rome and Spartacus, give this novel a chance. The ending is worth the effort.
As always,
AstraDaemon
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