The Hidden Legion by Snorri Kristjansson – Review

Published: September 12, 2023

Publisher: Rebellion Publishing

Series: The Blood Dawn Trilogy

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 297 (Kindle)

My Rating: 4 Stars

Synopsis:
DEATH HAS COME TO AEMILIUS.

It is the twentieth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius Caesar Augustus. The Empire spans the known world. No power is greater, and nothing can threaten the peace it brings. And no one must know of the horrors that haunt it.

Aemilius thought he would die heroically in battle like his forefathers, mourned by a loving wife and many children, but he’s barely a man when a harpy flies down out of the old myths and knocks him from his horse. Stunned and helpless, he waits for his end… and is saved.

Formed on the bloody battlefield of Teutoburg, the Hidden Legion are an order of soldiers, magicians, and rogues so secret that the Empire itself would hunt them down if they were exposed. And now Aemilius is one of them.

A darkness is growing across the Empire, and someone is setting traps for the Legion themselves. Aemilius and his new comrades set off on the hunt for an unknown enemy…

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I knew I had to check this out when I realized it was about monster hunters in ancient Rome. I love Rome, or the Roman Empire in general as an inspiration for fantasy or science fiction books. This definitely falls into the category of “comfort read” because of that!

The Hidden Legion starts off with tragedy – young Aemilius is out riding with his cousins when they’re attacked by harpies and his cousins are brutally killed. They’re just a bunch of unsuspecting teenage boys and they don’t stand a chance against aerial attackers, especially those whose visage is enough to stun anyone not expecting such a creature. Fortunately for Aemilius, he’s rescued by a group of strange people who easily dispatch the monsters and they take him back to their camp where they welcome him into what they call the Hidden Legion. This was formed in secret and without permission of Roman officials to combat supernatural entities that the regular legions don’t believe in, but are nonetheless a threat to the citizenry. 

The group is a motley one, consisting of people from all over the empire and from all walks of life, so Aemilius gets a broad spectrum of training. There are two mages, a bear of a man from Gaul, a woman from the Roman nobility, an old woman who plays terrible music, a legion man, and a vicious girl who wields knives like appendages. Aemilius, bless him, is clueless and this provides a nice way for the author to give the reader information without it feeling like a clumsy info-dump. Admittedly, he’s not the most exciting character perspective to be viewing things from but he does grow on you as the story progresses.

This was an exciting and highly readable first installment in the Blood Dawn Trilogy and I’m already keeping my eye out for the sequel. I can only imagine what will happen in the next book because our vicious crew of misfits has already fought harpies, hydras, and a cyclops! If you’re looking for a book that is simply put, a good time, I’d highly recommend picking up The Hidden Legion.