Emperor's Fate
Alex Gough
The end of Caracalla
Emperor's Fate is the conclusion of Alex Gough's Imperial Assassin series, and it's a banger. I marked this review a spoiler, so that I can mention that this novel sees the end of Emperor Caracalla. That won't be a surprise if you're familiar with the history of the Roman Empire. It also won't be a surprise after Emperor's Lion. It's been pretty obvious that Caracalla was rapidly losing control of his sanity. That, of course, is bad not just for him, but also for Rome. Rule by a mad king is never happy for anyone.
Caracalla has survived this long in part thanks to the efforts of our faithful hero, Silus. Silus's faithfulness is wearing thin, though. Caracalla visits Alexandria, the second city of the Western world (exceeded only by Rome itself). He is not loved by the citizens of Alexandria -- rather the opposite. He goes bonkers and puts Alexandria to the sword. (That's another event that those familiar with the history of the Severan Dynasty already know about.) It's bloody awful -- bloody and awful both, and Silus is not OK with it.
Imperial Rome didn't have much in the way of checks and balances to restrain a mad emperor. One institution that occasionally played that role (very poorly) was the Praetorian Guard. The Praetorian Guard consisted of elite soldiers who were supposed to guard the person of the Emperor. But more than once the Praetorian Guard decided that they could do a better job of choosing an emperor than the Emperor himself, whom they accordingly murdered. (That really gives them too much credit, because it wasn't especially for the good of Rome that they acted, but also for their own.)
So that all happens. You'll notice that I haven't said anything of Silus's role in these historical events. Although I marked this review a spoiler, I'm not gonna spoil that! It's a good story and an excellent culmination to the series. In fact, I would judge it the best book of the series.
That's unusual in my experience. Most often the best book of a series is near the beginning. Many authors, I think, lose their vision as a series gets long, or maybe they just get tired. Gough, in contrast, grew into the Imperial Assassin. You can observe him becoming a better story-teller and really getting to know his characters as the series progresses.