The Three Emperors: An Ethan Gage Adventure (Ethan Gage Adventures, 7)

I had never read an Ethan Gage adventure before and after this book I never will again. Dietrich is a reasonably good writer, but not good enough to pull off mixing fantasy with an adventure in the genre of Hornblower/Sharpe. Jim Butcher in the Dresden Files series crosses genre lines masterfully, mixing detective noir with urban fantasy, but Dietrich's writing lacks Butcher's skill. Ethan Gage, the hero, has elements of both Indiana Jones and Harry Flashman but the hybrid character comes off as unconvincing and laughably boastful about his own resourcefulness. The hero lacks passion and honest emotion; he is so delighted with his own cleverness that is difficult to feel he cares deeply about anything. His lack of principles and willingness to dissemble is clearly supposed to make him a likeable rogue but instead makes him seem merely self centered and narcissistic. I never cared whether he found his wife and son, because it never seemed to me that he felt any real pain at their loss. I had the constant feeling I was hearing the message" we now join our regularly scheduled program, already in progress." He brings in lots of famous people and shares a wealth of historic information, but he never manages to generate any suspense because of it. It often resembles a potpourri of historical tidbits rather than a real novel. You are never poised on the edge of your seat, breathless to find out what happens next. Save your money and read Forester, Cornwall, Fraser, or Jim Butcher instead.

The 7th and (so far) final novel in the Ethan Gage series continues the fine tradition of swashbuckling adventure as in all of the previous volumes. Ethan Gage describes himself as “Advisor, historian, seer, electrician, diplomat, and military consultant; a confidant of President Jefferson, and scholar of civilization.” His adversaries would use different words such as rogue, scoundrel, gambler, thief, deserter, and the like. What’s interesting about these books is that both perspectives are correct.

This novel continues the grand adventure that began in the previous book, "The Barbed Crown", with the central emphasis on recovering the lost and perhaps not even real medieval treasure known as the “Brazen head”, an automaton that is rumored to be able to predict the future. The quest actually started in the previous book but was sidetracked by all sorts of interesting historical events and the separation of Ethan from his wife and son. Now as he tries to reunite with them once again his adventures take him back once more to Napoleon’s side (and, in fact, is the one who must tell Napoleon of the great naval loss at Trafalgar). As always, despite his best laid plans, chance and circumstance dictate Ethan’s path and he finds himself fighting as a foot soldier on the French side during the pivotal battle at Austerlitz against the Russians and the Austrians. As always, the author waves actual historical events, people and places into the narrative, providing a wonderful sense of crazy reality.

For the first time in the series, some of the chapters are told from the point of view of Astiza, Ethan’s wife. One chapter is even told from his very young son’s viewpoint. All are in first person but this offers an interesting perspective, given that up until now we really didn’t know Astiza’s thoughts on various events or even, indeed, about Ethan. This really made her come alive in my mind instead of being just another character as in previous books in the series.

According the author’s website, he is working on another Ethan Gage novel. If for some reason that does not ever bear fruit, then this is a nice place to end the series. Even though there is much left in the Napoleonic basket of history from which to pluck adventures, the end of this book does find Ethan and his little family in a good place and with a plan for their future.

I, for one, will be hoping for more of Ethan Gage.

No comments.

A good edition to the series. Timely arrival

perfect, delivered quickly and what I was expecting.

Great read

An exciting continuation of the Gauge stories. I've really enjoyed these books and there interesting mix of history with adventure. My favorite pat is looking up all the places and some of the actual characters to learn more about them. Great read.

This is my fourth attempt to type a review for this book. I just typed the third huge review on this book and it's no where to be found! Agh! What happened? ... So I'm not typing another complete review as this is ridiculously tapping my patience.
Anyway, this is the first Ethan Gage adventure book I've read. I think it would be more helpful and less confusing if I read the other six editions. There's over 86 reviews on this book, and I feel like I wouldn't be able to surpass some of the outstanding reviews posted that I've read. However, I wanted to convey that I really enjoyed reading this smashing book. The Ethan Gage character is outstanding and so full of adventure. The story of Ethan Gage's survival after the Battle of Trafalgar and returning to Venice impersonating as Hieronymus Franklin (distant cousin to Ben Franklin) is quite funny and clever. There's a mysterious gem won by Gage during card games that lead him to join Napoleon's secret invasion of Egypt. Gage's wife (Astiza) and son (Harry) are being held in prison by Richter who works with the evil dwarf Auric who's holding and making threats at Harry. Richter & Auric have a small army in pursuit of the Brazen Head. Ethan Gage doesn't want to be a spy anymore and just wants to find his family and live in peace. But he's forced to keep in pursuit by Napoleon who collects artifacts whereas he's extreme anxious for Gage to find this caveated artifact more so than releasing him to find his family. Anyway, lots of suspense and a good read.

Have you ever watched the Xena or Hercules TV shows (1990 to 2001)? Ethan Gage is the character Autolycus (played to perfection by Bruce Campbell) come to life in the Napoleonic era. Ethan Gage is an American adventurer (a double agent for the British and the French) and scalawag married to an Egyptian. Gage finds himself in Venice Italy, having survived the 1805 battle of Trafalgar, and is he searching for his wife, Astiza, and their son, Harry (who are on the road from France to Prague). After one adventure In Venice he Flees to Vienna, Austria, just as Napoleon is invading, and Gage becomes embroiled in Napoleon's plotting and takes part in the battle of Austerlitz. Gage is wounded and ends up with friends in the Jewish Ghetto in Prague. If Errol Flynn were around he would be a perfect Ethan Gage.

BOOK #1 NAPOLEON'S PYRAMIDS - What mystical secrets lie beneath the Great Pyramids? Traveling with Napoleon's ambitious expedition, American adventurer Ethan Gage solves a five-thousand-year-old riddle with the help of a mysterious medallion. William Dietrich's books have been hailed for their vivid imagery, evocative atmospheres, impeccable historical accuracy, and ambitious plots. Now, in the breakout novel of his career, he delivers an enthralling story of intrigue, greed, and danger. Ethan Gage, assistant to Ben Franklin and expatriate American in post-revolutionary France, wins an ancient—and possibly cursed—medallion in a card game one night. It turns out that the medallion, covered in seemingly indecipherable symbols, may be linked to a Masonic mystery. That same night, however, Ethan is framed for a prostitute's murder and barely escapes France with his life. Faced with either prison or death, Gage is offered a third choice: to accompany the new emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte, as France sails to conquer Egypt—with Lord Nelson's fleet following close behind. Once Gage arrives, he encounters incredible surprises: one in the form of a beautiful Macedonian slave and another in the dawning knowledge that the medallion may solve one of the greatest riddles of history—who built the Great Pyramids, and why. What is revealed to Gage is more shocking than anyone could ever have imagined. Moving from the lascivious salons of post-revolutionary Paris to the Mediterranean's high seas to the treacherous sands of Egypt, Napoleon's Pyramids is a riveting, action-packed thriller that will captivate readers and introduce them to this supremely talented author.

BOOK #2 THE ROSETTA KEY Gage is in pursuit of a precious Egyptian relic that would give its owner the power to rule the world. The Rosetta Key an adventure in reading that is not to be missed, especially by fans of George MacDonald Fraser’s Flashman novels and aficionados of a grand literary tradition dating back to Jack London, Robert Lewis Stevenson, and H. Rider Haggard, and carried on today by such notables as James Rollins, David Liss, Steve Berry, and Kate Mosse.

BOOK #3 THE DAKOTA CIPHER William Dietrich is back with another fast-paced new adventure — one that brings together Norse mythology, the American wilderness, and a swashbuckling explorer in an irresistible page-turner. Ethan Gage, the hero of Napoleon's Pyramids and The Rosetta Key, just wants to enjoy the fruits of victory after helping Napoleon win the Battle of Marengo and end an undeclared naval war with the United States. But a foolish tryst with Bonaparte's married sister and the improbable schemes of a grizzled Norwegian named Magnus Bloodhammer soon send Ethan on a new treasure hunt on America's frontier that will have him dodging scheming aristocrats and hostile Indians. In 1801 newly elected president Thomas Jefferson, taking office in the burgeoning capital of Washington, D.C., convinces Ethan and Magnus to go on a scouting expedition — one that precedes that of Lewis and Clark — to investigate reports of woolly mammoths and blue-eyed Indians. The pair have their own...

BOOK #4 THE BARBARY PIRATES Ethan Gage, the early-nineteenth-century’s answer to Indiana Jones, is hot on the trail of another priceless artifact. This time it’s the Mirror of Archimedes, the (possibly mythical) ancient weapon that wiped out a Roman fleet and could enable its possessor to conquer the world. As usual the story moves at a brisk clip and contains equal parts humor, romance, and action. Ethan, a thoroughly likable adventurer, comes up against one obstacle after another as he travels from France to Greece to Italy, staying one step—sometimes barely that—ahead of the nasty pirates who want the mirror for themselves. As he did in previous novels, Dietrich works real characters and historical events into the mix, expertly blending fact and fiction. Fans of the earlier Gage novels will definitely want to read this one, but the book should be heartily recommended to all action-adventure lovers.

BOOK #5 THE EMERALD STORM The year is 1803. Swashbuckling, ribald, and irreverent hero Ethan Gage has outsmarted wily enemies and survived dangerous challenges across the globe, from the wilds of the American frontier to the pyramids of Egypt. Now the rakish hero finds himself in the Caribbean with his wife, Astiza, on a desperate hunt to secure the lost treasure of Montezuma—a legendary hoard rumored to have been hidden from CortÉs's plundering Spanish conquistadors. Hot on his heels are British agents who want the gold to finance a black slave revolt in Saint-Domingue, robbing hostile France of its richest colony. The French, too, seek the treasure for the secrets it contains, the key to an incredible new means of invasion that can ensure Britain's defeat—on its own land. Caught between the French and the rebel slave forces, Ethan and Astiza are in a race for gold and glory that will thrust them into the center of a bloody struggle for freedom as they try to rescue their son. And this time, Gage's luck may be running out. Brilliantly combining science, history, mythology, and wit, William Dietrich has woven a larger-than-life tale that sees Ethan embroiled in the Napoleonic era's ideals, opportunism, and inventions, which gave rise to the modern world. Filled with intrigue, voodoo, a hurricane, violent political unrest, and unexpected passion, The Emerald Storm is Dietrich's most captivating work to date.

BOOK #6 THE BARBED CROWN our hero returns to Paris and London. Against a background of imperial pomp and the gathering clouds of war, Gage plots revenge on Napoleon Bonaparte for the kidnap of his son. Paris, the “City of Lights,” shines – but alongside its splendor is great squalor. Heroic patriotism rubs against mean ambition, while grand strategy and back-alley conspiracy are never far apart. While Ethan spies on the French court, his wife, Astiza, works to sabotage Napoleon’s coronation using the Crown of Thorns, a legendary relic said to have come from the Crucifixion itself. But when Napoleon is crowned nonetheless, they flee to England. At Walmer Castle on the English coast, Gage joins a daring campaign by Smith, Fulton, rocket inventor William Congreve and smuggler Tom Johnstone to halt Napoleon’s intended invasion of England – a campaign which leads Ethan to take a role in the Battle of Trafalgar itself…

This is the third of the Ethan Gage book's that I have read. I didn't like this one quite as well as the other's. It got a bit on the weird side with the characters he ran into. I still like Ethan and will still read the next in the series, though this one didn't impress me as well as the previous installments.