I'm a little surprised to see no mention of Simon Scarrow on this forum, as he is one of the most exciting historical adventure writers around at the moment. I picked up one of his books up by chance in a hostel in South Africa and was completely hooked from the first page.
He writes about the Roman legions with two principal characters, Cato and Marco. Cato is the intelligent young recruit while Marco is the hardened veteran and the books develop their friendship and their adventures together as they take part in the conquest of Britain. They then move on to Rome, a sea adventure and then to battles on the Eastern frontier. The first book in the series is ‘Under the Eagle’ and it is worth reading them in order. Great stuff, I’ve just read his latest book ‘Gladiator’ about a slave revolt on Crete, which I had to buy in hardback the day it came out and finished it in a weekend.
He’s also written a series of books on the Napoleonic Wars, which are a fictional account of the lives of Wellington and Napoleon. The're on the shelve but I’ve yet to read them, that period not being a favourite of mine. Even so if his other books are anything to go by, they will be excellent.
Discover this author, you won’t be disappointed.