In 63 AD the Roman Empire is at its height and the gladiatorial games are at their bloodiest.

For Quintus Honorius Romanus, son of one of the richest men in Rome , everything is as it should be - as long as he can sneak off to the amphitheatre for a little entertainment. Things go drastically wrong, however, when Quintus looses his family, his social standing and his name to an impostor. Faced with a life of menial slavery, Quintus joins a gladiatorial school and begins a game of unimaginably high stakes. First, though, he must survive his training. Together with the deadly African hunter Lindani and the lethal female gladiator Amazonia , Quintus learns the hard way what it means to live - and die - in the arena.

Part of the "Gladiators of the Empire" series, Sand of the Arena is a roaring tale of adventure from long time TV and magazine scribe James Duffy.

Set during Nero's reign, Duffy's work is enthusiastic, well-researched and rushes on at a breathless clip. Books like this are rare; gladiators (and indeed gladiatrices) are often part of a story, but rarely the main focus. This, however, is not the case in - as the title would suggest - "Sand of Arena."

"Sand" is an adventure story, and does not pretend to be anything else. It lacks the depth of characterisation seen in Donna Gillespie's "The Light Bearer," but clearly Duffy is aiming for a less mainstream audience. This is not to say that the novel is inaccessible (far from it), but his use of authentic terminology may lose the casual reader, though his introduction does explain some of the more commonly used terminology.

However, if you know your retiarius from your murmillo you will find yourself totally immersed in the world of Quintus the Gladiator, Lindani the Venator and of course, Amazonia the Gladiatrix.

Amazonia appears late on in this first instalment, but takes no time - about four pages from her introduction - in setting our expectations high. The statuesque beauty brawls her way through Quintus' ludus-mates with her brutal combination of sword play and street-fighting (and a penchant for grabbing her detractors by the balls.literally). Certainly, Duffy ticks all the boxes with Amazonia - tall, muscular and beautiful, hard on the outside with a caring soul, deadly in a fight and provocatively sexual, she's the archetypal warrior woman.

If his characterisation is standard, Duffy more than makes up for this in the action sequences. He delivers quality in swathes, not shirking on the blood and guts, and sprinkling the whole show with an authenticity that only adds to the excitement.

Sands of the Arena has everything one would expect - and want - from a novel of this type. Blood and sand, orgies and political machinations - Duffy serves it all with more on top.

This novel comes highly recommended, and the rest of the series promises to live up to this lively opener. Frankly, it's the best book in the genre I've read since "The Light Bearer." You can read more about the "Gladiators of the Empire" series at www.gladiatorsoftheempire.com

Sands of the Arena is available from www.amazon.co.uk and www.amazon.com