YMMV / Africanus Trilogy

• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: The scene towards the end of The Accursed Legions where Scipio's dead tribunes gather in the Roman underworld and meet Charon. The story turns suddenly from Historical Fiction to Historical Fantasy here, without any foreshadowing and or posterior trascendence, and never does it again.
• Broken Base:
  • Although everybody agrees the trilogy is a massive work of historiography, some dislike the fact that it actually propagates a heavily slanted re-interpretation of the historical facts (especially regarding Scipio and Fabius, who are turned into a goody two-shoes and an irredeemable bastard respectively with little semblance of hue). Another camp acknowledges it's not meant to be uber-accurate and believes the work to be good enough to ignore its sins.
  • Fabius's portrayal is a point of contemption, as while some like him for being such a deliciously evil mastermind, it is difficult to ignore he is actually a very Flat Character (far from being the only in the story, but still a notable case) and a case of Historical Villain Upgrade so extreme that it sometimes affects the suspension of disbelief (practically all his scenes and appearances are a Kick the Dog moment in a way or another). The historical Fabius was certainly a Combat Pragmatist with some instances of ruthlessness, but this version of him is so densely evil that even his noblest, most altruistic actions in history are twisted into some dastardly machination.
• Contested Sequel: The third book, The Betrayal of Rome. Some consider it the best chapter of the entire trilogy, while other deem it inferior to to the second.
• Designated Hero: In the second book, the narration nonchalantly mentions that Scipio massacred the Iberian cities of Illiturgis and Castulo with special cruelty, and this is never explored or questioned in any way. Those facts become exceptionally questionable when, in the previous book, the story profiled Fabius as a villain for his decision to ravage the city of Tarentum, exactly the same act Scipio later commits twice.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: The segments with Plautus, which narrate his convoluted journey from theater helper to soldier to successful writer, are some of the most unanimously liked parts of the first book. Some have pointed that, probably because Most Writers Are Writers, it is actually at those parts where Posteguillo seems to be the most comfortable to write.
• Even Better Sequel: The Accursed Legions, counting possibly as a Surprisingly Improved Sequel for those who didn't find the first book superb. Even although some problems of the first book are still there, it is acknowledged the second takes a step forward in Character Development (well, for Scipio and Lelius at least), improves its look on ancient politics (like the Numidian arc and Fabius's last throes in the Senate) and marks the interesting end of the Second Punic War (particularly Hannibal's return to Carthage and the battle of Zama). It comes to the point many call it the best chapter of the trilogy.
• Narm:
  • Emilia becoming angry with grief when Publius reveals to her the death of her father in Cannae should be an emotional, relatable moment, but the subsequent scene of her beating Publius up with punches, especially given that he is visibly wounded from the battle, becomes a Black Comedy Burst in its own right.
  • Scipio breaking down upon learning his son's capture is a pretty powerful scene, but it gets a bit lost when he starts abruptly babbling about Heraclitus (yes, the philosopher) to make an utterly bizarre and not fully intuitive reflection about Hannibal. His brother's own confused reaction to it doesn't help either.
  • Nothing destroys the atmosphere of a tense, dramatic scene about the uncertain fate of a son like the quote "he suddenly got up like a mare in heat".
  • Cato's interest in agriculture becomes a bit of a plot point for his relationship with Gracchus, but it gets hysterical in its own because the narration actually tries to style the thing as another sign of Cato's villainy, such as making it look like he's doing some incredibly evil activity while writing about feeding oxen and cultivating leeks.
• Narm Charm:
  • Maharbal's death is a gigantic cliché, complete with its appropriate arrow overkill and trite last words, but Hannibal's reaction is so uncharacteristically heartbroken that it works, making the scene an absolute Tear Jerker in a book already full of tragedies. Not even the death scene of Hannibal' wife Himilce manages to be so powerful.
  • Cato's famous quote "furthermore I consider Carthage must be destroyed!" is completely out of place in the third book's timeline, but let's be frank, it would have been almost disappointing to finish the novel without having heard him utter it.
• Squick:
  • Hannibal having a private orgy with his brother Mago in his tent after the battle of Cannae.
  • Hasdrubal Gisgo lusting for his own daughter Sophonisba. Really, what's up with Carthaginians and incest in this trilogy?
• Strangled by the Red String: The true hookup between Scipio and Arete happens mostly offscreen, which can make this feel a bit rushed.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • While admittedly inevitable due to the large cast, a common note is that most of the Character Development of the trilogy focuses solely on the Romans, if not in Scipio, Lelius and Plautus alone (as well as a bit of Emilia in the third book), while for the rest, even the most important characters remain relatively unexplored not matter how much pagetime they receive. Hannibal might be the best example, as although he is clearly meant to be a parallel Villain Protagonist, he has little actual personality outside his military exploits for the entire first two books, and unlike Scipio, his childhood, love life with Himilce and relationships are barely touched upon until the third, when they are not as important anymore.
  • Hasdrubal Barca is another example, as he could have been used as a Foil to Hannibal like Lucius to Publius, or even Gnaeus to Publius Sr, but instead he is left as a Minor Major Character to the very end. His supposed relationship of Red Oni, Blue Oni with Hannibal, alluded in-story, never goes really beyond an Informed Attribute due to how little focus he receives before his unceremonious death. (Ironically, the moment that would have gave him the biggest amount of personality, the Battle of Metaurus, is one of the few battles of the Second Punic War in the trilogy that is not shown on-page.)
  • Fabius and Cato follow close to Hannibal, as their characterizations are strictly limited to their villainy, often cartoonishly so. The latter does show an interesting edge when it is suggested that he doesn't completely approve of Fabius's gratuitous wickedness, but this is not explored upon, and his role ultimately never goes beyond the "Tall, Dark, and Snarky henchman" type. Fabius is an even worse case given that every chance to give him depth, including his reaction to the death of his son, is carefully nullified and/or used to make him even more shallowy evil. They both might be among the few cases where a novelized version of a historical character is actually less layered and complex than what we know about the real one.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Hasdrubal Barca's death. Although the books dedicate dozens of pages to every minor clash, the Battle of the Metaurus is strangely left entirely off-page, so the powerful moment that should have been the fall of Hasdrubal is entirely glossed over.