YMMV / The Lion of Carthage

• Ho Yay: Hannibal and Ahusa get a bit touchy-feely in their reencounter in the third book.
• Narm:
  • Some of the sex scenes, particularly the sacred prostitutes visited by Hamilcar and Hasdrubal at the beginning of the first book, are described in very ceremonious terms, making it hard not laugh at how awkward it can become. The fact that the books's romantic dialogue often veers dangerously into George Lucas territory doesn't help a bit.
  • The first scene of the Carthaginian merchants being so completely filled up with modern economic babble. The author is a real life banker and it shows, but it is equally easy to feel that he went a bit overboard.
  • Hannibal is a historical character you would expect great speeches from, but this portrayal of him is rather the opposite. Generally, every time he makes a speech, odds are that it is absurdly redundant (repeating the same sentences over and over to a ridiculous degree) or weird by some other reason (for instance, his soliloquy at the start of the second book, where he speaks with the dead Hamilcar for many paragraphs).
• Narm Charm: Kharbaal and his party in the first book behave incredibly goofy, and their adventures together could hardly be wackier at some points. The fact that they are very quick to laugh and point this out makes it look like they are acknowledging this in-universe, or even that they are actors with a bad case of Corpsing. And yet, their appearances are surprisingly enjoyable and probably one of the best parts of the first book.