Book picks similar to
Scythian by Hector Miller
historical-fiction
fiction
ancient
war
The United States of Vinland: Four Tales From Norse America: The Landing, Young Ravens and Hidden Blades, Red Winter, and Loki's Rage
Colin Taber - 2018
The beginnings of a glorious saga befitting the Viking age! The Norse settled Greenland in 985AD and reached continental North America not long after - almost five centuries before Columbus - but left. What if they had stayed? Imagine what may have happened, how the world we know might be different… Would the British still have built their great empire? What of the Spanish, Portuguese and French imperial expansions? What about the two catastrophic world wars our timeline has endured? Would there still have been some kind of American Revolution and Civil War? In such an alternate history, might the American Bible Belt celebrate the All-Father Odin, Freya and Thor instead of Jesus Christ? Indeed, what kind of America could have arisen? We begin with The Landing as the Norse arrive on the shores of what we know as Canada’s Labrador. From there we will watch the first of them explore, live, love and in some cases fall. In time they will raise halls and found their first settlements as their colonies spread. They will meet other peoples and face great challenges. Bitter winters will come, but they will be followed by hope-filled springs. And all the while the Norse Gods will look upon the work of their mortal followers as a new civilisation grows. Join me as we explore this amazing alternate history! This boxed set includes: United States of Vinland #1: The Landing A Short Tale From Norse America #1: Young Ravens & Hidden Blades United States of Vinland #2: Red Winter United States of Vinland #3: Loki's Rage Over 1300 pages of Viking exploration and adventure! United States of Vinland #4: Odin's Hall will release in 2019.
In His Majesty's Service
Naomi Novik - 2009
Will Laurence is serving with honor in the British Navy when his ship captures a French frigate harboring most a unusual cargo–an incalculably valuable dragon egg. When the egg hatches, Laurence unexpectedly becomes the master of the young dragon Temeraire and finds himself on an extraordinary journey that will shatter his orderly, respectable life and alter the course of his nation’s history.Thrust into England’s Aerial Corps, Laurence and Temeraire undergo rigorous training while staving off French forces intent on breaching British soil. But the pair has more than France to contend with when China learns that an imperial dragon intended for Napoleon–Temeraire himself– has fallen into British hands. The emperor summons the new pilot and his dragon to the Far East, a long voyage fraught with peril and intrigue. From England’s shores to China’s palaces, from the Silk Road’s outer limits to the embattled borders of Prussia and Poland, Laurence and Temeraire must defend their partnership and their country from powerful adversaries around the globe. But can they succeed against the massed forces of Bonaparte’s implacable army?Together in one volume, here are the first three novels in Naomi Novik’s New York Times bestselling Temeraire series, combining the gripping history of the Napoleonic era, the thrill of Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern books, and the excitement of Patrick O’Brian’s seafaring adventures. In His Majesty’s Service also includes an exclusive original Temeraire short story - "In Autumn, a White Dragon Looks over the Wide River".
Sand of the Arena
James Duffy - 2005
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 arena for a little entertainment. Things go drastically wrong, however, when Quintus loses his family, his social standing, and his name to an imposter. Faced with a life of menial slavery, Quintus joins a gladiatorial school instead and begins a game of high stakes, as he vows to bring down the usurper who stole his life.
Eagle in the Snow: A Novel of General Maximus and Rome's Last Stand
Wallace Breem - 1970
Bravery, loyalty, experience, and success lead to Maximus' appointment as "General of the West" by the Roman emperor, the ambition of a lifetime. But with the title comes a caveat: Maximus needs to muster and command a single legion to defend the perilous Rhine frontier. On the opposite side of the Rhine River, tribal nations are uniting; hundreds of thousands mass in preparation for the conquest of Gaul, and from there, a sweep down into Rome itself. Only a wide river and a wily general keep them in check. With discipline, deception, persuasion, and surprise, Maximus holds the line against an increasingly desperate and innumerable foe. Friends, allies, and even enemies urge Maximus to proclaim himself emperor. He refuses, bound by an oath of duty, honor, and sacrifice to Rome, a city he has never seen. But then circumstance intervenes. Now, Maximus will accept the purple robe of emperor, if his scrappy legion can deliver this last crucial victory against insurmountable odds. The very fate of Rome hangs in the balance. Combining the brilliantly realized battle action of Gates of Fire and the masterful characterization of Mary Renault's The Last of the Wine, Eagle in the Snow is nothing less than the novel of the fall of the Roman empire.
War at the Edge of the World
Ian James Ross - 2015
But fate is about to intervene. When the king of the Picts, the savage people beyond Hadrian’s Wall, dies in mysterious circumstances, Castus is selected to command the bodyguard of a Roman envoy sent to negotiate with the barbarians.But the diplomatic mission ends in bloody tragedy. Castus and his men are soon fighting for their lives and the legionary discovers that nothing about his doomed mission was ever what it seemed.
Roma
Steven Saylor - 2007
Roma recounts the tragedy of the hero-traitor Coriolanus, the capture of the city by the Gauls, the invasion of Hannibal, the bitter political struggles of the patricians and plebeians, and the ultimate death of Rome’s republic with the triumph, and assassination, of Julius Caesar. Witnessing this history, and sometimes playing key roles, are the descendents of two of Rome’s first families, the Potitius and Pinarius clans: One is the confidant of Romulus. One is born a slave and tempts a Vestal virgin to break her vows. One becomes a mass murderer. And one becomes the heir of Julius Caesar. Linking the generations is a mysterious talisman as ancient as the city itself. Epic in every sense of the word, Roma is a panoramic historical saga and Saylor’s finest achievement to date.
Mistress of Rome
Kate Quinn - 2010
First-century Rome: A ruthless emperor watches over all--and fixes his gaze on one young woman... Thea is a slave girl from Judaea, purchased as a toy for the spiteful heiress Lepida Pollia. Now she has infuriated her mistress by capturing the attention of Rome's newest and most savage gladiator--and though his love brings Thea the first happiness of her life, their affair ends quickly when a jealous Lepida tears them apart.Remaking herself as a singer for Rome's aristocrats, Thea unwittingly attracts another admirer: the charismatic Emperor of Rome. But the passions of an all-powerful man come with a heavy price, and Thea finds herself fighting for both her soul and her sanity. Many have tried to destroy the Emperor: a vengeful gladiator, an upright senator, a tormented soldier, a Vestal Virgin. But in the end, the life of Domitian lies in the hands of one woman: the Emperor's mistress.
The Wall
Richard Denham - 2014
Four soldiers - Justinus, Paternus, Leocadius and Vitalis - are out hunting for food supplies at an outpost of Hadrian's Wall, when the Wall comes under attack. The four find their fort destroyed, their comrades killed, and Paternus is unable to find his wife and son. As they run south to Eboracum, they realize that this is no ordinary border raid. Ranged against the Romans at the edge of the world are four different peoples, and they have banded together under a mysterious leader who wears a silver mask and uses the name Valentinus - man of Valentia, the turbulent area north of the Wall. Faced with questions they are hard-pressed to answer, Leocadius blurts out a story that makes the men Heroes of the Wall. Their lives change not only when Valentinus begins his lethal sweep across Britannia but as soon as Leo's lie is out in the world, growing and changing as it goes. WILL THE WALL BE REBUILT AND THE POWER OF ROME RE-ESTABLISHED? AND WILL OUR FOUR HEROES REACH THE END OF THEIR JOURNEY? 367 AD is one of the critical dates in British history, but the year means little to most people now, and it is only rarely mentioned in historical books. Britannia: Part I - The Wall introduces the reader to this tumultuous age, as we share the adventure, confusion and bewilderment of our heroes - four common soldiers stationed at Hadrian's Wall. We find them caught up in the madness of a chain of events which will eventually lead to the fall of Roman Britain, and the descent into the Dark Ages.
Fate's Needle
Jerry Autieri - 2012
No father. No brother. No son." When his father is murdered and his brother betrays him to steal his birthright as Jarl of Grenner, Ulfrik Ormsson finds himself adrift on a sea of vengeance and corruption. Aided only by a beautiful slave, a smiling warrior, and a group of blood-lusting berserkers, he must wrest back his homelands by force and face the most difficult decision of all to even the scales of justice and honor.
An Evil Spirit Out of the West
Paul Doherty - 2003
And so do you.'Known as the Veiled One, the ugly and deformed Akenhaten is a shadowy figure. As a child he is overlooked and despised by his own father. As an adult he is thrust into the political limelight when his elder brother dies.Mahu, ambitious and ruthless, watches the young prince carve his own path to power. He becomes Akenhaten's alter ego, his protector and confidant, standing by as Akenhaten proclaims that there is only one God, the Aten, and that he, Akenhaten, is that God's only son. Revolution and chaos follow in this dramatic reign filled with fraud, abduction, assassination, betrayal and treachery.But when Mahu becomes suspicious of Akenhaten's majestic and glorious wife Nefertiti, and the political skill of her brother, Ay, it seems that a hidden and malign influence may also be at work. And then Akenhaten disappears...
Clash of Eagles
Alan Smale - 2015
But Marcellinus and his troops have woefully underestimated the fighting prowess of the Native American inhabitants. When Gaius is caught behind enemy lines and spared, he must reevaluate his allegiances and find a new place in this strange land.
The Wedding Shroud
Elisabeth Storrs - 2010
Leaving her militaristic homeland, Caecilia is determined to remain true to Roman virtues while living among the sinful Etruscans. But, despite her best intentions, she is seduced by a culture that offers women education, independence, sexual freedom, and an empowering religion.Enchanted by Veii but terrified of losing ties to Rome, Caecilia performs rites to delay becoming a mother, thereby postponing true entanglement. Yet as she develops an unexpected love for Mastarna, she’s torn between her birthplace and the city in which she now lives. As war looms, Caecilia discovers Fate is not so easy to control, and she must choose where her allegiance lies.The Wedding Shroud is the first book in the series A Tale of Ancient Rome. Subsequent books in the series include The Golden Dice and Call to Juno.
The Waterway Girls
Milly Adams - 2017
Can they pull together?October 1943, West LondonNineteen-year-old Polly Holmes is leaving poor bombed London behind to join the war effort on Britain’s canals.Stepping aboard the Marigold amid pouring rain, there’s lots for Polly to get to grips with. Not least her fellow crew: strong and impetuous Verity, whose bark is worse than her bite, and seasoned skipper Bet.With her sweetheart away fighting in the RAF and her beloved brother killed in action, there’s plenty of heartache to be healed on the waterway. And as Polly rolls up her sleeves and gets stuck into life on board the narrowboat – making the gruelling journey London up to Birmingham – she will soon discover that a world of new beginnings awaits amid the anguish of the war.
Fortune's Soldier
Alex Rutherford - 2018
On board, he meets the spirited and mercurial Robert Clive, determined – at whatever cost – to make a fortune in a land of opportunity.Over the years that follow, their friendship sees many twists and turns as Clive’s restless hunger for wealth and power takes him from being a clerk to a commander in the Company’s forces, masterminding plans to snuff out rival French interests in Hindustan and eventually leading the company forces to victory at Plassey, the prelude to nearly two centuries of foreign rule in Hindustan.Brilliantly crafted, and bringing to life the momentous events that shook India in the mid-eighteenth century, Fortune’s Soldier is an epic tale of a fascinating era by a master storyteller.
All Roads Lead to Murder
Albert A. Bell Jr. - 2002
Pliny the Younger, Tacitus, and Luke, travelers in a caravan bound for Rome, become investigators when no Roman magistrates are available. Suspects abound: gamblers, arcane priestesses and Christians. What is the secret of one of the victim's own slaves, a beautiful blonde, and the German giant shadowing her?