Ancient
Ancient Historical Fiction
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ONCE MORE, FROM THE BEGINNING
Here’s a new look at the Old Testament…but this time the women’s voice gets the prominence it deserved all along. Always witty, often funny, and definitely never boring, the women’s common sense outlook puts quite a different spin on the bible stories you think you remember. The men who wrote the Bible have had the field to themselves for centuries. Let’s see that ancient world through a woman’s eyes. You may be surprised! (approx. 62,000 words)
E-BOOK $4.95 USD; PRINT $12.95 USD
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NO ROADS LEAD TO ROME
It’s 123 A.D., and a mysteriously promoted senator’s son lands in an ancient world of trouble. When the legionaries depart to build Hadrian’s Wall, the once-sleepy province of Hispania is rocked by tax revolts, food riots, and bad wine.
The clumsy new governor resorts to a series of desperate illusions to disguise his failings in a quixotic saga that Publishers Weekly said “… is recounted swiftly, with verve, panache, and a light tread that makes for a delightful, well told tale.” (approx. 81,000 words)
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ROMAN GAMES
by Bruce Macbain
Rome: 96 AD. When the body of a notorious senatorial informer and libertine is found stabbed to death in his bedroom, suspicion falls on his household slaves—a potential death sentence for them all. Pliny the Younger, a strait-laced young lawyer, takes the case reluctantly. Together with Martial, a starving author of bawdy verses and hanger-on to the city’s glitterati, they unravel a plot that involves Christian “atheists,” worshipers of Isis, a vengeful concubine, and a paranoid emperor. And Pliny comes face to face with a tough moral choice. (approx. 80,000 words)
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SOLDIER OF ROME: THE LEGIONARY
by James Mace
Book One of the Artorian Chronicles
In the year A.D. 9, three Roman Legions under Quintilius Varus were betrayed by the Germanic war chief, Arminius. Six years later Rome is finally ready to unleash her vengeance. Germanicus, adopted son of the Emperor Tiberius, and Arminius faced each other in what would become the most brutal and savage campaign the world had seen in a generation; a campaign that could only end in a holocaust of fire and blood. (approx. 126,000 words)
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SOLDIER OF ROME: THE SACROVIR REVOLT
by James Mace
Book Two of the Artorian Chronicles
Legionary Artorius has greatly matured during his five years in the legions. He has become stronger in mind; his body growing even more powerful. Like the rest of the Legion, he is unaware of the shadow growing well within the Empire’s borders, where a disaffected nobleman seeks to betray the Emperor Tiberius. A shadow looms; one that looks to envelope the province of Gaul as well as the Rhine legions. The year is A.D. 20. (approx. 102,000 words)
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SOLDIER OF ROME: HEIR TO REBELLION
by James Mace
Book Three of the Artorian Chronicles
A series of grisly murders threatens to upset the order of the city of Lugdunum where the Twentieth Legion’s Third Cohort has been stationed since the end of the Sacrovir Revolt. Sergeant Artorius inadvertently finds himself at the center of the search to find these mysterious killers before they undermine the city’s faith in the protection of the legions; a search that will lead him on a journey into the darkest corners of what lurks in a broken man’s wicked soul. (approx. 102,000 words)
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SOLDIER OF ROME: THE CENTURION
by James Mace
Book Four of the Artorian Chronicles
As the Twentieth Legion marches north into Frisia in the year 28 A.D. on its first major campaign in eight years, Centurion Artorius finds himself facing his first major battle since taking over his Century. The Frisians in their desperation know that they face death either by starvation in peace, or slaughter on the battlefield. For Artorius and his legionaries the crucible of war will end in heartbreak; for only after the devastation of battle does the truth arise. (approx. 116,000 words)
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SCARAB: AKHENATEN
by Max Overton
Book One of the Amarnan Kings
A chance discovery in Syria reveals answers to the mystery of the ancient Egyptian sun-king, the heretic Akhenaten and his beautiful wife Nefertiti. Inscriptions in the tomb of his sister Beketaten, otherwise known as Scarab, tell a story of life and death, intrigue and warfare, in and around the golden court of the kings of the glorious 18th dynasty. (approx. 163,000 words)
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SCARAB: SMENKHKARE
by Max Overton
Book Two of the Amarnan Kings
King Akhenaten, distraught at the exile of his beloved wife Nefertiti, withdraws from public life, content to leave the affairs of Egypt in the hands of his younger half-brother Smenkhkare and Vizier Ay. When Ay overthrows Smenkhkare, his sister Beketaten, known as Scarab, is forced to flee for her life. (approx. 174,000 words)
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SCARAB: TUTANKHAMEN
by Max Overton
Scarab and her brother Smenkhkare are in exile in Nubia, but are gathering an army to wrest control of Egypt from the boy king Tutankhamen and his controlling uncle, Ay. Meanwhile, the kingdoms are beset by internal troubles and the Amorites are pressing hard against the northern borders. Generals Horemheb and Paramessu must fight a war on two fronts while deciding where their loyalties lie – with the former king Smenkhkare or with the new young king in Thebes. Smenkhkare and Scarab march on Thebes with their native army to meet the legions of Tutankhamen on the plains outside the city gates. The fate of Egypt and the 18th dynasty hang in the balance as two brothers battle for supremacy and the throne of the Two Kingdoms. (approx. 178,000 words)
Also in most formats at Writers Exchange Ebooks
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SCARAB: AY
by Max Overton
Tutankhamen is dead and his grieving widow tries to rule alone, but her grandfather Ay has not destroyed the former kings just so he can be pushed aside. The old Vizier assumes the throne of Egypt and rules with a hand of bronze. His adopted son, Nakhtmin, will rule after him, and stamp out the last remnants of loyalty to the former kings. Scarab was sister to three kings and will not give in to the usurper and his son. She battles against Ay and his legions under the command of General Horemheb, and aided by desert tribesmen and the gods of Egypt themselves, finally confronts them in the rich lands of the Nile delta to decide the future of Egypt. (approx. 167,000 words)
Also in most formats at Writers Exchange Ebooks
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SCARAB: HOREMHEB
by Max Overton
General Horemheb has taken control after the death of Ay and Nakhtmin, and forcing Scarab to marry him, ascends the throne of Egypt. The Two Kingdoms settle into an uneasy peace as Horemheb proceeds to stamp out all traces of the former kings. He also persecutes the Khabiru tribesmen who were reluctant to help him seize power. Scarab escapes into the desert, where she is content to wait until Egypt needs her. A holy man appears and Scarab finds herself once more fighting for her people as disaster sweeps down on Egypt.
(approx. 160,000 words)
also in most formats at Writers Exchange Ebooks
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LION OF SCYTHIA
by Max Overton
Book One of the Lion of Scythia Series
Alexander the Great has conquered the Persian Empire and is marching eastward to India. In his wake he leaves small groups of soldiers to govern great tracts of land and diverse peoples. Nikometros is a young cavalry captain left behind in the lands of the fierce nomadic Scythian horsemen. Captured after an ambush, he must fight for his life and the lives of his surviving men. He seeks an opportunity to escape but owes a debt of loyalty to the chief, and a developing love for the young priestess. (approx. 78,000 words)
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THE GOLDEN KING
by Max Overton
Book Two of the Lion of Scythia Series
The chief of the tribe is dead, killed by his son’s treachery; and the priestess, the lover of the young cavalry officer, Nikometros, is carried off into the mountains. Nikometros and his friends set off in pursuit of the priestess. Death rides with them and by the time they return, the tribes are at war. Nikometros is faced with the choice attempting to become chief himself or leaving the people he has come to love and respect, returning to his duty as an army officer. (approx. 103,000 words)
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FUNERAL IN BABYLON
by Max Overton
Book Three of the Lion of Scythia Series
Alexander the Great has returned from India and set up his court in Babylon. Nikometros and a band of loyal Scythians journey deep into the heart of Persia, to join the Royal court. Nikometros finds himself embroiled in the intrigues and wars of kings, generals, and merchant adventurers as he strives to provide a safe haven for his lover and friends. The fate of an Empire hangs in the balance, and Death walks beside Nikometros as events precipitate a Funeral in Babylon. (approx. 116,000 words)
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RAKSHASA
by Max Overton
Rakshasa is a demon. He doesn’t know where he came from or how he came to be in the first place. All he knows is that he feeds on the dying thoughts of men and that he is hungry. Engendered in ancient times in the north of India, he wanders, doing exactly what he wants, killing when and where he pleases until he attracts the attention of a god. Fleeing for his life, Rakshasa must now come to terms with what he is and his place in the scheme of things. Hiding from the gods, he delves into the world of men, following individual lives and impacting on them. (approx. 165,000 words)
also available for iPad at Double Dragon Publishing
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DJINN
by Max Overton
Born of the smokeless flame in the wilderness of prehistoric Arabia, a djinni comes into being. A creature of pure energy, he takes the form of a green-tinged blue flame that feeds off the life forces of human kind, taking pleasure in death and terror until a shepherd mistakes him for a god.
Over hundreds of years, he brings death and despair to those whose lives he touches until he finds himself fighting for survival against the gods themselves.
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THAIS OF ATHENS
by Ivan Yefrimov (1908-1972) – transl. Maria Kuroshchepova
Love, beauty, philosophy, war, religion – all that and more in this translation of a historic literary masterpiece.
A remarkable woman. A remarkable life. The beautiful hetaera Thais was a real woman who inspired poets, artists and sculptors in Athens, Memphis, Alexandria, Babylon and Ecbatana. She traveled with Alexander the Great’s army during his Persian campaign and was the only woman to enter the capitol of Persia – Persepolis. (approx. 162,000 words)
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THE YEAR-GOD’S DAUGHTER
For time beyond memory, Crete has sacrificed its king to ensure good harvests, ward off earthquakes, and please the Goddess. Men compete in brutal trials to win the title of Zagreus, the sacred bull-king. Two brothers from Mycenae attempt to thwart the competition and their deaths as they search for exploitable weaknesses in this rich, irresistible country. Hindering their goal is the seductive and fearless Cretan princess, Aridela, and ancient prophecies suggesting any threat to her people will spark Goddess Athene’s wrath in a calamity of unimaginable consequences. (approx. 111,000 words)
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THE THINARA KING
Ash, earthquakes and tsunamis devastate Crete. The will of the survivors fades as the skies remain dark and frost blackens the crops. Aridela must find a way to revive the spirit of her people along with rebuilding her country’s defenses.
More threats loom on the horizon. Greek kingdoms see a weakened Crete as easy prey. And now Chrysaleon, he who carries the ancient title of Thinara King, feels the shadow of Death over his shoulder. Will he thwart his fate? No other man ever has. (approx. 90,000 words)
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LEGIONARY
376 AD: Emperor Valens attempts to stave off invasion from the Goths north of the Danube while, in Constantinople, a pact between faith and politics spawns a lethal plot that will bring the dark and massive hordes from the east crashing down on the struggling borders. Numerius Vitellius Pavo, enslaved as a boy after the death of his legionary father, is thrust into the limitanei, the border legions, just before they are sent to recapture the long-lost eastern Kingdom of Bosporus. He is cast into the jaws of this plot, so twisted that the survival of the entire Roman world hangs in the balance… (approx. 125,000 words)
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LEGIONARY: VIPER OF THE NORTH
The Danubian frontier is weaker than ever, and a storm is gathering in the north . . .
Deep winter, 376 AD: in the frozen lands north of the River Danubius, the Goths are stirring. A dark legend, thought long dead, has risen again. The name is on the lips of every warrior in Gutthiuda; the one who will unite the tribes, the one whose armies will march upon the empire, the one who will bathe in Roman blood . . .
The Viper!
(approx. 126,000 words)
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CLEOPATRA: WHEN WE WERE GODS
Cleopatra VII of Egypt was barely more than a girl when she inherited the richest empire in the world. Imperilled at every turn by court conspiracies and Roman treachery, the young Queen sought a partnership with the only man who could secure Egypt’s safety: Julius Caesar. The result was a passionate love affair that scandalized Rome and thrust Cleopatra into a world of deadly intrigue played for the very highest stakes. At the height of her power and fame, Cleopatra fell in love with Caesar’s successor, Marc Antony. When the tide finally turns against her she plots a last, spectacular manoeuvre to save her children, her empire, and her place among the gods. (approx. 137,000 words)