Perfect for fans of action-adventure and historical fiction — including novels by such authors as Bernard Cornwell, Steve Berry, Naomi Novik, and Harry Turtledove — this stunning work of alternate history imagines a world in which the Roman Empire has not fallen and the North American continent has just been discovered. In the year 1218 AD, transported by Norse longboats, a Roman legion crosses … crosses the great ocean, enters an endless wilderness, and faces a cataclysmic clash of worlds, cultures, and warriors.
Ever hungry for land and gold, the Emperor has sent Praetor Gaius Marcellinus and the 33rd Roman Legion into the newly discovered lands of North America. Marcellinus and his men expect easy victory over the native inhabitants, but on the shores of a vast river the Legion clashes with a unique civilization armed with weapons and strategies no Roman has ever imagined.
Forced to watch his vaunted force massacred by a surprisingly tenacious enemy, Marcellinus is spared by his captors and kept alive for his military knowledge. As he recovers and learns more about these proud people, he can’t help but be drawn into their society, forming an uneasy friendship with the denizens of the city-state of Cahokia. But threats — both Roman and Native — promise to assail his newfound kin, and Marcellinus will struggle to keep the peace while the rest of the continent surges toward certain conflict.
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I thought this series was the most inventive thing I’ve read in a long time…perhaps ever. The premise is “what if the Romans had come to America” and it was really cool how the author works in various inventions that in theory make lives better. I read the series about a year ago, and it has stayed with me in a way that most books don’t. I read several books a week, so it really takes a special one to stand out.
CLASH OF EAGLES is one of the BOOKBUB selections I gobled up. It was just one of those A!LTERNATIVE HISTORY things where you really had to think “where he is going to go next?” . But it had an intertainng twist that no other AE book has had. It takes place where I grew up. In fact it “mentions” an actual place I have lived for the last 17 years….talk about putting a cork in your snorkel.
Like a lot of books, it is the starting point for a trilogy. Talk about a cliffhanger……
Even my imagination I cannot see how this will end up. All I can say it has really twisted battle scenes and I never could I imagine the slaughter of an entire ROMAN LEGION In twenty minutes, but he did it and make it a small pivot point in the novel. QUO VADIS? MR Smale?
Outstanding alt-history tale that imagines a twelfth-century Roman legion running headlong into a Midwestern mound-builder city. Smale goes far beyond the wouldn’t-it-be-neat-if premise to show a thriving Native American culture adapting to a cataclysmic change.
Really enjoyed the story, an interesting alternative history of early America. Was shocked to discover the mounds actually exist and no one knows the history of the area.
Well written with nice cause and effect approach. No happy ever after. Very entertaining.
Excellent read, fast paced and good story line in spite of it being used in other books.
What a great new twist on historical fiction – a very entertaining what-if scenario!
This was a hard book to put down. The alternate timeline made for a different point of view that was thought provoking and full of surprises. The characters are realistic and truly wonderful as they do the unexpected from a totally different way of life. When I finished the book, I had food for thought for several days and was ready to dive right in to the sequel. Very enjoyable!
I purchased the audiobook format of this book and the next in the series. I’m waiting on the 17th of Nov to get another credit to get the last one in the trilogy. I could not recommend this series any higher, it’s over the top. For sure top shelf writting. I find the author’s mind to be a marvelos thing.
The story was typical of the genre; however, it took some new slants. It was interesting.
Certainly better works out there, but good enough for killing time between flights. Some issues with the main character, but overall a decent read and worth the $0.99 I paid.