Eagle and empire

Format:

Book

Title:

Eagle and empire

Author:

Smale, Alan (Astronomer) author

ISBN:

9780804177269

9781783294060

Edition:

First edition.

Publication:

New York : Del Rey, [2017]

Physical Description:

544 pages : illustration ; 25 cm.

Series title(s):

Clash of eagles trilogy ;

Number in series:

BK. 3.

Summary:

"The award-winning author of Clash of Eagles and Eagle in Exile concludes his masterly alternate-history saga of the Roman invasion of North America in this stunning novel. Roman Praetor Gaius Marcellinus came to North America as a conqueror, but after meeting with defeat at the hands of the city-state of Cahokia, he has had to forge a new destiny in this strange land. In the decade since his arrival, he has managed to broker an unstable peace between the invading Romans and a loose affiliation of Native American tribes known as the League. But invaders from the west will shatter that peace and plunge the continent into war: The Mongol Horde has arrived and they are taking no prisoners. As the Mongol cavalry advances across the Great Plains leaving destruction in its path, Marcellinus and his Cahokian friends must summon allies both great and small in preparation for a final showdown. Alliances will shift, foes will rise, and friends will fall as Alan Smale brings us ever closer to the dramatic final battle for the future of the North American continent. Praise for Alan Smale "In Alan Smale, speculative fiction has been dealt a winning hand. Part historian, part anthropologist, part scientist, Smale is a Renaissance man with a storyteller's gift for letting tireless research inform the narrative without overwhelming it. Smale entertains, educates, and enraptures."--Myke Cole, author of Javelin Rain Clash of Eagles "Just when it seems there is nothing new in [alternate] history comes this debut."--Library Journal (starred review) "Epic in its sweep, exciting in its narrative, and eyeball-kick-sharp in its details."--Nancy Kress, Nebula and Hugo award-winning author of Beggars in Spain Eagle in Exile "The pace and scope of a Michener or Uris epic. Smale's action scenes slash across page after page, intense and bloody."--Kirkus Reviews(starred review) "Thoroughly believable. Marcellinus is a complicated man, a hero we can all get behind."--Historical Novels Review"-- Provided by publisher.

Subject(s):

Indians of North America -- Fiction.

Rome -- History -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

Rome -- History -- Fiction.

Rome (Empire)

Genre:

Adventure stories.

Alternative histories (Fiction)

Fiction.

History.

Historical fiction.

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Salem Main Library	Smale, A.	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

The award-winning author of Clash of Eagles and Eagle in Exile concludes his masterly alternate-history saga of the Roman invasion of North America in this stunning novel.

Roman Praetor Gaius Marcellinus came to North America as a conqueror, but after meeting with defeat at the hands of the city-state of Cahokia, he has had to forge a new destiny in this strange land. In the decade since his arrival, he has managed to broker an unstable peace between the invading Romans and a loose affiliation of Native American tribes known as the League.

But invaders from the west will shatter that peace and plunge the continent into war: The Mongol Horde has arrived and they are taking no prisoners.

As the Mongol cavalry advances across the Great Plains leaving destruction in its path, Marcellinus and his Cahokian friends must summon allies both great and small in preparation for a final showdown. Alliances will shift, foes will rise, and friends will fall as Alan Smale brings us ever closer to the dramatic final battle for the future of the North American continent.

Praise for Eagle and Empire

"Smale delivers in spades . . . the best of the trilogy. Highly recommended." -- Historical Novels Review

"The pace . . . is breathless and the action relentless. . . . A satisfying culmination to the adventures of a Roman warrior in the New World." -- Kirkus Reviews

"The final volume of Smale's Clash of Eagles trilogy is relentless, with characters and readers hardly getting a breath before the next threat comes crashing down. . . . Smale's hard-hitting and satisfying conclusion will be a must for his readers, as the trilogy will be for any fan of alternate history." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"[ Eagle and Empire] had awesome worldbuilding, worthy and interesting characters, and a great plot. . . . Altogether, a very satisfying journey." --The Nameless Zine

Author Notes

Alan Smale grew up in Yorkshire, England, and now lives in the Washington, D.C., area. By day he works at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center as a professional astronomer, studying black holes, neutron stars, and other bizarre celestial objects. However, too many family vacations at Hadrian's Wall in his formative years plus a couple of degrees from Oxford took their toll, steering his writing toward alternate, secret, and generally twisted history. He has sold numerous short stories to magazines including Asimov's and Realms of Fantasy, and he won the 2010 Sidewise Award for Best Short-Form Alternate History.

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

The final volume of Smale's Clash of Eagles trilogy is relentless, with characters and readers hardly getting a breath before the next threat comes crashing down. In an alternate 13th century C.E., the thriving Roman Empire has penetrated North America-called Nova Hesperia-as far as the Mississippi River. Gaius Marcellinus led troops into battle against the midwestern Cahokians but lost badly and became their prisoner. Years later, he's a willing resident of Cahokia, and he has helped broker a tenuous peace between Romans and Hesperians. But all are about to face annihilation when the Mongols, led by Chinggis (aka Genghis) Khan, cut a bloody swath across western and southern Nova Hesperia, butchering everyone who resists and enslaving those who surrender. And if somehow the Mongols are defeated, Nova Hesperia may still ultimately be subjugated by Rome-costing Marcellinus both of his nations. The book is harrowing, and there are no easy victories. Smale's hard-hitting and satisfying conclusion will be a must for his readers, as the trilogy will be for any fan of alternate history. Agent: Caitlin Blasdell, Liza Dawson Associates. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Review

In the final volume of his alternate-history trilogy supposing that the Roman Empire never collapsed, Smale (Eagle in Exile, 2016, etc.) chronicles a 13th-century world war as Roman and Mongol empires clash in Nova HesperiaNorth America.Roma and Cahokia, "center of the mound-builder culture," maintain an uneasy alliance at the great city north of the confluence of the Mizipi and Wemissori rivers. Then word comes that Chinggis Khan and his Mongol Hordes are pillaging west of the great mountains. Disgraced Gaius Publius Marcellinus, a Crowe-in-Gladiator protagonist, had his command wiped out during Roma's initial foray into Hesperia. Now Imperator Hadrianus gives him the unenviable task of contacting the People of the Hand far to the southwest to negotiate an alliance to resist Mongol incursions. Gaius meets tragedy, his party decimated after stumbling upon a Mongol army. Gaius survives only to wreak a near-pyrrhic victory from a Mizipi naval battle. Hadrianus decides to set out to meet the Mongols on Hesperia's vast grasslands. Thus, Gaius is once more into the breech. The characters may be static, but they're well-defined, whether it's the young Cahokian chief, Tahtay, ambivalent about the alliance; Hadrianus, sly, manipulative, and audacious; or Gaius, Wanageeska to his Sintikala Cahokian wife, whom he loves passionately. There's minimal back story; elements like the Cahokian developing hang gliders as weapons of war employing Greek fire or Khan crossing the ocean and allying with warlike Tlingits aren't fully elucidated. The pace, however, is breathless and the action relentless, and Smale's description of battles, tactics, and weaponswho knew a Mongol war horse was trained to bite and kick a foe?are informed down to the construction of Mongol bows or the purposes of a centurion's pila and gladius. A satisfying culmination to the adventures of a Roman warrior in the New World. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.