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The Ring: An anthology of historical short stories
The illustrator and writers involved in this project have donated their work, and proceeds go to The Reading Agency charity.
Forged over 2000 years ago, when Rome was still a republic, a simple gold ring was inscribed with the name and symbol of Fortuna, capricious goddess of fate. From the seven hills of Ancient Rome to the streets of modern day New York, the ring passes from hand to hand, through the centuries, shaping destinies and unveiling secrets.
A Roman patrician gambles his future on its luck. A crusading knight takes it from the finger of a slain foe. A child is gifted it by a soldier in the Thirty Years War and trusts it to keep her father safe. A jeweller takes it to America in the Gilded Age seeking a new life. Each tale is a moment in time, a new wearer, and a twist of fate — sometimes fortune smiles, but all too often the ring brings ill luck.
In these stories, history seems driven by the will of chance. Those who possess the ring seek to shape their own destinies, but it is always Fortuna herself who has the final say.
A spellbinding anthology of interconnected short stories, where luck is never what it seems.
Forged over 2000 years ago, when Rome was still a republic, a simple gold ring was inscribed with the name and symbol of Fortuna, capricious goddess of fate. From the seven hills of Ancient Rome to the streets of modern day New York, the ring passes from hand to hand, through the centuries, shaping destinies and unveiling secrets.
A Roman patrician gambles his future on its luck. A crusading knight takes it from the finger of a slain foe. A child is gifted it by a soldier in the Thirty Years War and trusts it to keep her father safe. A jeweller takes it to America in the Gilded Age seeking a new life. Each tale is a moment in time, a new wearer, and a twist of fate — sometimes fortune smiles, but all too often the ring brings ill luck.
In these stories, history seems driven by the will of chance. Those who possess the ring seek to shape their own destinies, but it is always Fortuna herself who has the final say.
A spellbinding anthology of interconnected short stories, where luck is never what it seems.
178 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2025
3 people are currently reading
6 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 2, 2025
This anthology of historical fiction leads from the BC era to the present day.
The stories are all linked by a ring with the name FORTUNA engraved inside. Most of the authors are new to me.
Because they're all individual short stories, you can dip in and out. Read one, two, or the whole book in one sitting.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and highly recommend it. Best of all, the proceeds from sales of this book go to The Reading Agency.
The stories are all linked by a ring with the name FORTUNA engraved inside. Most of the authors are new to me.
Because they're all individual short stories, you can dip in and out. Read one, two, or the whole book in one sitting.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and highly recommend it. Best of all, the proceeds from sales of this book go to The Reading Agency.
May 21, 2025
Im always reluctant when it comes to short stories, they can be so hit or miss. However this collection of historical short stories, really appealed. Knowing any money raised goes towards The Reading Agency is a great incentive.
What a great idea the stories are. A ring engraved with Fortuna passes from wearer to wearer, era to era throughout history. Each wearer has varying luck as a result of their ownership. Each relevant to the era.
Some of the stories are so beautifully written. Its difficult to imagine how the author managed it in so few words, buts its incredibly powerful and moving. A real triumph.
You can dip in and out of these stories although if you read in order you're moving through history. I felt I learnt a little along the way too.
Im so glad I agreed to read this. I hope its a huge success.
What a great idea the stories are. A ring engraved with Fortuna passes from wearer to wearer, era to era throughout history. Each wearer has varying luck as a result of their ownership. Each relevant to the era.
Some of the stories are so beautifully written. Its difficult to imagine how the author managed it in so few words, buts its incredibly powerful and moving. A real triumph.
You can dip in and out of these stories although if you read in order you're moving through history. I felt I learnt a little along the way too.
Im so glad I agreed to read this. I hope its a huge success.
June 3, 2025
Sometimes Fortune smiles, other times it frowns. And then there are those times where it will only be satisfied with a murder or two. This is the case in the ten stories that comprise The Ring Anthology, all of which focus on a gold ring adorned with a six-sectioned pinwheel in lieu of a gemstone with the word “FORTVNA” engraved inside the band. Each story, told by a different author, passes the ring through time, from the fateful Ides of March of Julius Caesar’s Rome to a hardboiled detective thriller set in present-day New York City. It gradually emerges that the ring smiles favorably upon wearers it deems worthy and turns against those who lose faith in its powers or forsake it—typically in violent or tragic ways. As a motif, the ring provides continuity through the various narrative voices and time periods, heightening interest in discovering how the ring plays its part in each new situation.
Each story leaves an indelible impression as the ring is passed on. Alistair Forrest’s “Wheel of Fortune” exchanges the ring from one assassination victim to another in ancient Rome. Fiona Forsyth continues the Roman theme with a more light-hearted tale, “Ovid Buys a Ring,” involving the famed exiled poet attempting to gift the cursed ring as a present for a newborn. Jaquie Rogers returns to tragedy in a historically based story that takes the ring from Roman-occupied Britain “Home to Palmyra.” From there, the ring emerges on a Mesopotamian battlefield in 530 AD in Alistair Tosh’s “Andreas.” Next up, Graham Brack’s “A Matter of Balance,” set in 1366 England, passes the ring from highborn to low as the result of a freak accident. Eleanor Swift-Hook’s “Fortuna’s Fool” places the ring at the heart of a murderous, yet adventurous, tale involving four of the French king’s Musketeers during the Siege of Nancy in 1633. Mark Turnbull’s “Of Gold and Grief” rescues the ring from a sinking ship off the Azores 19 years later only to lose it again in a desert sandstorm. The ring next appears in 1746 Scotland in a creepy tale by Maggie Richell-Davies that gives a surprise twist to a game of “Hide and Seek.” Robert Bordas takes the ring through immigration across the Atlantic to New York in 1907 in a rags-to-riches story of love and loss called “The Bequest.” Lastly, Val Penny’s “Hunter’s Luck” carries us to the present day with a young Detective Inspector from Britain celebrating his engagement in New York who ends up on the wrong end of a covetous murder for possession of the ring.
As we reach more modern and less superstitious timeframes, the idea of fate becomes more and more subject to skepticism, as some pssessors of the ring discount its magical attributes and put forward more of a belief in personal agency as a bringer of good fortune or bad. Yet there is still room for doubt. As one relatively modern character reflects upon the properties of the ring as his fortune turns from good to bad: “Could it be that Fortune might have played a major role in his life? And when he took it lightly [i.e., by taking off the ring], Fortune turned around and punished him for doing so?” In any case, The Ring Anthology presents a highly satisfying smorgasbord of speculative fiction that engagingly plays with the concept, leaving the reader to wonder: Who knows where the ring will end up next?
Each story leaves an indelible impression as the ring is passed on. Alistair Forrest’s “Wheel of Fortune” exchanges the ring from one assassination victim to another in ancient Rome. Fiona Forsyth continues the Roman theme with a more light-hearted tale, “Ovid Buys a Ring,” involving the famed exiled poet attempting to gift the cursed ring as a present for a newborn. Jaquie Rogers returns to tragedy in a historically based story that takes the ring from Roman-occupied Britain “Home to Palmyra.” From there, the ring emerges on a Mesopotamian battlefield in 530 AD in Alistair Tosh’s “Andreas.” Next up, Graham Brack’s “A Matter of Balance,” set in 1366 England, passes the ring from highborn to low as the result of a freak accident. Eleanor Swift-Hook’s “Fortuna’s Fool” places the ring at the heart of a murderous, yet adventurous, tale involving four of the French king’s Musketeers during the Siege of Nancy in 1633. Mark Turnbull’s “Of Gold and Grief” rescues the ring from a sinking ship off the Azores 19 years later only to lose it again in a desert sandstorm. The ring next appears in 1746 Scotland in a creepy tale by Maggie Richell-Davies that gives a surprise twist to a game of “Hide and Seek.” Robert Bordas takes the ring through immigration across the Atlantic to New York in 1907 in a rags-to-riches story of love and loss called “The Bequest.” Lastly, Val Penny’s “Hunter’s Luck” carries us to the present day with a young Detective Inspector from Britain celebrating his engagement in New York who ends up on the wrong end of a covetous murder for possession of the ring.
As we reach more modern and less superstitious timeframes, the idea of fate becomes more and more subject to skepticism, as some pssessors of the ring discount its magical attributes and put forward more of a belief in personal agency as a bringer of good fortune or bad. Yet there is still room for doubt. As one relatively modern character reflects upon the properties of the ring as his fortune turns from good to bad: “Could it be that Fortune might have played a major role in his life? And when he took it lightly [i.e., by taking off the ring], Fortune turned around and punished him for doing so?” In any case, The Ring Anthology presents a highly satisfying smorgasbord of speculative fiction that engagingly plays with the concept, leaving the reader to wonder: Who knows where the ring will end up next?
May 19, 2025
Here is my review for The Ring by Val Penny and other authors
This was a terrific anthology of historical short stories that I really enjoyed reading. The stories started in B.C. and ended in the present day. They were all centered around a gold ring that was inscribed with the name and symbol of Fortuna, capricious goddess of fate. These stories were written by different authors and there is more information about the authors at the end of the book. Majority of the stories were before the normal historical time I usually read but these short stories were very interesting and I could read more like them in this sort of setting. The ring could either bring you luck or bad fortune, the fate was yours. I found the last story set in the present day the most enjoyable and would love to read more by that author as it was a crime story with the ring being stolen, a dead body and a police officer being accused of the crime. All the stories held my attention and I read the book in one sitting. I quite enjoy reading short stories as you can read what you want, then leave the book and come back to it when you want. It’s not like reading an ordinary book where you have to keep reading till you finish it. I found the characters interesting, especially the ones that the ring was centered on. I hope this book does well for charity as it’s a really good read and doesn’t take that long to read.
Blurb :
The illustrator and writers involved in this project have donated their work, and proceeds go to The Reading Agency charity.
Forged over 2000 years ago, when Rome was still a republic, a simple gold ring was inscribed with the name and symbol of Fortuna, capricious goddess of fate. From the seven hills of Ancient Rome to the streets of modern day New York, the ring passes from hand to hand, through the centuries, shaping destinies and unveiling secrets.
A Roman patrician gambles his future on its luck. A crusading knight takes it from the finger of a slain foe. A child is gifted it by a soldier in the Thirty Years War and trusts it to keep her father safe. A jeweller takes it to America in the Gilded Age seeking a new life. Each tale is a moment in time, a new wearer, and a twist of fate — sometimes fortune smiles, but all too often the ring brings ill luck.
In these stories, history seems driven by the will of chance. Those who possess the ring seek to shape their own destinies, but it is always Fortuna herself who has the final say.
A spellbinding anthology of interconnected short stories, where luck is never what it seems.
This was a terrific anthology of historical short stories that I really enjoyed reading. The stories started in B.C. and ended in the present day. They were all centered around a gold ring that was inscribed with the name and symbol of Fortuna, capricious goddess of fate. These stories were written by different authors and there is more information about the authors at the end of the book. Majority of the stories were before the normal historical time I usually read but these short stories were very interesting and I could read more like them in this sort of setting. The ring could either bring you luck or bad fortune, the fate was yours. I found the last story set in the present day the most enjoyable and would love to read more by that author as it was a crime story with the ring being stolen, a dead body and a police officer being accused of the crime. All the stories held my attention and I read the book in one sitting. I quite enjoy reading short stories as you can read what you want, then leave the book and come back to it when you want. It’s not like reading an ordinary book where you have to keep reading till you finish it. I found the characters interesting, especially the ones that the ring was centered on. I hope this book does well for charity as it’s a really good read and doesn’t take that long to read.
Blurb :
The illustrator and writers involved in this project have donated their work, and proceeds go to The Reading Agency charity.
Forged over 2000 years ago, when Rome was still a republic, a simple gold ring was inscribed with the name and symbol of Fortuna, capricious goddess of fate. From the seven hills of Ancient Rome to the streets of modern day New York, the ring passes from hand to hand, through the centuries, shaping destinies and unveiling secrets.
A Roman patrician gambles his future on its luck. A crusading knight takes it from the finger of a slain foe. A child is gifted it by a soldier in the Thirty Years War and trusts it to keep her father safe. A jeweller takes it to America in the Gilded Age seeking a new life. Each tale is a moment in time, a new wearer, and a twist of fate — sometimes fortune smiles, but all too often the ring brings ill luck.
In these stories, history seems driven by the will of chance. Those who possess the ring seek to shape their own destinies, but it is always Fortuna herself who has the final say.
A spellbinding anthology of interconnected short stories, where luck is never what it seems.
July 25, 2025
I don’t have much to add to the blurb. I enjoyed all ten stories, which are well-written and gripping. I liked the way they’re all bound together by a ring inscribed with the name Fortuna, a ring that seems to bring good or bad luck. I highly recommend this anthology.
I received a free copy of this book for the Reading Between the Lines blog tour in return for a blog post and an honest review.
I received a free copy of this book for the Reading Between the Lines blog tour in return for a blog post and an honest review.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews