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Tales of the Empire #2
Ironroot
In the riveting second instalment of a new and epic historical fantasy series, an Imperial captain must confront an ancient treachery...
Lucius Varro, a captain in the Fourth Army, is about to have the worst day of his life. Wounded and poisoned in battle, and fearing for his life and his future, he stumbles upon a plot that reaches deep into the past and the roots of everything in which he believes.
Accompanied by a young engineer from his unit and the daughter of his commander in chief, he begins to unpeel layers of treachery and murder that threaten not only himself, but the people that he loves. Varro is determined to find his betrayer, but the poison is incurable, and there isn’t much time left…
Ironroot is set twenty years after the events of the first Tales of the Empire novel, Interregnum. Inspired by Roman history, this is an evocative and action-packed tale of treason and revenge, sure to delight fans of Conn Iggulden, Bernard Cornwell and Simon Scarrow.
340 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 22, 2010
74 people are currently reading
154 people want to read
About the author
S.J.A. Turney
93 books498 followersSimon lives with his wife and children and a menagerie of animals in rural North Yorkshire, where he sits in an office, wired on coffee and digestive biscuits, and attempts to spin engrossing tales out of strands of imagination while his children drive toys across his desk and two dogs howl as they try to share a brain cell.
A born and bred Yorkshireman with a love of country, history and architecture, Simon spends most of his rare free time travelling around ancient sites, writing, researching the ancient world and reading voraciously.
Following an arcane and eclectic career path that wound through everything from sheep to Microsoft networks and from paint to car sales, Simon wrote Marius’ Mules and, with help and support, made a success of it. Now, with in excess of 20 novels under his belt, Simon writes full time and is represented by MMB Creative literary agents.
Simon writes Roman military novels in the form of the bestselling Marius’ Mules series based on Julius Caesar’s campaigns, Roman thrillers in the Praetorian series, set during the troubled reign of Commodus, medieval adventures in the Ottoman Cycle, following a young Greek thief around the 15th century world, and a series of Historical Fantasy novels with a Roman flavour, called the Tales of the Empire.
Simon can be found on Twitter as @SJATurney and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SJATurney/ as well as on his website http://www.sjaturney.co.uk
A born and bred Yorkshireman with a love of country, history and architecture, Simon spends most of his rare free time travelling around ancient sites, writing, researching the ancient world and reading voraciously.
Following an arcane and eclectic career path that wound through everything from sheep to Microsoft networks and from paint to car sales, Simon wrote Marius’ Mules and, with help and support, made a success of it. Now, with in excess of 20 novels under his belt, Simon writes full time and is represented by MMB Creative literary agents.
Simon writes Roman military novels in the form of the bestselling Marius’ Mules series based on Julius Caesar’s campaigns, Roman thrillers in the Praetorian series, set during the troubled reign of Commodus, medieval adventures in the Ottoman Cycle, following a young Greek thief around the 15th century world, and a series of Historical Fantasy novels with a Roman flavour, called the Tales of the Empire.
Simon can be found on Twitter as @SJATurney and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SJATurney/ as well as on his website http://www.sjaturney.co.uk
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 23, 2014
Utterly impressive though not quite i expected after the superb military fantasy Interregnum; set in the same universe some 20 years later and with some characters reappearing though not in main roles - however there are clear spoilers for the earlier book - this one is quite different, personal, emotional, introspective with great characters that stay with you for a long time.
There is lots of action, battles, fights and the like but the emphasis is on the character arcs of the 3 main POV's, Varro an early 40'ish cohort captain (kind of a colonel as today's ranks would be) who was in his early 20's and a 5 year veteran at the end of Interegnum, Salonius a young 19 year old engineer auxiliary in Varro's cohort from the Northern Tribes whose path intersects Varro's by the power of the (barbarian) forest Stag God Cernus and Catilina the on and off lover of Varro who is the young and headstrong daughter of Marshal Sabian - the commander of the Northern Army and the 2nd most powerful man in the Empire after the emperor - of course Sabian is one of the main characters in Interregnum as is the emperor...
There are quite a few twists and turns, but the plot turns around the Stag God Cernus' involvement in the lives of the main characters that sends them on unexpected paths of danger, intrigue and revenge...
Highly, highly recommended and an A+/A++
There is lots of action, battles, fights and the like but the emphasis is on the character arcs of the 3 main POV's, Varro an early 40'ish cohort captain (kind of a colonel as today's ranks would be) who was in his early 20's and a 5 year veteran at the end of Interegnum, Salonius a young 19 year old engineer auxiliary in Varro's cohort from the Northern Tribes whose path intersects Varro's by the power of the (barbarian) forest Stag God Cernus and Catilina the on and off lover of Varro who is the young and headstrong daughter of Marshal Sabian - the commander of the Northern Army and the 2nd most powerful man in the Empire after the emperor - of course Sabian is one of the main characters in Interregnum as is the emperor...
There are quite a few twists and turns, but the plot turns around the Stag God Cernus' involvement in the lives of the main characters that sends them on unexpected paths of danger, intrigue and revenge...
Highly, highly recommended and an A+/A++
May 8, 2011
Ironroot is the first of this author's work I have tried, and what can I say? It's dark, tense, pacy, delightfully twisty and evocative and I found myself being sucked into the Roman-like world in which it is set.
From the poetic and vivid opening chapter I was hooked and then only sleep or work could pull me away from my kindle as it wound its way around the lands of the Empire, following a tight-knit trio of characters as they bonded in the face of espionage and skulduggery. Indeed the characters really grew on me as the story unfolded, so much so that I was parrying every sword-blow with Varro and his entourage before long!
The 'hook' factor has left me wanting to explore the world of the 'Tales of the Empire' series, so I'll definitely be reading more of this series and the author's other works.
From the poetic and vivid opening chapter I was hooked and then only sleep or work could pull me away from my kindle as it wound its way around the lands of the Empire, following a tight-knit trio of characters as they bonded in the face of espionage and skulduggery. Indeed the characters really grew on me as the story unfolded, so much so that I was parrying every sword-blow with Varro and his entourage before long!
The 'hook' factor has left me wanting to explore the world of the 'Tales of the Empire' series, so I'll definitely be reading more of this series and the author's other works.
May 7, 2012
S J A Turney just gets better with every book, im just amazed that no mainstream publisher has not picked up on this yet and signed him up.
Ironroot:
Do the Gods control the destiny of men? Can the dead avenge themselves?
Captain Varro of the Fourth Army is about to have the worst day of his life, but in the face of hopeless odds, Varro will find justice, honour, friendship, love, and the favour of Gods.
In solving a personal mystery, Varro stumbles across a twenty year old tale of treachery and violence that threatens once again the security of the Northern Provinces.
As you would expect from one of his books you get a great combination of action pace, plot flow and great characters, all blending together to make a great story, one i will be recommending to all my friends.
(Parm)
Ironroot:
Do the Gods control the destiny of men? Can the dead avenge themselves?
Captain Varro of the Fourth Army is about to have the worst day of his life, but in the face of hopeless odds, Varro will find justice, honour, friendship, love, and the favour of Gods.
In solving a personal mystery, Varro stumbles across a twenty year old tale of treachery and violence that threatens once again the security of the Northern Provinces.
As you would expect from one of his books you get a great combination of action pace, plot flow and great characters, all blending together to make a great story, one i will be recommending to all my friends.
(Parm)
August 4, 2018
Good read with lots of twists and turns.
The story is great. Lots of detailed character development, great understanding of Roman Legion history mixed with a rousing good murder mystery. My biggest complaint is with the proofreading! Improperly used words abound but are obviously caused by a spell check program. The author needs to use multiple people to proofread his works.
The story is great. Lots of detailed character development, great understanding of Roman Legion history mixed with a rousing good murder mystery. My biggest complaint is with the proofreading! Improperly used words abound but are obviously caused by a spell check program. The author needs to use multiple people to proofread his works.
November 19, 2018
Great Story Regarding the result of Book One
This book shows some of the traits found by characters in the first book. With idealistic ideas and visions of grander we see a new level of industry and "
This book shows some of the traits found by characters in the first book. With idealistic ideas and visions of grander we see a new level of industry and "
December 18, 2024
O.K.
For whatever reason, this book was nowhere near the high standards of the authors usual and much better offerings.
Annoyingly, it was a great idea and could have been fantastic. It felt rushed, some areas were simply mashed together and sometimes it was simply confusing.
For whatever reason, this book was nowhere near the high standards of the authors usual and much better offerings.
Annoyingly, it was a great idea and could have been fantastic. It felt rushed, some areas were simply mashed together and sometimes it was simply confusing.
March 13, 2017
I like the fact that the good guywins and loses lends a fresh dose of reality to what all to often is a predictable ending
Good read that builds on an expanding world with a nod to old characters, but is a completely new and independent story
Good read that builds on an expanding world with a nod to old characters, but is a completely new and independent story
September 24, 2013
Given the fact that I have read many of Simon Turney's books I would have thought by now that it would be nigh unto impossible for him to surprise me. I am used to the plot twists that he infuses into his novels, indeed I sort of expect them. However, in Ironroot, the second of three books set in a pseudo Roman world, he managed to do just that.
The protagonist Varro, a Captain in the Imperial Army, is wounded during a skirmish and is subsequently told that he is dying because the weapon used on him was laced with Ironroot, a poison with no antidote. When it becomes apparent that he was specifically targeted, a conspiracy to cover up a senior officer's treasonous activities unfolds. Thus begins a race against time as he and an enterprising member of an engineers cohort seek out the truth and possible revenge. What follows is an exciting tale of action, loyalty and a steadfast belief that they were chosen for this mission by a local tribal deity.
Now the author could have gone in many different ways with this including a formulaic one but this is where all the surprises in the plot come to the fore. The climatic scenes are wonderfully portrayed demonstrating Mr. Turney's vivid imagination and abundant sense of irony. I would love to be more specific but that would be unfair to the author and to prospective readers...after all, they deserve to be as surprised in their reading of this novel as I was.
The protagonist Varro, a Captain in the Imperial Army, is wounded during a skirmish and is subsequently told that he is dying because the weapon used on him was laced with Ironroot, a poison with no antidote. When it becomes apparent that he was specifically targeted, a conspiracy to cover up a senior officer's treasonous activities unfolds. Thus begins a race against time as he and an enterprising member of an engineers cohort seek out the truth and possible revenge. What follows is an exciting tale of action, loyalty and a steadfast belief that they were chosen for this mission by a local tribal deity.
Now the author could have gone in many different ways with this including a formulaic one but this is where all the surprises in the plot come to the fore. The climatic scenes are wonderfully portrayed demonstrating Mr. Turney's vivid imagination and abundant sense of irony. I would love to be more specific but that would be unfair to the author and to prospective readers...after all, they deserve to be as surprised in their reading of this novel as I was.
September 2, 2012
A great follow up to Interregnum, though not as dramatic and emotionally engaging, was still a fun little romp through the post Caerdininian world. Salonius starts off as slightly annoying but quickly grows to be endearing and his insights as an engineer give a different perspective to these military themed stories.
One thing though, the twist itself was a bit too overt for keen readers of this genre, though in the end it didn't have as much impact anyway, so it wasn't such a critical thing. Still, if you enjoyed Interregnum, this expands the universe and keeps the story going quite well. The cameos are great!
One thing though, the twist itself was a bit too overt for keen readers of this genre, though in the end it didn't have as much impact anyway, so it wasn't such a critical thing. Still, if you enjoyed Interregnum, this expands the universe and keeps the story going quite well. The cameos are great!
February 16, 2012
An excellent addition to Turney's Roman series. Though I had hoped that the character would live on, or at least his understudy would take off into a new adventure. Nevertheless, a thoroughly enjoyable read for all ages and lovers of Roman history & adventure.
February 12, 2016
book 2 in the series, and really enjoyed it , SJA Turney didn't drop the pace with this book, his writing makes you believe you were there, roll on book3
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews