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Tales of the Empire #4
Insurgency
A forbidden love. A daring escape. A gathering storm. Forty years have passed since the Empire was restored. Emperor Kiva the Golden, his wife Jala Parishid, and his brother Marshal Quintillian have together overseen decades of peace and prosperity, a time when the horrors of the civil war could begin to fade from memory. But nothing can last forever. A forbidden love drives Quintillian from the capital far into the eastern deserts, where he discovers an unprecedented threat to the Empire's very survival. And when Jala is kidnapped by a sinister and ruthless group of warriors, it will take all of Kiva's strength to defend her, his people, and their destiny... Insurgency is the fourth novel in S.J.A. Turney's Tales of the Empire series, set in a world inspired by Roman history. A sweeping tale of deception, cunning, and military valour, this will appeal to readers of Matthew Harffy, Simon Scarrow, and K.M. Ashman.
418 pages, Paperback
First published August 15, 2016
40 people are currently reading
94 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 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 6, 2019
Having found this author I have been reading through his books having started with the Marius' Mules series ( which I thought were excellent ) then starting this Empire series) Quite simply, I am astounded at the brilliance of this author. If you love historical fiction as I do then all of this author's books should be on your 'To read' list.
August 26, 2016
The fourth installment of this historical fantasy of a Roman like world finds the Empire flourishing under the guiding hands of the Emperor Kiva and his brother Quintillian who is his principle adviser and military strategist. However, there are others who have designs on this empire and will go to great lengths to see it come under new ownership. Thus, we the readers are treated to a story replete with intricate plots and machinations as the Empire is threatened from numerous enemies, some of whom were thought to be friends and allies. The author has done a superb job in fleshing out this insurgency with some remarkable characters and exciting story lines. The atmosphere is tense, the action is page turning and the world created by the author is recognizable to a student of Roman history yet different enough to make the readers use their imaginations as the action flits back and forth between regions. To summarize (without spoilers), the dude can spin a yarn and I hope he spins more in this highly entertaining series. 5 stars
January 21, 2025
There's never a bad book in this series. And if I was a tad disappointed the previous wasn't quite as good as the first two, this one has bounced back with a strong effort.
Sure it's a little Hollywood and implausible in places. But once you get past the cheesy overly dramatic actions and escapes - both stretching credulity - and if you accept the cinematic somewhat cliched feel of the book, then it's a good novel.
Turney writes well. He gets you engaged with the characters and his writing draws you in. Whether it's the everyday or action he writes well. A couple of things are of particular note. One is that his focus on one story arc at a time. Rather than jumping from one character to another from chapter to chapter, there's a continued run of chapters all focussing on one character and story arc. This doesn't get wearisome and along with solid writing helps build your investment in the characters and their storyline. The second is a clever deviation in one of the character's plot lines. After building up one plot line and seeming narrative with them, in the space of a chapter this is utterly undone and the character is heading into a different narrative. The detail and investment that Turney puts into the "false" plotline makes the shift in narrative all the more powerful and surprising. There's plenty of action, a plot that hooks and slowly unfolds, with some suspenseful moments. Combined with the quality of writing and the literary techniques this comfortably compensates for the "Hollywood" feel at times.
Overall a strong 3 star book, pushing 4 stars. I've decided to go with 3 as it is a tad cinematic but its an enjoyable good book nevertheless.
Sure it's a little Hollywood and implausible in places. But once you get past the cheesy overly dramatic actions and escapes - both stretching credulity - and if you accept the cinematic somewhat cliched feel of the book, then it's a good novel.
Turney writes well. He gets you engaged with the characters and his writing draws you in. Whether it's the everyday or action he writes well. A couple of things are of particular note. One is that his focus on one story arc at a time. Rather than jumping from one character to another from chapter to chapter, there's a continued run of chapters all focussing on one character and story arc. This doesn't get wearisome and along with solid writing helps build your investment in the characters and their storyline. The second is a clever deviation in one of the character's plot lines. After building up one plot line and seeming narrative with them, in the space of a chapter this is utterly undone and the character is heading into a different narrative. The detail and investment that Turney puts into the "false" plotline makes the shift in narrative all the more powerful and surprising. There's plenty of action, a plot that hooks and slowly unfolds, with some suspenseful moments. Combined with the quality of writing and the literary techniques this comfortably compensates for the "Hollywood" feel at times.
Overall a strong 3 star book, pushing 4 stars. I've decided to go with 3 as it is a tad cinematic but its an enjoyable good book nevertheless.
November 23, 2016
This is the fourth in Simon Turney's 'Tales of Empire' series. Set in an imagined world - but clearly owing a lot to the ancient Mediterranean world - the four books are separate stories with different characters, often set far apart in time, but with occasional nods to earlier tales.
This episode has a fairly straightforward plot, but the author has become a seriously good story-teller, so it is very entertaining. For these one-off books, he has adopted a different narrative style to his longer series such as 'Marius Mules'. In those he has the time to slowly develop characters, and include simultaneous time-lines. That is why I am such a fan of book series; in the long term, they can offer so much more. Here, that is pared down; he has to draw characters quickly, and the story is moved forward with only one time-line. However, it still works; there is nothing unnecessary, nothing spare, but it is still a well told, involving story.
This episode has a fairly straightforward plot, but the author has become a seriously good story-teller, so it is very entertaining. For these one-off books, he has adopted a different narrative style to his longer series such as 'Marius Mules'. In those he has the time to slowly develop characters, and include simultaneous time-lines. That is why I am such a fan of book series; in the long term, they can offer so much more. Here, that is pared down; he has to draw characters quickly, and the story is moved forward with only one time-line. However, it still works; there is nothing unnecessary, nothing spare, but it is still a well told, involving story.
November 23, 2016
And another one....
I've read all of the Marcus Muels books and the praetorian books(2 so far in series) have loved just about every one! That being said I was not interested in this series of books until I broke down and purchased The first in a series of 4 (and one novella) and was instantly hooked! Now I'm waiting with bated breath for the next book of any of these series.... Thank you for the pleasure of being able to read your books Mr.Turney
I've read all of the Marcus Muels books and the praetorian books(2 so far in series) have loved just about every one! That being said I was not interested in this series of books until I broke down and purchased The first in a series of 4 (and one novella) and was instantly hooked! Now I'm waiting with bated breath for the next book of any of these series.... Thank you for the pleasure of being able to read your books Mr.Turney
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews