Empire of Time

New Pompeii #2

by Daniel Godfrey

Fifteen years on from the events of NEW POMPEII, and New Rome is cut off from the rest of the world in a new Cold War. The Romans, lead by Calpurnia, have control of the time travel technology, which keeps western governments at bay. But the public at large know nothing of this, and are eager for action to destroy New Rome, a place where slavery and deadly gladiatorial combat flourish. Meanwhile Calpurnia is fending off threats to her control over her people, aided by Decimus Horatius Pullus, the man who was once Nick Houghton Has Nick truly embraced the Roman way of life? Can the Romans harness the power of time travel or will the new world destroy them?"

Genres: Science Fiction, Time Travel, Historical Fiction, Adult, Historical, Fiction, Thriller

460 pages, Paperback

First published June 20, 2017

About the author

My first novel, New Pompeii, was included in both the Financial Times’ and Morning Star’s ‘Books of 2016’ lists. The sequel, Empire of Time, was published in June 2017. My near-future crime novel, The Synapse Sequence, was included in The Guardian’s June 2018 best recent science fiction round-up. I self-published my cold war thriller, The Calculations of Rational Men, in 2022. I have also self-published a children’s e-book (in 2013) and written several short stories.

****I'm aware that loads of manuscripts attributed to a composer from the 1880s have been mistakenly added to my profile - but they kept on being added faster than I could get them removed, so I gave up trying to keep up!****

Reviews

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Empire of Time is a hard book to rate. The concept of time travel, introduced in the previous book, New Pompeii, is further explored with some interesting outcomes while also adding to the earlier story, however, there felt like there was a disconnect somewhere with the plotting; it a nutshell it was hard to follow.

There are three (I think) different periods time throughout Empire of Time, each aspect of the story is well told and incorporates interlocking characters which, while getting lost in the layered plot structure, do come together (mostly) in a semi-cohesive narrative. Again, it was just hard to follow what was happening.

My rating: 3/5 stars. Empire of Time is not new reader friendly, so make sure you read New Pompeii first. Don't get me wrong; I liked this book, especially the way Nick Houghton morphed into Pullus, and the chapters featuring Achillia, a female gladiator in ancient Rome were especially good. I look forward to seeing where this story goes next (I think I'll need to reread this and New Pompeii though).

[Linda Acaster · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent fast-paced sequel to ‘New Pompeii’. In the intervening 15 years David Houghton has been given ambassador status to act as the official conduit between the late 21st century, where Europe’s economic plight is fast losing out to the rise of the East, and New Pompeii which refuses to relinquish its old lifestyle. Despite his self-denial, living the Roman life as Decimus Horatius Pullus is not as fulfilling as he envisaged. The corruption and violence sicken him – starkly portrayed in the text via deft pen-strokes – and he does his best to protect the discarded, mainly old or disabled slaves, and aid the sick by demanding antibiotics from his old life. There is, however, little he can do for the modern people who smuggle themselves in for ‘a look’, and mere mention in the text of their demise is enough.

The corruption in modern Naples, where decent food and housing is in short supply, is mirrored darkly by the leaps in technology which make the population unwitting slaves and just, if not quite as openly, expendable. Vesuvius rumbles ominously on the skyline, and NovusPart, the technology company which discovered how to harness time, is reinventing itself.

The atmosphere created by the author adds to a sense of impending doom for all concerned, and his use of split locations and periods – modern Naples, the archaeological digs at Pompeii and Herculaneum, Pompeii itself, and New Pompeii – act as an accessible form of explanation. Moral ambiguity threads quietly below the surface, while between the lines the question rises: is a madman born, or nurtured, or merely seduced by circumstance? This is time travel at its most believable. Highly recommended.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Daniel Godfrey's first novel, New Pompeii, was a great read....& here comes that difficult second novel. Sequels are always tricky. You don't have the excitement of the original set up, so you have to do more to keep the reader's attention. For me Empire Of Time doesn't quite have the energy of the first novel, but where Godfrey does succeed is in his depiction of his historical characters & settings. The people & situations are incredibly believable & I was drawn far more into their story than into the science fiction elements of the novel.

[Glen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book in a goodreads drawing.

Rome is keeping the barbarians at bay thanks to the threat of time travel device. In reality, using it would irreparably harm Rome. When future chrononaut, Nick Houghton, finds his name on an ancient artifact, it means someone is teaching Rome how to use time travel for its own ends.

Not bad, but I got the time travel headache after this one.

[Caroline · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the most convoluted stories about time travel I have ever read. I think I understand the story but I’m still not 100% sure lol. Anywho, it was kind of a slog to get through.

[Amalia Dillin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is essentially told in three timelines, and despite that, it feels more grounded than the previous installment--we get a much stronger sense of the outside world, as well as glimpses of Ancient Pompeii, and of course the events ongoing in New Pompeii itself. Again, Godfrey gives the Romans their due--no matter what period they're born in, people are still people, just as inherently intelligent as we are today in any era, and that's one of the things I appreciate most about these books.

At its heart, this book is a mystery, and Nick/Pullus is the intrepid sherlock on the case, trying to uncover both the secrets of the Romans and the motivations of the government agencies outside of New Pompeii. The premise and ongoing issues of the ancient city and the population brought into the present is still fascinating to me and the turns this book took definitely didn't let me down, though I might have liked to see Pompeii be forced to confront how times have changed outside the city--maybe in a book three?

[Nic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like other reviewers, I struggled to get back to New Pompeii. Luckily, I had a long train journey to take and so decided to reread the first book. That done, this was an enjoyable read, although I’m not 100% sure I understood the solution to the puzzling anachronisms and it did leave me with questions.

[Precious Sagbodje · Rating 2 out of 5]

The most vague and confusing book I have read in awhile.
Not recommended to ANYONE!

[Andy Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is 15 years after the events of New Pompeii, Nick Houghton is now Decimus Horatius Pullus and the Romans are carrying on in their typically brutal Roman way and the outside world doesn't like it.

When an artefact is uncovered at the real Pompeii that has Nick's name on it it becomes obvious that someone in the future has control of the time travel device (currently held by the Romans in New Pompeii). But who? and how will it affect things?

As with New Pompeii this is a baffling (in a good way) tale that all becomes clear eventually. Swapping scenes between Ancient Pompeii, the modern world and ancient Romans in the modern world took a bit of getting used to but doesn't get in the way of a cracking story.

I previously compared Dan Godfrey's work to that of Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park with Romans) and after reading this I see no reason to change that opinion. I read this book on holiday and got through it in a couple of days but it was the perfect poolside read, a good mix of Sci-Fi and Mystery - what more could you ask for.

[Lucy Lillianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pěkné zakončení série. Líbilo se mi téma cestování časem, i když to nebyl klasický způsob, kdy by se někdo přemisťoval a cestoval fyzicky, kam by se mu chtělo. Navíc v tomto dílu je to i trošku zamotané, díky paradoxům. Ale nemůžu si pomoct, tohle se mi líbilo...

https://lucy-lillianne.blogspot.com/2...

[C.J. Bunce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally published online at BORG.com.

Betrayal. Duplicity. Deception. Intrigue.

Godfrey’s debut novel, New Pompeii, was one of last year’s most entertaining reads (reviewed here at borg.com). Empire of Time, Godfrey’s sequel, is equal to the first, and brilliantly enough it’s completely readable as a standalone work not requiring the reader to have read his New Pompeii. Godfrey, who is not a professor of ancient history, has written a narrative about life in Pompeii at the time Vesuvius erupted in AD 79 that would swiftly pass muster with historians. And his knowledge of history is matched by his science fiction storytelling skill to provide a rousing next chapter for one of the decade’s most nuanced time travel stories.

Suetonius’s Twelve Caesars is one of the more exciting of the primary history texts of the ancient world. In New Pompeii, Godfrey transported most of the population of Pompeii in AD 79 to a rebuilt facsimile in the present day world, saving their lives from Vesuvius’s lava, fire, and heat. More fleshed out this time around, the characters who live in the world of New Pompeii in Empire of Time all live, fight, and die in accordance with the politics, literature, art, social, and scientific elements of Suetonius’s world. Godfrey even hands the classic book to a character for that character’s own twisted inspiration. Godfrey crisscrosses time with his lead character, former research assistant Nick Houghton as he traverses modern Italy, and follows Houghton in the city of New Pompeii in his Roman persona, Decimus Horatius Pullus–the legendary “man who cannot be killed.” In a third and parallel story Godfrey presents the exploits of a slave turned gladiator named Achillia, a ruthless, bloodthirsty survivor who establishes even more of the detailed feel for the mindset of people in the real Roman Empire. A hardened warrior, Achillia will appeal to fans of Robin Wright’s General Antiope from the opening scenes of Wonder Woman.

The same political intrigue that seeped into stories of Italy’s modern-day Cosa Nostra is present among the manipulators, magistrates, and political machinations of New Pompeii. Readers will travel through most of the novel with Houghton as he sleuths out lost technical data in the normal world that may allow the “Novus Particles” device to repeat the time travel used to transport the ancients to the present day. He is also charged–in his Pullus persona–with the same mission only under the control of Calpurnia, the “Empress of Time” of New Pompeii. But is there truly a device to reactivate time travel? When archaeologists suddenly begin to encounter messages in English in ancient ruins, does that provide evidence that someone in the future can not only pull matter forward in time, but also transport messages backward in a parallel timeline? And who is sending the messages?

Godfrey’s subordinate characters are as intriguing as the main cast. Calpurnia assigns an assistant to Pullus in his detective work in New Pompeii, and as Houghton he works in Italy with two women to find the missing pieces that can help him try to maintain the balance and keep peace between the modern and the ancient cities. But are all three helpers as they seem? Who will be loyal to him and who can’t he trust? And where do Achillia and Calpurnia’s bastard son fit in?

Science fiction readers will find Godfrey’s worldbuilding and time travel rules consistent with the best time travel stories. Both his time travel and communication across time will appeal to fans of Phillip K. Dick’s Time Out of Joint, John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness, Michael Crichton’s Timeline and Westworld, a host of novels by Connie Willis, including To Say Nothing of the Dog and Blackout, and the better Matt Smith and David Tennant episodes of Doctor Who. Fans of Suetonius and Plutarch will feel at home here, too.

Like New Pompeii, Empire of Time clocks in at a whopping 460 pages and 76 chapters. Also, like New Pompeii, Empire of Time is an exciting and quick read. If you’re like this reader, you’ll soak up this novel in a single day. Empire of Time is available now from Titan Books.

[Tom Loock · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this sequel and maybe that's why I was a bit disappointed initially. But I have to admit that my ideas would not have worked and I do prefer the author's.
Unfortunately, this book has a couple of flaws:
- The story jumps about 15 years ahead and the reader is missing out on important/interesting events. I almost felt like reading the third book after I had missed the second.
- Because publishers are paranoid that they might miss out on a single potential sale, this is yet another example without a short summary of the events from the first book and I had a devil of a time getting into the book. I read about 70-80 novels a year, several of them second and third books of a trilogy/series, so maybe it's my fault ...
- This is the harshest criticism, and I like to point out first that I do not regret reading this novel: 'Empire of Time' had both boring and overly complicated bits when the storyline and the location jumped. Even when the events could have been, it was never exciting. Sorry!!

[Sophie Constable · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the sequel to New Pompeii and I enjoyed it just as much as the first book. This book takes place 15 years after the end of the first one which I really enjoyed. I loved seeing how this world had changed and adapted to the revelations at the end of the first book. This book also had multiple timelines and while that was necessary for the story and I liked it for the most part I did enjoy the present timeline more than the past timeline. I really liked seeing the main character, Nick, again and I enjoyed meeting all the new characters in this book. Like the first one this book was very easy to read and did feel very much like a thriller. I also loved the ending and while it wrapped up nicely there is definitely potential for another book and I would certainly not turn one down! This was just a really fun book that I really enjoyed reading and had a great time with. I would highly recommend this series.

[Andrew Pellow · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting and very enjoyable take on the time travelling theme – with added Ancient Rome interest.

My biggest problem was that I had not read New Pompeii, the first book in the series and as such there were a lot of themes and background knowledge I was lacking. Although this made it difficult at times, to follow all the threads of the story, it did not distract unduly.

I particularly liked the use of split times and locations and that the jump between them was not obviously signposted – it was left to the readers intelligence to follow them.

Daniel’s style struck a chord with me and I particularly liked the way he continued to develop the characters.

All in all an enjoyable read and exploration of themes of good and bad. I would recommend it but would recommend you read New Pompeii first.

[Amie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the depiction of his historical characters and set the way the city was shown in the book, I kinda hoped for more of an insight with this, but the bits we got I really loved, as it mixed in well with the time travel elements novel.
The first novel, New Pompeii, was a fantastic read, and so interesting it had a lot more then just Romans and time travel. But this one, the second novel that always have the hard job of keeping the story going, sadly didn't live up to the first. The original fascination is not there and to be honest the plot was not as fasted paced or many plot twists that i found that enjoyable, it just lacked that energy that was bursting form all pages of the first novel.

[Tony · Rating 2 out of 5]

My Grade = 60% - D-

Published 2017. 460 pages.

Basically a sequel to New Pompeii, but fifteen years later.

This book is very confusing and leaves this reader at a loss as to what happened to most of the
“present” characters in the intervening fifteen years. There is also a constant shifting of locales from ancient Pompeii and ancient Herculaneum to New Pompeii and present day Naples.

It is very difficult to follow the plot, if there actually is one and the final outcome. I just finished the book minutes ago, and I cannot remember how it ended.

There is also the time shifting device ( which is never fully explained in either book) which can take/move people around in time, but never less than thirty years.

Very confusing.....

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a fantastic book by Daniel Godfrey and published by Titan Books. I read and reviewed the first one, New Pompeii, last year when it released at Titan and it fits perfectly with it. So many things were answered, and also gave new things to think of. I know Godfrey has another book coming out in June 2018 called The Synapse Sequence, and I'm thoroughly hoping it's a third book for this series!

My full review can be found here, and it's way too long to post here!

http://gamerssphere.com/empire-of-tim...

[Steven Poore · Rating 4 out of 5]

In which Dan Godfrey demonstrates mad skills in the post-Crichton thriller genre. The structure is reasonably similar to the first book, flipping between pre-eruption Pompeii and near-future Naples as the plots surrounding Nick Houghton/Pullus become ever more complex and dangerous. Unlike before however, Nick is a less charming protagonist. One character asks him whether he is Nick or Pullus, and in the final chapters Nick finally makes his decision - one that, given the messages from the future, is surely inevitable.

Score: 4 paradoxes out of 5.

[Abi Harvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading New Pompeii last year, I knew I wanted to read more and I did not even realise that a second book was being released until I received an ARC from Titan Books. I would say that you need to have read the first book to understand what is going on, I found it easy to get back into without refreshing myself after a year.

Read more at: http://abisbookreviews.com/2017/06/07...

[Sid Horton · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very disappointed by this book. I really enjoyed New Pompeii, which I thought was clever and generally satisfying. For me, however, Empire of Time really was not successful at all. The multiple time- and plot threads are overly complicated, the characters’ motivations are mostly opaque, and the resolution of sorts left me scratching my head. I still think the overall conceit is intriguing, but this was pretty much a mess.

[Alisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jurassic Park: Roman Edition continues, and I had really high hopes for it after loving the first book so much. Unfortunately for me, this book fell a bit short of the mark for me. I feel like it's partially because I had high expectations, but there's not the same energy and sense of wonder as I had when reading the first book.

You're thrown right back in, and I will admit, I struggled to remember exactly how the previous book had ended so it took me a little bit to settle back in. We jumped 15 years on and I feel like it might have been a bit too big of a time jump. With everything combined together I felt like it was a bit too much and we'd missed a book in the middle.

There's plenty of political intrigue again, Achillia was a badass and I really loved her. I was so fascinated by her and her life! Godfrey really writes the historical aspects and characters fantastically. He really brings history to life and that's what makes these books so believable and realistic. It's my favourite part of the entire book and I'm far more interested in the Romans their lives than Nick, I'm not going to lie.

There's some characters you really love to hate in this book. Harris, who I wanted to throttle. Waldren who was a complete a-hole. Seriously. This book had a rather large quantity of a-hole characters to be honest. Possibly because of all the political manoeuvring and ploys, it's not conducive to nice, friendly characters who all get on!

There's some brilliant plot threads and the different narratives combine and intertwine very well. I enjoyed trying to put the pieces together and being surprised until the very end when it all finally came together so brilliantly. My one issue with this was that I did feel like things became overly complicated at some points, and there where some parts that where slow and a tiny bit boring. I feel like there where some bits that didn't really need to be included to be honest.

All in all, while I did enjoy reading Empire of Time, it fell a bit short for me and didn't live up to the first book. I was genuinely quite devastated by this too as I'd completely loved the first book and it was so original and brilliantly written! A couple of things let this one down, but it still had it's good points too!

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as New Pompeii, seeming to be a bit disjointed. Partly because I had forgotten much that happened in the first novel and partly due to a jump forward in time from New Pompeii. My fault for reading so many books but maybe a brief resume of the initial story might have helped but Empire of Time just didn't gel for me.

Ray Smillie

[Izilen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed by this book. I found the first installment fun if not particularly amazing, but this one felt different — it focuses too much on the protagonist's own personal drama rather than, as I would personally have preferred, the circumstances of New Pompeii and its people. I found the ending hugely unsatisfactory. I was not interested in the deification of one man.

[Rick Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good follow up to New Pompeii. I certainly enjoyed reading it, and was a pretty quick read. I guess my biggest problem with the book was it seems to use time travel as a quick fix/easy solution to any of the problems or situations going on in the book with the major characters.

[Ale · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mean, it ended up being a little more interesting than expected. Characters were just as non-entities as in the first book though, and i pretty much disliked the main character by the end.

Interesting plot that doesn't pan out all that much.

[Leo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely a sequel. Highly recommend reading the first book first: New Pompeii.
This is a page-turner, too, but I was a bit confused at times--it moves fast.
Enjoyable. And left we wondering about a possible trilogy?

[John Anthamatten · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very confusing read. Too much switching times, cities, characters. Never did figure out if there was a plot.

[Loni Ivanovskis · Rating 3 out of 5]

love time travel books

[Fiona Hewlett-parker · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not sure what happened and feelno desire to read it again to work it out.

[jess ~has abandoned GR~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fifteen years have passed since the events of New Pompeii, and Nick Houghton/Decimus Pullus (hereafter referred to as Nickimus for brevity's sake) is the only modern man still living a regular Pompeiian life. [...since everyone else was literally crucified.]



Nickimus is having some trouble in the outside world, as he's grown comfortable in a world of slavery, pedophilia, and recreational torture. (Not that he personally engages in the last two, but he's not exactly advocating for civil rights, either.)



He's pretty much banned from everywhere except Naples, where he occasionally goes in his role as ambassador from New Pompeii, which is essentially a colonial economy dependent on imports. Part of the plot occurs here, as scholars outside of New Pompeii are finding more evidence of NovusPart's meddling in time.

The rest of the story happens inside New Pompeii, where Nickimus is helping/hindering/helping/hindering/ad infinitum Calpurnia's efforts to restart the last remaining NovusPart time machine to rescue her husband from the wreckage of Herculaneum, and give New Pompeii more leverage and power to interact with the rest of the world.

I couldn't put this book down, but it was difficult to follow at times. I suppose that's expected from a book about the inherent paradoxes of time travel. We follow Nickimus through separate, seemingly concurrent plots that I can't place on a timeline, even a week after finishing.

I didn't anticipate the ending, and that's always a big win for me.

It's worth the read, and it's even worth buying.

Considering that I read at least a couple books a week, I simply can't afford to buy all of them, so off to the library I go... but this is on my bookshelf at home. Congrats, Mr. Godfrey, on that prime real estate!

originally posted here.