Eagles in the East SHORT story (Eagles of Rome series):

Eagles of Rome #4.5

by Ben Kane

PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A SHORT STORY, NOT A FULL LENGTH NOVEL. ABOUT THE SHORT STORY’S Hello, you lovely people. Odd to talk about money straight up, but I know that some of you might be thinking, £1.99/US$2.99/CDN$3.99/A$3.99 is a lot for a short story. Let me explain how it works in the UK. A rate of 20% VAT (Value Added Tax) applies to eBooks. This doesn’t apply to ‘real’ paper books. That means 33p of the £1.99 goes straight to the British government. Amazon takes around 2p to deliver the story to your Kindle, then takes another 48p as its cut. The remainder, £1.16, goes to me. That's not a great deal, I hope you agree. A roughly similar story applies in foreign territories. In these times of falling sales, and authors losing their contracts, and only one in seven traditionally published authors being able to write fulltime, stories like this are a vital way of YOU supporting the authors whose books you enjoy. So THANK YOU for your support! Think of it in terms of a pint of beer or a cup of they cost £2-4, depending on where you live in the UK. This story will give you more enjoyment (I think!) than either of those things, and last for a longer time, and cost you less money. This is the third time I have self-published a short story. (Massive thanks here to Pete Simpson, who designed the cover for me!) It’s been an exciting project since the day I did the poll on Facebook, asking you lovely people which of my characters you wanted me to write about. Centurion Tullus won out, narrowly, and this is the result. The one hundred and something people who backed the Kickstarter campaign got to read this story almost 7 months ago, but now you can too. Oh, what's it about? The war of the Batos, or the Pannonian War, which took place between AD 6 and 9, a general emergency that had almost 100.000 legionaries sent to modern-day Croatia to sort out the rebels. Enjoy the story, and please email me if you have any questions about it or anything else – ben@benkane.net Ben

Genres: Historical Fiction

128 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 8, 2020

About the author

Ben Kane is a bestselling Roman author and former veterinarian. He was born in Kenya and grew up in Ireland (where his parents are from). He has traveled widely and is a lifelong student of military history in general, and Roman history in particular. He lives in North Somerset, England, with his family.

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novella centers around one of my favorite centurions, Tullus. It takes place around 7 AD when he was still a part of the Eighteenth Legion. Long story short, (pun intended!), he winds up in Illyricum with Optio Fenestela and some new recruits.

It wouldn't be a proper Tullus story without two things: 1. An assinine superior officer, and 2. A hair-raising battle. Happily these requirements have been met ;)

This is one of two short stories in this series that I was able to purchase in the U.S. Kindle store; he mentions others in the Author notes, but I can't seem to get them here in America. Maybe they are only available in the U.K.

This was a good addition to the series!

[José Herculano Paulo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ben Kane is about the most believable author of ancient Roman stories, and Tullus is my favorite character. This story is a pleasure to read, and adds some layers to Tullus' character development. Very enjoyable.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

How does the writer not have a US publisher !
I’ve read all his books and he writes of ancient battles and politics like he lived them! Excellent writer!!!!!

[Cathygillespie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent story by master researcher and storyteller about his and my favourite centurion Tullus and his faithful optio Fenestela and their time in the legions. This time the pair find themselves trying to train a group of raw conscripts for the campaign in Panonnia in AD 6 and 7, dealing with unruly tribesmen, an obnoxious tribune called Nepos and his unfortunate victim Vindocomus. At this time Tullus and Fenestela were in the XVIII legion stationed at Vetera but were ordered to Illyricum to help put down rebellion. As ever the army details ring true in Ben Kane’s books and no characters seem superfluous. It is very hard to put this story down once you start it so perhaps it’s good that it’s only a short story, but I always want stories about Tullus, Fenestela and the legions to go on forever. If you don’t know Ben Kane’s work you are in for a treat if you like ancient Roman fiction, and if you do know him you’ll want the story to keep going to see “what happens next.”

Thank you Ben Kane.

[Gareth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bad short story. Ben Kane once again pulls you into the Roman empire and smashes you face first into battle! This one revolves around Centurian Tullus as he trains new conscripts in the way of being in the legion, culminating in a huge battle scene as standard! There is one very satisfying point where a certain Tribune gets what's coming to him, something i wanted to see happen to Tubero so bad in the main series!

Not a bad short story, i don't normally like prequels but this was a satisfying, well written story. Good.

[Tom Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, but not too short, great story of Tullus. Very good read

If you've followed Ben Kane and read the Eagles series then you know if the character of Tullus, a Roman Centurion. He is a heroic character, very likable. This story deals with him detached from his post in modern day Germany to fight in a temporary campaign in modern day Croatia. Really good story line and characters. Very much recommended.

[Martin Rea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cant believe I'm just getting round to reading this now!! Pleased to say I donated to the kick-starter and get a wee mention at the end of the book with all the others. Fantastic story yet again, didn't want it to end.

[David Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tatty Tullus

Lots of battle action, soldier comradship ,and some humour thrown in. What's not to like. Bring it on, Roman Centurian Tullus.

[Donald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Roman Legionary

Action, history, Roman military and more. Well written plot with very good characters. An exciting read as well as an educational read.

[Daniel Callaghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always enjoy the tullus stories

Another good read from ben kane. Its a shame there isn't scope for any more full books on tullus n

[Nigel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good read for a short story. Continues with Tully’s and friends so doesn’t really need much to introduce the main characters leaving their adventure as the main part of the story.

[Bart · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,0 ⭐️

[Ray Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tullus rides again.

Always great to have another episode in The life of Tullus and this short story ( long short) is no exception. Ben Kane weaves a great tale of his eponymous hero and leavess the reader enthralled