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In the Shadow of Helios: A Novel of the Seven Wonders
Mage Kalandra believes she is leading an ideal life — until she learns her husband died trying to run away with another man’s wife. And now she's plotting revenge on a dead man, with no thought to the consequences for her people or her home …
In a world where Rome never ruled, the Christian religion remained a niche cult, and the Colossus never fell, the islands of the Mediterranean control a trading empire that makes them one of the wealthiest confederations in the world.
On Rodos, one of these islands, Kalandra receives a jasper seal from a simple fisherman, along with news that shatters her world. The revenge she sets in motion not only leads her into the arms of her childhood sweetheart, it puts their whole island nation in peril.
Will she be able to reverse what she has done in time to save Rodos?
In a world where Rome never ruled, the Christian religion remained a niche cult, and the Colossus never fell, the islands of the Mediterranean control a trading empire that makes them one of the wealthiest confederations in the world.
On Rodos, one of these islands, Kalandra receives a jasper seal from a simple fisherman, along with news that shatters her world. The revenge she sets in motion not only leads her into the arms of her childhood sweetheart, it puts their whole island nation in peril.
Will she be able to reverse what she has done in time to save Rodos?
320 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 17, 2022
7 people are currently reading
22 people want to read
About the author
Ruth Nestvold
71 books66 followersRuth Nestvold has published widely in science fiction and fantasy, her fiction appearing in such markets as Asimov’s, F&SF, Baen’s Universe, Strange Horizons, Realms of Fantasy, and Gardner Dozois’s Year’s Best Science Fiction. Her work has been nominated for the Nebula, Tiptree, and Sturgeon Awards. In 2007, the Italian translation of her novella “Looking Through Lace” won the “Premio Italia” award for best international work. Since 2012, she’s been concentrating her efforts on self-publishing rather than traditional publishing, although she does still occasionally sell a story the old-fashioned way. She maintains a web site at http://www.ruthnestvold.com and blogs at https://ruthnestvold.wordpress.com.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 3, 2023
A good alternate history set in the time of the Colossus of Rhodes -- but in an alternate time-line, one where Rome never rose, Greece never fell, and magic works. The protagonist rises to become Archon of Rodos, after a betrayal by her late husband. She and Rodos must prepare for a coming invasion from a nearby kingdom in Anatolia. Plus a hot romance! And the protagonist's boyfriend is an engineer!
Well-written historical fantasy, despite a couple of plot twists that strained my willing suspension of disbelief. I still had fun, and should read more of Nestvold's stuff. I was reminded of some of Gillian Bradshaw's historical novels, though this one is not quite so polished. 3.5 stars, rounded up. Recommended reading for historical-fantasy fans.
I received a promotional e-copy from the author. Fortunately, the generic cover art has little to do with the story. Note that the ebook is available at no charge to KU subscribers at Amazon. Free trial subs are easily available!
Well-written historical fantasy, despite a couple of plot twists that strained my willing suspension of disbelief. I still had fun, and should read more of Nestvold's stuff. I was reminded of some of Gillian Bradshaw's historical novels, though this one is not quite so polished. 3.5 stars, rounded up. Recommended reading for historical-fantasy fans.
I received a promotional e-copy from the author. Fortunately, the generic cover art has little to do with the story. Note that the ebook is available at no charge to KU subscribers at Amazon. Free trial subs are easily available!
March 19, 2022
This was pretty good! I enjoyed the story much more than I thought I would in the first couple of chapters.
The book starts out with a slightly confusing interaction between Kalandra, the wife of the ruler (or “Archon”) of the city of Rodos, and a messenger telling her that her husband is presumed dead. I’m not sure exactly how she deduced that he was attempting to run away with a rival city’s ruler’s wife, but perhaps there was more to the conversation that was presented in the story? I had to reread that part a few times before just accepting that somehow she got that message and we didn’t. It didn’t make for a good start to the book.
We then move into a few nights of basically just sex scenes. I don’t mind explicit scenes in romance novels, but I guess I wasn’t expecting that from this book? It was a bit of a surprise. I wondered if that was just the kind of book I was in for and pressed on.
After the explicit stuff was out of the way, the story became much more interesting. We are immersed into the politics and culture of Rodos and become pretty invested in seeing this drama play out between Rodos and the neighboring city/kingdom. I loved the magical elements woven into the area’s culture and the way Kalandra battled internally with the morality of what she has done and will do to affect her city. This was no Game of Thrones with selfish deception and sneaky alliances.
I could’ve done with a more engaging and less confusing first few chapters, but all in all it was simply a good book.
The book starts out with a slightly confusing interaction between Kalandra, the wife of the ruler (or “Archon”) of the city of Rodos, and a messenger telling her that her husband is presumed dead. I’m not sure exactly how she deduced that he was attempting to run away with a rival city’s ruler’s wife, but perhaps there was more to the conversation that was presented in the story? I had to reread that part a few times before just accepting that somehow she got that message and we didn’t. It didn’t make for a good start to the book.
We then move into a few nights of basically just sex scenes. I don’t mind explicit scenes in romance novels, but I guess I wasn’t expecting that from this book? It was a bit of a surprise. I wondered if that was just the kind of book I was in for and pressed on.
After the explicit stuff was out of the way, the story became much more interesting. We are immersed into the politics and culture of Rodos and become pretty invested in seeing this drama play out between Rodos and the neighboring city/kingdom. I loved the magical elements woven into the area’s culture and the way Kalandra battled internally with the morality of what she has done and will do to affect her city. This was no Game of Thrones with selfish deception and sneaky alliances.
I could’ve done with a more engaging and less confusing first few chapters, but all in all it was simply a good book.
June 6, 2022
This is an alternate history of one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world - The Colossus of Rhodes. In this alternate history the colossus has survived, at least partly due to magic. In this story the Archon, who is the leader of Rhodes (called Rodos) is killed, apparently running away with another mans wife, thereby putting the whole island in jeopardy. The Archons wife, the mage Kalandra, receives the news by a rather circuitous route, and instead of immediately setting in motion ways to save her people, keeps quiet and plots revenge on her "dead" husband, allowing that there is a bit of doubt about both his death and their circumstances. Once the truth is revealed, there is a mad dash to ready Rodis for war, which if the death had been known of earlier would have put Rodis in a better position. This was a very compelling story, and I found it very hard to put down. I read an ARC of In the Shadow of Helios
-SUSAN M.
-SUSAN M.
July 30, 2023
Very interesting story surrounding the Coloss of Rhodos, in a different timeline from ours, with magic and heroes who are very human and make mistakes along the way but pull through in the end. I enjoyed reading it and would like to read more stories in this world.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews