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Empress of Rome #2
Nest of Vipers
Rome is bathed in blood as the Emperor Tiberius is tormented by drug-fuelled terrors of treason. The innocent are butchered while the guilty do evil in darkness. None are guiltier than the Emperor's devoted and deluded 'son,' Sejanus. In this city of poison three beautiful women are locked in a lethal rivalry. Agrippina—driven mad with grief, her obsession with revenge for her murdered husband imperiling the lives of her children. Apicata—robbed of her eyes and embittered in her heart, she schemes in the shadows to empower the husband who despises her. Livilla—sensual and sly, she is gripped by a lust for a lover as deadly as he is desirable. Three women. One goal. Who will be Empress of Rome? Moving stealthily among them is Iphicles, arch schemer and slave, whose haunted heart is lightened by the eunuch Lygdus, his willing apprentice in murder. With paralyzed Livia now a helpless captive to her slave, it is the repellent brat Little Boots' turn to profit from prophecy. But as Iphicles' deadly plan to enthrone Little Boots unfolds, Livia struggles secretly towards recovery with the help of the sorceress Martina. Rome is a nest of vipers, and Livia, the one true Empress of Rome, is hell bent on wreaking her vengeance.
480 pages, Paperback
First published June 21, 2010
1 person is currently reading
114 people want to read
About the author
Luke Devenish
4 books55 followersLuke Devenish lives with his partner and pets in the historic town of Castlemaine, in the heart of the beautiful Goldfields region of Victoria, Australia. Originally from Western Australia, where he often returns, Luke grew up in the Perth Hills where he attended Eastern Hills Senior High School and Curtin University in the 1980s. He moved to Melbourne to pursue writing opportunities in 1988 and has lived in Victoria since.
Luke’s ‘Empress of Rome’ historical fiction novels are an international publishing success. Book 1, ‘Den of Wolves’, was first published in Australia and New Zealand in 2008, before being released in the United States and Canada, and later translated into Spanish, Serbian, Russian and Turkish editions. Book 2, ‘Nest of Vipers’, was released in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand in 2010, with non-English language editions following in 2011.
Before writing novels, Luke wrote for television. From 2001 to the end of 2007 he held key creative roles including Script Producer, Story Editor and Supervising Script Editor on the long-running Australian TV drama series, Neighbours. Luke oversaw 1,500 episode scripts for the internationally broadcast serial, creating dozens of much loved characters and long-running storylines. He represented Neighbours at the UK National Television Awards in London and spoke about its ongoing success at drama industry conferences in Cologne and Amsterdam. He also appeared in a series of behind-the-scenes programs about the show made for BBC 3. Before joining Neighbours, Luke was Script Executive on Something in the Air and, as Assistant Commissioning Editor for Drama with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, he worked in the writing and development of SeaChange, RAW FM and other television series. He has also written for Home & Away.
Luke Devenish is also a playwright. Working at Melbourne’s St Martins Youth Arts Centre in the late 80s and early 90s, Luke’s plays were regularly staged for the Melbourne Fringe Festival. Productions of his work then went on to be commissioned by Melbourne’s Playbox Theatre, the Adelaide Festival, the Sydney Festival, the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts and the National Institute for Dramatic Arts, among others. Luke returned to the theatre in 2010, adapting (with Louise Fox) Dario Fo’s ‘Elizabeth: Almost By Chance a Woman’ for Melbourne’s Malthouse Theatre. This adaptation was also staged by the Queensland Theatre Company in 2012.
Luke was a student of Curtin University’s creative writing stream in the mid-80s, studying fiction under renowned novelists Elizabeth Jolley and Tim Winton. In 2008 he appeared in an ABC TV documentary, IOU Elizabeth Jolley, where he spoke about his creative debt to the late author. Luke is now a lecturer himself, having taught creative writing subjects for the Australian Film Television & Radio School, the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University, Monash University and the National Institute of Dramatic Arts. Since 2013 Luke has lectured and coordinated 1st Year undergraduates of the Bachelor of Fine Arts Screenwriting degree at the University of Melbourne's Victorian College of the Arts - a job he loves.
When he’s not writing or lecturing, Luke spends his time gardening, reading, travelling, cooking, watching, talking and listening.
Luke’s ‘Empress of Rome’ historical fiction novels are an international publishing success. Book 1, ‘Den of Wolves’, was first published in Australia and New Zealand in 2008, before being released in the United States and Canada, and later translated into Spanish, Serbian, Russian and Turkish editions. Book 2, ‘Nest of Vipers’, was released in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand in 2010, with non-English language editions following in 2011.
Before writing novels, Luke wrote for television. From 2001 to the end of 2007 he held key creative roles including Script Producer, Story Editor and Supervising Script Editor on the long-running Australian TV drama series, Neighbours. Luke oversaw 1,500 episode scripts for the internationally broadcast serial, creating dozens of much loved characters and long-running storylines. He represented Neighbours at the UK National Television Awards in London and spoke about its ongoing success at drama industry conferences in Cologne and Amsterdam. He also appeared in a series of behind-the-scenes programs about the show made for BBC 3. Before joining Neighbours, Luke was Script Executive on Something in the Air and, as Assistant Commissioning Editor for Drama with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, he worked in the writing and development of SeaChange, RAW FM and other television series. He has also written for Home & Away.
Luke Devenish is also a playwright. Working at Melbourne’s St Martins Youth Arts Centre in the late 80s and early 90s, Luke’s plays were regularly staged for the Melbourne Fringe Festival. Productions of his work then went on to be commissioned by Melbourne’s Playbox Theatre, the Adelaide Festival, the Sydney Festival, the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts and the National Institute for Dramatic Arts, among others. Luke returned to the theatre in 2010, adapting (with Louise Fox) Dario Fo’s ‘Elizabeth: Almost By Chance a Woman’ for Melbourne’s Malthouse Theatre. This adaptation was also staged by the Queensland Theatre Company in 2012.
Luke was a student of Curtin University’s creative writing stream in the mid-80s, studying fiction under renowned novelists Elizabeth Jolley and Tim Winton. In 2008 he appeared in an ABC TV documentary, IOU Elizabeth Jolley, where he spoke about his creative debt to the late author. Luke is now a lecturer himself, having taught creative writing subjects for the Australian Film Television & Radio School, the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University, Monash University and the National Institute of Dramatic Arts. Since 2013 Luke has lectured and coordinated 1st Year undergraduates of the Bachelor of Fine Arts Screenwriting degree at the University of Melbourne's Victorian College of the Arts - a job he loves.
When he’s not writing or lecturing, Luke spends his time gardening, reading, travelling, cooking, watching, talking and listening.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 12, 2010
NEST OF VIPERS is the second book in the Empress of Rome series. Author Luke Devenish has a resume that seems to hint at an ability to build a fantasy world. A novelist, screenwriter, playwright and Lecturer, Devenish was a Script Producer with Neighbours and a writer on Home and Away. Ancient Rome in Devenish's hands is a complicated, gory, deadly, lustful, obsessive place full of elaborate and complicated characters (maybe that's where the Neighbours and Home and Away comparisons have to stop...although I'd expect that comment's going to get me more hate mail).
NEST OF VIPERS comes with a media release opening line of "Sex, Murder and Intrigue in Ancient Rome", and that's about the right order if you look at it as a list of ingredients.
Devenish has built an incredibly detailed, rich version of Ancient Rome, an astounding place, populated by an equally astounding number of quite unpleasant characters. The three main characters in this book - locked in a lethal rivalry are not above using anybody or anything to advance their own causes. But it is not just Agrippina, Apicata and Livilla who are manoeuvring, there are equally elaborate machinations going on amongst the slave populations of Rome and within the male leadership group.
Not having read the first book of this series definitely seemed to leave me at somewhat of a loss as I struggled to work out who was who, what sides everyone was on and where the relationships and power-bases fitted together.
Aside from that slight confusion it has to be said - there are elements of the sex and violence in this book that aren't for the faint hearted. This is a no holds barred use of sex, violence, manipulation, cruelty and intrigue that people more used to a slightly less confrontational version of Ancient Rome might find a little unpalatable. Having said that, there's quite a feeling of reality, albeit a very unpalatable reality, about the society in which NEST OF VIPERS takes place.
I will confess to not being much of a fan of Ancient Rome epics, and there were some aspects of NEST OF VIPERS that gave me a few problems - it seemed that the sex and sexual violence was dwelt upon, almost revelled in a little too much, and to be frank, I got hopelessly lost in the names of people for a while until I finally managed to get it all straight in my own aging brain. The Empress of Rome series would definitely, however, be a set of books for any reader who loves this period of time, and is comfortable with some overt sexual violence, manipulation and confrontation in their historical worlds.
NEST OF VIPERS comes with a media release opening line of "Sex, Murder and Intrigue in Ancient Rome", and that's about the right order if you look at it as a list of ingredients.
Devenish has built an incredibly detailed, rich version of Ancient Rome, an astounding place, populated by an equally astounding number of quite unpleasant characters. The three main characters in this book - locked in a lethal rivalry are not above using anybody or anything to advance their own causes. But it is not just Agrippina, Apicata and Livilla who are manoeuvring, there are equally elaborate machinations going on amongst the slave populations of Rome and within the male leadership group.
Not having read the first book of this series definitely seemed to leave me at somewhat of a loss as I struggled to work out who was who, what sides everyone was on and where the relationships and power-bases fitted together.
Aside from that slight confusion it has to be said - there are elements of the sex and violence in this book that aren't for the faint hearted. This is a no holds barred use of sex, violence, manipulation, cruelty and intrigue that people more used to a slightly less confrontational version of Ancient Rome might find a little unpalatable. Having said that, there's quite a feeling of reality, albeit a very unpalatable reality, about the society in which NEST OF VIPERS takes place.
I will confess to not being much of a fan of Ancient Rome epics, and there were some aspects of NEST OF VIPERS that gave me a few problems - it seemed that the sex and sexual violence was dwelt upon, almost revelled in a little too much, and to be frank, I got hopelessly lost in the names of people for a while until I finally managed to get it all straight in my own aging brain. The Empress of Rome series would definitely, however, be a set of books for any reader who loves this period of time, and is comfortable with some overt sexual violence, manipulation and confrontation in their historical worlds.
Displaying 1 of 1 review