Tuesday Talk - and Roma Nova Extra by Alison Morton

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So what has Roma Nova, that wonderful series of thrillers set in modern times, based on the idea that Rome had survived, have to do with my interest in the year 1066? Well, one of Ms Morton's stories in her latest book Roma Nova Extra is set in 1066 with the original forming part of the 1066 Turned Upside Down compilation of 'What If' short stories ... (read the others in the collection buy here)

Roma Nova Extra: A collection of short stories from the fourth century to beyond the present for all Alison Morton fans or new readers ... 

Suppose Roma Nova, the last remnant of the old Roman Empire, had struggled through to the 21st century – a tough little country with tough, resourceful people? Apulius, a young tribune sent to a backwater in 370 AD for having the wrong religion, encounters the fiery Julia. What does his lonely descendant, Silvia, labouring in the 1980s to rebuild her country, make of the Italian architect supervising the reconstruction? Can imperial councillor Galla stop the Norman invasion of England in 1066? And will Allegra, her 21st century Praetorian descendant fighting her emotions, find her way to her own happy ending? 

The Girl from the Market AD 370

Lucius Apulius, a young Roman military tribune, is posted to the back end of empire as Rome struggles to keep the barbarians behind the Danube. There, Apulius meets the fiery Julia Bacausa under most unusual circumstances.

Victory Speaks AD 395

In real history, the disappearance of the Altar of Victory is an ancient mystery.

Victory served as the pagan symbol of Rome’s endurance, the guarantor of the empire’s existence. But as the official imperial cult of Christianity swept all before it, Victory’s fate was condemned to historical  obscurity. In the Roma Novan timeline, Victory herself tells us the story of how two senators and a small child step in.

A Roman Intervenes 1066

Galla Mitela, eleventh century imperial councillor, is sent by the imperatrix under pressure from the Eastern Romans of Constantinople to stop William of Normandy invading Saxon England. Could she have succeeded?

(Previously published as part of the 1066 Turned Upside Down collection)

Silvia’s story  1983 (Set just after the end of RETALIO)

Re-building Roma Nova after Caius Tellus’s tyrannical rebellion is pulling on every Roma Novan’s personal strength and resources. Young Imperatrix Silvia devotes herself to her country, but she’s eighteen, exhausted and lonely. Sent by her councillor, Aurelia Mitela, for a few days’ holiday to the spa at Aquae Caesaris, she encounters a young Italian, Andrea Luca.

Games  (Set just after the end of INCEPTIO)

Newly minted Praetorian officer Carina Mitela and her buddy Daniel Stern, a seconded officer from an allied force, love challenges. Dangerous ones. It’s a game to them. But real life gives them a challenge that is anything but a game.

Conrad and Carina’s Roman Holiday  (Set between PERFIDITAS and SUCCESSIO)

Legate Conradus Mitelus, commanding the Praetorian Guard, doesn’t get out in the field very often. Neither does his wife, Carina Mitela, a newly promoted Praetorian major. But a personal quest from the imperatrix sends them on their own ‘Roman holiday’. With a difference.

Saturnalia surprise  (Set after a few years after SUCCESSIO)

When Carina and Conrad’s son Gillius nearly blows himself up just before the Saturnalia winter holiday, he’s sent to Sextilius Gavro, Conrad’s ‘mad inventor’ cousin. Carina is dubious, having met Gavro in New York nearly twenty years before (INCEPTIO), but she is in for several surprises on the first day of Saturnalia.

Allegra and Macrinus  (Set several years after SUCCESSIO)

Highly intelligent, efficient and dedicated to her career in the military, Carina and Conrad’s eldest daughter, Allegra, is losing her grip on her life. Her introverted character prevents her from acknowledging her feelings for a man she has known all her life, let alone doing anything about it. Macrinus has grown up in the Mitela household. His mother was a comrade-in-arms of Aurelia Mitela during the Great Rebellion and tells him Allegra is out of his reach.

Reviews:
"One of the reasons I am enthralled with the Roma Nova series (aside from the skilfully written plots, excellent writing and professional standard of production) is the concept of the whole thing."

"All of them brought different aspects of Roma Novan society from throughout the ages vividly to life, and add further substance to the existing novels, but they'd also work as a stand-alone introduction to the concept of Roma Nova."

"She brings the strict discipline of the Pretorians to life and weaves gripping action into the many field operations and spying sorties,"

"As a disclaimer, I must issue this warning. After reading Roma Nova Extra, you may experience some side effects; such as, the overriding compulsion to reread the Roma Nova series."

The collection is available on Amazon, Kobo, iBooks and Barnes & Noble Nook and in print through your local independent bookshop or favourite online site.

Published by Pulcheria Press

ISBN 9791097310080 (ebook)

ISBN 9791097310103 (print)

buy from Amazon

Alison Morton is the author of Roma Nova thrillers –  INCEPTIO,  PERFIDITAS,  SUCCESSIO,  AURELIA,  INSURRECTIO  and RETALIO.  CARINA, a novella, is available now.  Audiobooks are available for the first four of the series.

Get INCEPTIO, the series starter, FREE as a thank you gift when you sign up to Alison’s monthly email newsletter. You’ll also be first to know about Roma Nova news and book progress before everybody else, and take part in giveaways.