Ancient Historical Fiction

Rome has a new emperor; a strong emperor. Septimius Severus, a lion of the battlefield, now moves east to face the usurper Pescennius Niger, contesting with a clever opponent with the ultimate prize in the balance: the throne of Rome. But with civil war raging all across the East, problems abound. One of the frumentarii, the emperor's military agents, has gone missing in Arabia, and with him has gone a list of the service's personnel.

A SONG OF WAR Troy: city of gold, gatekeeper of the east, haven of the god-born and the lucky, a city destined to last a thousand years. But the Fates have other plans—the Fates, and a woman named Helen. In the shadow of Troy's gates, all must be reborn in the greatest war of the ancient world...

When best friends Dak Smyth and Sera Froste stumble upon the secret of time travel - a hand-held device known as the Infinity Ring - they're swept up in a centuries-long secret war for the fate of mankind. Recruited by the Hystorians, a secret society that dates back to Aristotle, the kids learn that history has gone disastrously off course. Now it's up to Dak, Sera, and teenage Hystorian-in-training Riq to travel back in time to fix the Great Breaks . . . and to save Dak's missing parents while they're at it.

Rome - 97 BC. Quintus Sertorius is now serving as a legate in Greece. It's supposed to be a peacetime mission, but quickly Sertorius discovers there is more happening beneath the peaceful veneer of democracy's birthplace. Roman citizens are disappearing. Whispers are spreading that there is a force operating in the shadows bent on Rome's destruction.

The Byzantine empire is fading. Sick with corruption and complacency that paralyses its once mighty people, assailed from within and without by those who seek to feast upon its riches. The emperor is dying, the empress is ageing, and rebellion threatens in the heart of their homelands. The last hope of the eternal empire might lie with a disgraced foreign mercenary. Harald Hardrada fears nothing but failure or dishonour. For eight years he has faithfully served the heirs of Caesar, but has failed in his goal to earn the riches and reputation he needs to reclaim the throne of Norway.

AD 916. In the Orkney Isles, a young woman flees her home to save the life of her unborn child. Eighteen years later, a witch foretells that evil from her past is reaching out again to threaten her son. Outlawed from his home in Iceland, Einar Unnsson is thrown on the mercy of his Uncle, the infamous Jarl Thorfinn 'Skull Cleaver' of Orkney. He joins forces with a Norse-Irish princess and a company of wolfskin-clad warriors to become a player in a deadly game for control of the Irish sea.

“Captivating...Mah channels Kennedy and brings postwar Paris to life with exquisite detail and insight.” -- People From the bestselling author of The Lost Vintage, a rare and dazzling portrait of Jacqueline Bouvier’s college year abroad in postwar Paris, an intimate and electrifying story...

*LONGLISTED FOR THE 2023 CAROL SHIELDS PRIZE FOR FICTION* An epic, boundary-pushing tale of five young women rebelling against an era that relies on their submission, from the acclaimed author of Etta and Otto and Russell and James. During the golden age of the Roman Empire, five girls enjoy a...

This is the story of the young Theseus: Prince of Troizen, King of Eleusis and Athens, and slayer of the Minotaur. Acclaimed novelist Mary Renault weaves myth, legend, history, and fiction into the story of a young hero's search for his destiny and the countless challenges he faces. From Theseus's early life as a prince, to his leadership of a captive team of bulldancers in Crete—not to mention his thrilling encounters with Poseidon—The King Must Die captures the full force of adventure, battle, and an epic quest.

By the Rivers of Babylon presents the early life of the prophet Ezekiel, from his childhood to his service in the Temple to the Babylonian Captivity, where he was enslaved among the exiles along the River Chebar.

Together, Justinian and Theodora reach for greatness, albeit in different areas: Justinian aims to simplify thousands of old Roman laws into one codex, as well as reconquer Rome and other lands lost to barbarians. Theodora longs to close the chasm between two religious beliefs, establish significant rights for women, and ensure that the Justinian-Theodora bloodline continues.

Meet the greatest Greek general you've never heard of: Philopoemen. In his day, a leader as skilled and as dangerous as Hannibal: a ferocious fighter, a superb general, and credited as the inventor of modern 'special operations'. More importantly, he was a brilliant political leader. He commanded Greek forces at the turn of the third century BC, when mighty Rome, fresh from the destruction of Carthage, and Imperial Macedon, the greatest power of the day, chose Greece as their battlefield.

When Nic, a slave in the mines outside of Rome, is forced to enter a sealed cavern containing the lost treasures of Julius Caesar, he finds much more than gold and gemstones: He discovers an ancient bulla, an amulet that belonged to the great Caesar and is filled with a magic once reserved for the Gods - magic some Romans would kill for.

Assyria, in the reign of Ashurbanipal. For Aurya and her daydreaming brother, Sharo, every day is a struggle for survival, as they dodge the beatings of their drunken father and scrabble for scraps of food. One violent evening, everything changes. Soon, they are on the barge of King Ashurbanipal, bound for the beautiful, near-mythical city of Nineveh.

The great Parthian Civil War is over, leaving behind an empire exhausted by years of bloodshed. But no sooner have hostilities ended than Armenia, the client state of Rome, declares war on the empire and unleashes its army against Parthia. Even Dura’s mighty army cannot stave off a series of defeats as the enemies of Parthia circle the empire like hungry wolves. And Pacorus knows that Marcus Licinius Crassus is also marching east to extend Rome’s rule from the Euphrates to the Indus and enslave the whole of Parthia.

Raised like sisters, Mariamne and Salome are indulged with riches, position, and learning-a rare thing for females in Jerusalem. But Mariamne has a further gift: an illness has left her with visions; she has the power of prophecy. It is her prophesying that drives the two girls to flee to Egypt...

They were born in the middle of a battle, into a world at war. And from their first moments of life, twins Satyrus and Melitta were fighting for survival. Their father, a Greek mercenary, was cut down not long after they had taken their first breath; their Scythian mother was cruelly murdered when they were still children.

The only survivor of a brutal battle, driven by a desperate need to see his family again.... Rome, 107 BC. Quintus Sertorius fought while the enemy slaughtered 90,000 of his brethren in the city’s bloodiest defeat. Battling night terrors and survivor’s guilt, he vows to preserve his beloved Rome and embarks on a covert mission deep into enemy territory. Sertorius grows his beard and disguises himself in the garb of a Gaul, all the while his stomach churns with fear of discovery. But in order to gain vital information about the invaders, he must sink deeper into their ranks.

"A DELICIOUS HIGH-STAKES ADVENTURE." —PEOPLE MAGAZINE Perfect for fans of Victoria Aveyard and Holly Black, The Kinder Poison is an enthralling fantasy adventure that follows a teenage girl chosen to be the human sacrifice in a deadly game between three heirs who will do anything for the crown...

In a magnificent, war-torn world cut by soaring red canyons, an evil ruler launches a search for a mystical artifact that he hopes will bring him ultimate power - an ancient witch’s pot that reputedly contains the trapped soul of the most powerful witch ever to have lived. The aged healer Tocho has to stop him, but to do it he must ally himself with the bitter and broken witch hunter, Maicoh, whose only goal is achieving one last great kill.