Interregnum [Paperback]

S.J.A. Turney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 14, 2009

Genre: Historical Fantasy / Low Fantasy (Tales of the Empire book 1)

For twenty years civil war has torn the Empire apart; the Imperial line extinguished as the mad Emperor Quintus burned in his palace, betrayed by his greatest general. Against a background of war, decay, poverty and violence, men who once served in the proud Imperial army now fight as mercenaries, hiring themselves to the greediest lords.

On a hopeless battlefield that same general, now a mercenary captain tortured by the events of his past, stumbles across hope in the form of a young man begging for help. Kiva is forced to face more than his dark past as he struggles to put his life and the very Empire back together. The last scion of the Imperial line will change Kiva forever.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

Please note that the Tales of the Empire series is a work of fantasy and not Roman historical fiction.

Product Details

• Paperback: 444 pages
• Publisher: YouWriteOn; 1st edition (May 14, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1849238707
• ISBN-13: 978-1849238700
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #593,633 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I live with my wife, my son and two (close approximations of) dogs in rural North Yorkshire, where my wife and I both grew up, surrounded by friends and family. A born and bred Yorkshireman with a love of country, I cannot envisage spending my life anywhere else, though my anchor is sometimes tested as the wanderlust hits and we travel wherever I can find the breathtaking remains of the classical world. I have a love of travel and history, architecture and writing and those four interact well enough to keep me almost permanently busy.

Since leaving school and University, I have tried a great number of careers, including car sales, insurance, software engineering, computer network management, civil service and even paint ing and decorating sales. I have lived in four counties and travelled as widely as time and budget allowed and find myself, on the cusp of my fortieth year, back where I began and finally doing something I love.

Having written a number of unpublished short stories in my early days, I decided back in 2003 to try and write a full length novel. That was the start of Marius' Mules. Being a lover of Roman history, I decided to combine my love of writing and my love of classical history. Marius' Mules was followed two years later by Interregnum, my attempt to create a new fantasy story still with a heavy flavour of Rome. Since then, the success and popularity of both have inflated my head so that I can no longer comfortably fit through doors, and has spawned a sequel to each work, with a third in the fantasy series being released within the month.

As well as my own website at http://www.sjaturney.co.uk I maintain a website detailing the Roman sites I visit and photograph at http://www.roman-sites.com, and blog at http://sjat.wordpress.com. I am an almost terminally chatty person. That's just a due warning if you feel like contacting me (via my website.) I am always happy to speak to people and have just put together an FAQ gathered together from things I have been asked previously.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not a tale of our Rome, but enjoyable, with hidden complexity!, December 26, 2009

By 

xsquid "Bob" (Pennsylvania, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Interregnum (Paperback)

As a fan of Roman history and fiction I thought, for some reason, I had stumbled onto something related to late Western Empire but which was in fact a novel of someone else's late Empire. Please note this is not fantasy as it does not contain any common fantasy elements, rather it is truly written as a historical novel, just not our history. At best I would equate this to R.F. Tapsell's, The Year of the HorseTails, a novel of an invasion by horse nomads somewhere in someone's steppes. You know where it should belong but the time and geography are quite different. Regardless of this misconception it is easy to dive into and move along. The basic premise is 20 years after an internal civil war, the Empire is fragmented and ruled by mostly self serving Lords. A young man stumbles into the encampment of a weary mercenary company and the lives of all involved change. What makes this story interesting is the author is not afraid to take his characters into difficult situations and kill them off or suddenly push them into the forefront of the story. Perhaps this is where I stumbled from 5 stars to 4 stars. Main characters where sometimes a little two dimensional and you could sense their fate, other lesser characters later become driving characters and you felt you really didn't know them very well. Then the author confuses you and produces an awesome conflicted character such as Sabian. Overall the book did move and often in directions you would not expect. This is a good thing! There were a few minor editing issues, very occasional spelling and in one case a reference to "spread his hands" when the character lost his hand a few months before; but, nothing which detracts from the story. Overall I enjoyed the story and this encouraged me to read Marius' Mules by the same author. I look forward to seeing more from Mr Turney.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Story, needs to fire his editor, August 29, 2011

By 

Colt Guthridge (Henderson, Tennessee USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Interregnum (Paperback)

I found this book to be enjoyable, with good characters and plot development. However, there are many instances of incorrect words and poor sentence structure that can at times take the reader out of the story. Had these mistakes been resolved I would have given this book 4 stars, as it truly does have a captivating story.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars interregnum, December 5, 2010

By 

philip bridgeman (Perth, Western Australia, AU) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Interregnum (Paperback)

i like this author and the story he tells. i have read all 3 of his books in this series. the first one was best the second ( this one second best) the 3rd one is third best in my opinion. but after saying that - all are good and i have enjoyed them all.