Customer Reviews

Interregnum

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I enjoyed SJA Turney's first book, Marius' Mules. Interregnum, his second book, is fantastic. Mr Turney is brilliant. He has turned his passion for Rome and ability to write into an exciting fictional story that feels like the fall of Rome. He draws the reader in from the first pages using strong characaters like General Kiva Tregaron, and a glorius cause: To rebuild the fallen Empire. The twists and turns that this story takes, a lesser author would not try. But Mr Turney holds every detail together without seams. The reader is not just watching the story unfold, the reader feels a part of it all.
An excellent book. I was thrilled to learn Mr Turney has another book in the Interregnum line on the way soon.

An enjoyable story, well written and engaging. The author developed a very compelling tale with enough similarity to the later Roman Empire that a reader with a historical bent will find familiar. The characters were well developed and their motivations very relatable. The main antagonist was well developed and more than a one note villian. A good book, I'll be ordering more by the author.

One thing that annoyed me was the way the heros seemed able to suffer horrific wounds and not only survive but bounce back within hours. I also noticed the use of the word "floor" repeatedly when "ground" would have been more suitable. How do people "fall to the floor" outdoors in the middle of a field or drop a shield "on the floor" while on a battlefield?... strange....almost as if the book was written in a different language and then poorly translated. Not a great effort but an interesting concept and reasonable escapism for $2.99...could have definetely used the services of a good editor