What have the Romans ever done for us… oh okay, not that old joke! But now it seems they have provided the inspiration for Alison Morton’s debut novel Inceptio.
Although I’m a prehistorian I have a soft spot for the Romano-British. They weren’t ‘real’ Romans but our own version of Romans, Britons with a Roman twist! So I was interested to find out about Alison’s alternate history version of ‘real’ Romans and I asked her to tell me about Inceptio.
“Alternate history is based on the idea of “what if”? What if King Harold had won the Battle of Hastings or if Julius Caesar hadn’t been murdered on the Ides of March? The rest of history from that point on takes a different course from the one we know. In my book, Roma Nova, originally a small colony somewhere north of Italy, has evolved into a high tech, financial mini-state which has retained and developed Roman Republican values, but with a twist.”
Sounds fascinating, now give us a taste of Inceptio…
“New York – present day, alternate reality. Karen Brown, angry and frightened after surviving a kidnap attempt, has a harsh choice – be eliminated by government enforcer Jeffery Renschman or flee to the mysterious Roma Nova in Europe. Founded sixteen centuries ago by Roman exiles and ruled by women Roma Nova gives Karen safety, a ready-made family and a new career. But Renschman reaches into her new home and nearly kills her. Recovering, she is desperate to find out why he is hunting her. Unable to rely on anyone else she undergoes intensive training, developing fighting skills and becoming an undercover cop. But crazy with bitterness at his past failures Renschman sets a trap for her – knowing she has no choice but to spring it…”
It sounds a gripping read Alison, I really hope the book launch is a success and your writing career takes off.
You can find INCEPTIO and read an excerpt on Amazon UK and on Amazon US
Read more about Alison, Inceptio, alternate history and writing on alison-morton.com and of course chat with her on Twitter @alison_morton which is where we met.
Thank you very much for having me on your blog today, Nic – very much appreciated.
In my alternate world, the Roma Novans and the British get on well, although they are a little wary of each other, but that’s for book three in the series…