THE PATH OF CHAOS
by Tom Haward
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Dystopian Alternate History
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
It
is the year 2030, and the Roman Empire never fell. Emperor Nero II rules half
the world, but half the world is not enough for the unpredictable Emperor.
Britannia
is a Roman outpost. London Bridge is lined with crucified bodies. The streets
are patrolled by soldiers in high-speed, horseless chariots. Nero views
Britannia as a vital but fractious asset for his planned invasion of the
Republic of Indigenous America.
Boatman
King was born out of rage. A rage that propels him to try and destroy the
Empire. He’s not alone: he leads clandestine rebels fighting to drive the
Empire from Britannia. These rebels are his weapon, which he hopes will obliterate
Nero and the entire Empire.
Rebellion,
though, comes at a steep price. Olivia, Boatman’s wife, is caught and crucified
on London Bridge by Nero’s son, Maximus, who is intent on flushing Boatman from
hiding.
Instead,
Maximus draws Maverick ‘The Beast’ Kirabo, Boatman’s fearsome
second-in-command, a champion gladiator who now fights for Rome’s dismay, not
their entertainment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt One:
“Soldier Gallus
and Soldier Marius, I need you to accompany me to my home.” Both soldiers
saluted and followed Faust to his chariot. Faust climbed on and sat down at the
rear. Gallus remained standing whilst Marius fired the engine. The bulletproof
glass roof closed over the soldiers’ heads and sealed the chariot. They sped
off away from London Bridge going south to Augustus Park where Faust’s house
was situated.
Within fifteen
minutes Faust was striding through his front door, gun drawn and Gallus and
Marius flanking. The town house had three floors, six bedrooms in total and an
airy, open-plan ground floor. Each soldier took a floor and searched. They
quickly cleared the rooms, finding no-one present and nothing out of the
ordinary to report.
They convened
in the kitchen, and Faust holstered his gun.
“Maybe we beat
them to it?” said Marius.
Faust grunted
and didn’t bother to respond. He knew something wasn’t right in the house but
could quite place it. He needed to walk through and check it off. He’d only
searched the ground floor but something didn’t make sense.
“I need you
both to stand guard outside. Anyone so much as approaches the house
suspiciously I want you to shoot them. If anyone is allowed access to the house
without my permission, I will crucify you both upside down. Understand?”
Both men nodded
and saluted and left the house to take sentry out the front.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please describe a pivotal scene in your book and why it's important.
The Path of Chaos revolves around many different characters
perception of power and what makes that power so important. For some it’s simply
to have power for power’s sake; for others it’s so appear important in spite of
their inadequacies; for one person in the novel power is a gateway to escape.
That’s where Titus comes in. Titus is the Commander of
Britannia, that is, he’s the General overseeing Roman occupation of the
country. He hates London though. He believed his posting was going to propel
him to something much greater in the Empire but instead he feels trapped by a
place he sees as dreary and uninspiring. With this in mind, Titus decided to
betray the Empire and seek to escape.
Culmination of events makes Titus believe his life might be disposable
anyway, so he decides to pre-empt any potential problems that might come his
way.
This moment in the book is important because it acts as a
catalyst for other events but also highlights the chaos which whirls around the
lives of most of the characters. Men and women who almost gravitate toward
chaos and, in turn, create more chaos in their paths. Titus is the highest
ranking soldier in Britannia but feels the weight of his vulnerability when in
the presence of Emperor Nero II and this is, to me, really important to
understanding the volatility of the world I have created, because it’s very
similar to the world we currently inhabit.
Even though The Path of Chaos is filled with live streamed crucifixions and guns and swords, the constant struggle for power that can so easily be taken away is reminiscent of governments around the world. Titus believes he’s the most powerful man in Britannia but that appears to crumble in moments for him and I feel that’s a key message in the book.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Tom was born in Essex and at 4 months old he and his identical twin were adopted into an oyster farming family. Tom now runs the business as generation eight of Haward oyster farmers. He has a fiancée, baby daughter and a cockapoo.
Tom has an MA in Creative Writing and has loved telling stories
since he was a child, whether verbally or through prose.
The Path of Chaos is his debut novel. He is also working on a six
episode comedy screenplay and tweets passionately about his family’s industry
and the challenges it faces.
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5350971.Tom_Haward
https://m.facebook.com/tomhawardauthor/
https://cinnabarmothliterarycollections.com/contributing_authors/tom-haward/
https://www.instagram.com/hawardtom/
https://www.amazon.com/Path-Chaos-Tom-Haward-ebook/dp/B0BVG8H9MY/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY
The
author will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thank you for hosting!
ReplyDeleteThe blurb and excerpt sound really interesting.
ReplyDeleteThe book sounds very interesting.
ReplyDeleteGreat blurb and excerpt
ReplyDelete