#bookreview ~ Dark Betrayal #Histfic @Oldbrookender

Dark Betrayal

(Divided Empire Book 2)

Brian Kitchen

Britain, February 392 AD.

Flavius Vitulasius is at his father’s villa in Ad Trivonam when he receives a letter from his boss, Aulus, informing him of his latest mission.

Flavius is a former soldier who is now a Magistriani. He works with his friend Siward.

The Roman Empire is on the brink of civil war.

The Western Roman Emperor Valentinian has died in mysterious circumstance following a long running dispute with the commanding general of his army, Arbogastes, a Frank.

It is feared that Arbogastes has a candidate he will install on the Western throne as his puppet.

The Eastern Emperor Theodosius, fears that the Empire will once more be plunged into civil war. The war chest is depleted, and Theodosius needs the money to finance an army.

Previously Emperor Theodosius spared the lives of the usurper Magnus Maximus’ wife Elen and their two children when he was overthrown.

Emperor Theodosius wants Flavius and Siward to find Elen. She might know what happened to the Silver Host, a treasure believed to have been hidden by Magnus and his men that can fund the looming civil war.

Joined by their friend Lucius, their mission takes Flavius and Siward throughout Britain and Segontium and across the sea to Hibernia in search of the Silver Host.

Yet an old enemy always seems one step ahead of them: the Saxon woman, Gunhilde, who is working for Arbogastes’ chief agent in Britain.

In Hibernia Flavius and his friends must infiltrate a dangerous court to free a man with vital information. However, what affect will their actions have in the perilous court of the High King?

Returning to Britain, Flavius, Lucius and Siward finally learn the truth about the Silver Host, but a more dangerous situation has now arisen.

The political situation is now on a knife edge.

Flavius, Siward and Lucius soon find out that those who they once thought of as friends will now betray them. A woman who was abandoned and abused as a child, and a group of women loyal to the Goddess, are now their biggest threat.

Rich with historical detail and intrigue, Dark Betrayal is an action adventure and a must for anyone interested in the time when Rome’s rule was threatened by political intrigue and barbarian uprisings.

What did I make of the Story?

The majestic Roman Empire is on the verge of civil war, and in these dark days, there are many who seek to take advantage of the instability of the Roman elite. The time has come to choose a side, for war is now a forgone conclusion.

Flavius Vitulasius, a Magistriani stationed in Briton, has been assigned a new mission. He is to seek out a treasure known only as the Silver Host. But only one person knows where the Silver Host is, and Emperor Theodosius charges Flavius to find the usurper Magnus Maximus’ wife, Elen. Only Elen knows where the Silver Host is hidden. If Flavius can find the Silver Host, then the treasure will finance the now unstoppable civil war.

But this is no easy mission and Flavius will once again come face to face with his own mortality.

What can I say about this book? So much happens, it is like an episode of 24 but set in Roman Briton! Full of intrigue, betrayal, fear, love and adventure this book is up there with the best.

What I loved about this book was the fast pace of the plot. I had absolutely no idea where Kitchen was going with this story — when I thought I had it figured out, Kitchen would throw another proverbial spanner in the works and the story went off in another direction. Talk about suspense. Who was friend? Who was foe? This book will get you thinking.

 I adored the characterization of Flavius, not only is he a well-portrayed protagonist, but he is also an extremely likeable one. The story is told in the first person, which is a real treat for the reader as we see everything through Flavius eyes. It is an intimate and enjoyable experience.

The historical accuracies in this book must be commended. Kitchen takes his readers on a personal tour of Roman Briton, and he describes it exactly the way I would imagine it to have been like.

Dark Betrayal is an absorbing read and one you will not want to put down.

A fabulous 5* read.

I Highly Recommend.

Links for Purchase

Amazon US

Amazon UK

About the author

Brian Kitchen lives in Burton upon Trent, England and enjoys walking in the countryside, photography, reading, writing, visiting museums and historic sites & buildings and supporting Burton Albion. He first became interested in the history of Roman Britain as a child and loved the Eagle of the Ninth trilogy of novels by Rosemary Sutcliff. The first of the Flavius Vitulasius novels, Divided Empire is his first published novel.
Should you wish to know more about Flavius & his friends, please visit his website & Facebook page:
facebook.com/FlaviusVitulasius
www.briankitchen.me.uk

Author’s Inspiration ~ Cynthia Ripley Miller #histfic @CRipleyMiller

It is with the greatest pleasure that I welcome historical fiction author,

Cynthia Ripley Miller onto the blog to talk about her inspirations behind her latest book…

 

On the Edge of Sunrise

by

Cynthia Ripley Miller

 

When love commands, destiny must obey.  The year is AD 450.  The Roman Empire wanes as the Medieval Age awakens.  Attila the Hun and his horde conquer their way across Europe into Gaul. Caught between Rome’s tottering empire and Attila’s threat are the Frankish tribes and their ‘Long-Hair’ chiefs, northern pagans in a Roman Christian world, and a people history will call the Merovingians.

A young widow, Arria longs for a purpose and a challenge.  She is as well versed in politics and diplomacy as any man … but with special skills of her own.

Emperor Valentinian, determined to gain allies to help stop the Huns, sends a remarkable envoy, a woman, to the Assembly of Warriors in Gaul.  Arria will persuade the Franks to stand with Rome against Attila.

When barbarian raiders abduct Arria, the Frank blue-eyed warrior, Garic, rescues her.  Alarmed by the instant and passionate attraction she feels, Arria is torn between duty and desire.  Her arranged betrothal to the ambitious tribune, Drusus, her secret enlistment by Valentinian as a courier to Attila the Hun, and a mysterious riddle—threaten their love and propel them into adventure, intrigue, and Attila’s camp.  Rebels in a falling empire, Arria and Garic must find the strength to defy tradition and possess the love prophesied as their destiny.

***

Author’s Inspiration

An avid reader of both fiction and history, I stumbled upon fifth century France and the world of the barbarian Franks, later called the Merovingians.  I was immediately intrigued.  My curiosity doubled when I discovered a different view of ancient Rome in this late antiquity period and its interaction with European barbarian tribes.  The Roman Empire was on the brink of collapse and into this gap stepped the barbarians.  Gregory of Tours, bishop, and sixth century historian, wrote in his work, The History of the Franks, of how the Franks rose from tribal chiefs and warriors to the acknowledged masters of Roman Gaul (France).  Fascinated by this era of change and upheaval, I chose late ancient Rome and Gaul as the setting for my novel, On the Edge of Sunrise. 

 Clovis I ~ the first King of a united Frank

History and People

By the third century, the Germanic Franks were a federation formed of eleven tribal groups, which included the Salian Franks and the Chamavi.  They occupied the territory on the east bank of the lower Rhine valley known as Gaul (modern Belgium and southern Netherlands) and in the later centuries as Francia/France.

Merovingian, the title given to the Franks, derives from Meroveus/Merovech one of the first kings of the Salian Franks.  Around 450, he entered a power struggle with his older brother for the throne.  Meroveus went to Rome to gain support from the Romans for succession as king against an elder brother who aligned with Attila the Hun for the same reason.  Priscus, a Roman historian, wrote of Meroveus, “ … he was still very young and we all remarked his fair hair which fell upon his shoulders.”  Frank nobles distinguished themselves from the commoner and other groups by wearing longer hair, despite the fashion, and were called ‘Long-hairs.’  The Salian Franks fought with Rome at the Battle of Catalaunum or Catalaunian Plains. 

General Flavius Aetius, also referred to by some as the ‘last Roman’, served as the Master of the Soldiers from 429 to 454 and had a long career as a soldier and general.  He won the Battle of Catalaunum against Attila the Hun in 451.  After Attila’s death in 453, Emperor Valentinian III believed that Aetius conspired to put his own son, Gaudentius (betrothed to Valentinian’s daughter) on the throne.  Valentinian felt threatened and stabbed Aetius to death as he read a financial account to him.  With Aetius gone, the empire was vulnerable and left without a true defender.  In 455, the Vandals sacked Rome.

Religion

By the fifth century, most of the Roman Empire was Christianized, including many barbarian groups.  However, reputable sources have recorded that the Germanic Franks were northern pagans in a Christian Roman Empire.  Little evidence exists regarding their precise spiritual beliefs, especially in the fifth century.  Yet they were a Germanic tribe.

The references to Germanic pagan deities that we have today illustrate some parallels to the Norse pantheon of Gods of Viking Scandinavia, and whose Scandinavian sources were recorded 500 to700 years after some of the earliest Continental Germanic sources.  Gods such as Wodan (Norse-Odin), Thunar/Donar (Norse-Thor), and Tiwaz/Ziu (Norse-Tyr) are thought to be Continental Germanic and Norse counterparts. 

One example in particular is the South German Nordendorf Fibula (6^th century AD).  It has a runic inscription that mentions the deities Wodan, Donar and Logathore recognizable equivalents to the Norse gods, Odin, Thor and possibly, Loki.  In my novel, I took some liberty by using both the Continental Germanic and Norse equivalents.  For example, Thor is better known than Donar, but Wodan offered a stronger Germanic tone; Tiwaz as a name predates Ziu.  Gregory of Tours wrote from his Gallo-Roman perspective:  “… They [Franks] did not recognize the true God.  They fashioned idols for themselves out of the creatures of the woodlands and the waters, out of birds and beasts: these they worshipped in the place of God, and to these they made their sacrifices.” 

The Franks remained pagan until Clovis.  He united all the Frank tribes under one ruler to become their first official king and converted to Christianity in 496. 

5th Century Products and Domestic Life

The most important role for a Roman woman was as a wife and mother.  Mothers passed on their domestic skills to their daughters, but historians write that girls and boys attended primary school.  Girls from elite families learned Latin and Greek.  Girls and boys sang in choirs and attended social events.  Women from the upper classes appear ‘well-educated, some highly so, and at times praised by historians for their learning and cultivation.’  Freeborn women were citizens but could not vote or hold office; however, women played an active role in trying to persuade the government to adopt certain policies.  Although Roman women held no direct political power, those from wealthy or powerful families could and did influence through private negotiations. 

The currency at the time was the Denarius and Solidus.  Braziers (a portable heater) were stoked by wood, charcoal and coke; oil lamps for light and heat.  Rural farms used center room fire pits.

Barbarian men wore tunics with leggings and the women tunic style dresses.  Brooches were used to secure capes and robes together.  Roman men wore uniforms if in the military and on duty, otherwise tunics without leggings.  Togas were more for dress or ceremony.  Roman women wore the stola, a draped, belted dress.  Barbarians liked mead.  Romans liked watered down or sweetened wine.  However, they would not pass up what was available to them!

The fifth century is an era rich in drama and ripe for storytelling.  I sought to bring my heroes, Arria and Garic, to life in an age not only changing in cultural perspectives, but also, one struggling to be born. 

Quoted Sources:  Gregory of Tours, The History of the Franks; Beryl Rawson, The Family in Ancient Rome: New Perspectives; Bertrand Lançon: Rome in Late Antiquity

Links To Purchase

Amazon US

Amazon UK

B&N

About the author

 

Cynthia Ripley Miller is the author of On the Edge of Sunrise, the first novel in the Long-Hair Saga, a series set in late ancient Rome and France and a Chanticleer International Chatelaine Award finalist.  She has lived and travelled in Europe, Africa, North America and the Caribbean, taught history and currently teaches English. 

Her short stories have appeared in the anthology Summer Tapestry, The Scriptor, and at Orchard Press Mysteries.com.  Cynthia blogs on her website, http://www.cynthiaripleymiller.com and at Historical Happenings and Oddities: A Distant Focus.

She lives with her husband and their cat, Romulus, and German Shepherd, Jessie, in a suburb of Chicago.  Book Two: The Quest for the Crown of Thorns will be published in October of 2016.

Useful Links 

Website: http://cynthiaripleymiller.com

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/cynthiaripleymiller/

Blog: http://cynthiaripleymiller.wordpress.com/

Twitter: @CRipleyMiller