Book Review: Clash of Eagles by Alan Smale

clash of eaglesI love history and I guess I fell in love with alternate history when in high school my teacher asked our class “what if?”

Hence, reading “Clash of Eagles ” was a total joy for me! Author Alan Smale proposed a scenario wherein the Roman Empire did not fall and it was them who discovered America. Using that premise, Mr. Smale took the readers to a journey that might have been concocted by his imagination but the book was so well researched that it was so real to me!

First, the Roman legion acted the way you expect them to be. They might be in the other side of the Atlantic but the legionnaires and their praetor Marcellinus are poster boys for the Roman Empire.

Another important thing and quite admirable really is that Mr. Smale used the original names of the landmarks – mountains and rivers that still exist today. It is easy to pick out which one they are in today’s context, so in your mind’s eye, you can actually follow Marcellinus’ journey in the Americas.

A great read that I won’t mind reading again and again. I can’t wait for the next two books because I would like to know more on what happened to Marcellinus and the Native Americans that he taught.

Clash of Eagles is Rated T for Teens due to violence. There are no sex scenes in this book.

5
Description

Perfect for fans of military and historical fiction—including novels by such authors as Bernard Cornwell, Naomi Novik, and Harry Turtledove—this stunning work of alternate history imagines a world in which the Roman Empire has not fallen and the North American continent has just been discovered. In the year 1218 AD, transported by Norse longboats, a Roman legion crosses the great ocean, enters an endless wilderness, and faces a cataclysmic clash of warriors, worlds, and gods.

Ever hungry for land and gold, the Emperor has sent Praetor Gaius Marcellinus and the 33rd Roman Legion into the newly discovered lands of North America. Marcellinus and his men expect easy victory over the native inhabitants, but on the shores of a vast river the Legion clashes with a unique civilization armed with weapons and strategies no Roman has ever imagined.

Forced to watch his vaunted force massacred by a surprisingly tenacious enemy, Marcellinus is spared by his captors and kept alive for his military knowledge. As he recovers and learns more about these proud people, he can’t help but be drawn into their society, forming an uneasy friendship with the denizens of the city-state of Cahokia. But threats—both Roman and Native—promise to assail his newfound kin, and Marcellinus will struggle to keep the peace while the rest of the continent surges toward certain conflict.