The Drums of Chaos (Simon of Gitta Chronicles)

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The Best of Lovecraftiana

An anthology of the greatest writers, poets, and illustrators ever to grace the pages of LOVECRAFTIANA: THE MAGAZINE OF ELDRITCH HORROR. Voted for by members of the LOVECRAFTIANA FANS AND CONTRIBUTORS Facebook page. Josh Maybrook Carlton Herzog David B Harrington Read more

Kagen the Damned: A Novel (Kagen the Damned, 1)

Kagen the Damned marks the first installment of an exciting new series of dark epic fantasy novels from bestselling author Jonathan Maberry. Sworn by Oath Kagen Vale is the trusted and feared captain of the palace guard, charged with protection Read more

You might want to start with the collection of short stories featuring Simon of Gitta written earlier by the same author

CAN A HANDFUL OF HEROES STOP AN APOCALYPSE CENTURIES IN THE MAKING?

Escaped gladiator-slave Simon of Gitta returns to Judea — during the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth — on a mission to avenge the deaths of his parents, seeking revenge in blood against the Roman officials who committed the murders and sold Simon into slavery.

But as Simon travels the Holy Lands with his mentor Dositheus and their apprentices Menander and lione, they gradually become entangled in a complex occult plot designed to call down a monstrous alien entity to herald a new aeon on Earth. The mysterious time traveler John Taggart (from Tierney’s The Winds of Zarr) also becomes involved with Simon as their separate quests converge toward a common goal of saving all life on Earth from extinction.

But can a handful of travelers really thwart a covert scheme backed by the power of the Roman Empire? As the apocalyptic supernatural events slowly unfold, Simon and his allies are in a race against time to prevent the devastation of the world.

Using mystery cults and early Christian Gnosticism as his vehicle, with meticulously researched Roman history and Biblical scholarship, this is author Richard Tierney’s magnum opus: an epic Lovecraftian alternate history dark fantasy novel that features Tierney’s most famous characters, Simon of Gitta and John Taggart. This novel will appeal to fans of historical fantasy and sword & sorcery fiction in the vein of Robert E. Howard, and the elements of cosmic horror and the Cthulhu Mythos will satisfy many fans of H.P. Lovecraft.

Sorcery Against Caesar: The Complete Simon of Gitta Short Stories

These stories were one of the inspirations for the Cthulhu Invictus campaign for the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game by Chaosium. Enjoy sixteen stories combining superbly researched historical fiction with sword & sorcery and Lovecraftian horror.

This is a long-running series of stories (begun in the mid-1980s) by Tierney features Simon of Gitta, an escaped slave turned magician, roves the Roman Empire battling dark magic and demons, all the while pursued by Caesar’s soldiers.

Join Simon as he flees across the ancient world evading cultists and Legionaries, outwitting sorcerers and Centurions, and fighting gladiators and gods, even the deities of the Cthulhu Mythos. Yet all these foes cannot prepare him for his greatest challenge: the pursuit of his lost soul-mate Helen, a love so deep even death can’t stand in its way for long.

There is also a novel : The Drums of Chaos 

 

The Tears of Ishtar Paperback by Michael Ehart

The Tears of Ishtar Paperback by Michael Ehart
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An ancient evil… an immortal warrior.

From the sands and cities of the ancient middle-east comes an epic story of bloodshed, love and betrayal. Award-winning fantasy author Michael Ehart spins a tale that echoes with the blood and thunder of the golden age.

Bound by an ancient curse, serving her master in bitter unwillingness, the Servant of the Manthycore must lure the greedy, the unsuspecting and the unwary into the desert to feed the insatiable beast to whom she is bound. Centuries of combat and murder have made her a swordswoman whispered of in the marketplaces, feared in the back-alleys and sung about by the campfires of the caravans. The passing centuries of betrayal and death have stolen her humanity and even her name, leaving only a glimmer of who she once was. Her only hope is to someday meet a greater warrior than she, and so be freed.

Striding across the background of civilization in its youth, in the time of the first great heroes and the cities they built, she becomes more than a woman, and as her legend grows so does her determination to someday be free of the great beast who she serves. Goddesses, bandits, soldiers and kings fall beneath her sword as she fights her way to discover a path to freedom.

Fantasy legend Michael Moorcock raves: “Michael Ehart is an impressive talent!” And reviewers from all over the world agree that the Servant of the Manthycore is one of the great characters of modern heroic fantasy. The Tears of Ishtar brings together her entire saga in one blood-soaked, thrilling novel that will have your pulse pounding from the very first page. Beautifully illustrated by renowned Sword and Sorcery artist Miko, and encased within a stunning, original cover by Johnney Perkins, this will be one novel you won’t want to put down!

I Am a Barbarian by Edgar Rice Burroughs

I Am a Barbarian by Edgar Rice Burroughs
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written in 1941 but was not published until after the author’s death

The story is pitched as a free translation of the memoirs of Britannicus, serving for 25 years as the slave of Caligula, emperor of Rome from AD 37 to 41 who is historically known for being insane. It treats a number of different supposed facets of Caligula’s life, including his popular early acts as emperor and his descent into madness.

SPQR I: The King’s Gambit: A Mystery (The SPQR Roman Mysteries Book 1)

SPQR I: The King's Gambit: A Mystery (The SPQR Roman Mysteries Book 1)
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Historical mystery serie set in the final years of the Roman Republic

by John Maddox Roberts who also wrote Conan pastiche novels (only one is available on kindle you can find it here)

Blackmail, corruption, treachery, murder–the glory that was Rome.

In this Edgar Award-nominated mystery, John Maddox Roberts takes readers back to a Rome filled with violence and evil. Vicious gangs ruled the streets of Crassus and Pompey, routinely preying on plebeian and patrician alike, so the garroting of a lowly ex-slaved and the disembowelment of a foreign merchant in the dangerous Subura district seemed of little consequence to the Roman hierarchy. But Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger–highborn commander of the local vigiles–was determined to investigate. Despite official apathy, brazen bribes, and sinister threates, Decius uncovers a world of corruption at the highest levels of his government that threatens to destroy him and the government he serves.

Empires of Bronze: Son of Ishtar (Empires of Bronze 1)

Empires of Bronze: Son of Ishtar (Empires of Bronze 1)
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Praise for the Empires of Bronze series:

“Doherty truly brings the Hittite Empire to life” – World History Magazine
★★★★★ “An action-packed epic” – Matthew Harffy, bestselling author of the acclaimed Bernicia Chronicles
★★★★★ “Vivid, immersive… wondrous!” – SJA Turney, bestselling author of the celebrated Marius’ Mules series
★★★★★ “A meticulously researched and vivid reimagining of an almost forgotten civilisation” – Douglas Jackson, bestselling author of the esteemed Gaius Valerius Verrens series

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Four sons. One throne. A world on the precipice.

1315 BC: Tensions soar between the great powers of the Late Bronze Age. The Hittites stand toe-to-toe with Egypt, Assyria and Mycenaean Ahhiyawa, and war seems inevitable.

More, the fierce Kaskan tribes – age-old enemies of the Hittites – amass at the northern borders.When Prince Hattu is born, it should be a rare joyous moment for all the Hittite people.

But when the Goddess Ishtar comes to King Mursili in a dream, she warns that the boy is no blessing, telling of a dark future where he will stain Mursili’s throne with blood and bring destruction upon the world

Thus, Hattu endures a solitary boyhood in the shadow of his siblings, spurned by his father and shunned by the Hittite people. But when the Kaskans invade, Hattu is drawn into the fray. It is a savage journey in which he strives to show his worth and valour.

Yet with his every step, the shadow of Ishtar’s prophecy darkens…
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Legionary (Legionary 1): Orphan, slave… hero of Rome

Legionary (Legionary 1): Orphan, slave... hero of Rome
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The Roman Empire is crumbling, and a shadow looms in the east…

376 AD: The Goths amass at the edges of the Eastern Roman Empire, armed and with madness in their eyes. Emperor Valens frantically mobilises his legions to contain this unexpected tide. Little does he know of the far greater, darker threat that drove the tribes like this: the Huns.

The legions need every new recruit they can find, anyone to hold a spear. Pavo – slave and orphan – is not just anyone. Thrust into the border legions, cast into the front line, he must become a man, or he will die, and the empire will fall with him.

Epic Roman fiction, brimming with adventure, battles, blood and gore.
A perfect novel for fans of Bernard Cornwell’s Last Kingdom series, Conn Iggulden’s Emperor series, Simon Scarrow’s Macro and Cato saga or Ben Kane’s Forgotten Legion series.

Belisarius: The Last Roman General

Belisarius: The Last Roman General
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A military history of the campaigns of Flavius Belisarius, the greatest general of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Emperor Justinian.

Back in the 6th century, Belisarius twice defeated the Persians and reconquered North Africa from the Vandals in a single year at the age of 29, before going on to regain Spain and Italy, including Rome (briefly), from the barbarians. This book discusses the evolution from classical Roman to Byzantine armies and systems of warfare, as well as those of their chief enemies: the Persians, Goths, and Vandals. Belisarius: The Last Roman General reassesses Belisarius’s generalship and compares him with the likes of Caesar, Alexander, and Hannibal. It is also illustrated with line drawings and battle plans as well as photographs.

The Siege: Agent of Rome 1

Agent of Rome
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270 AD
Rome has ruled Syria for over three centuries. But now the weakened empire faces a desperate threat: Queen Zenobia of Palmyra has turned her Roman-trained army against her former masters and the once invincible legions have been crushed. Arabia, Palestine and Egypt have fallen and now Antioch, Syria’s capital, stands exposed.
Cassius Corbulo is a young intelligence agent fresh from officer training. He has been assigned the menial task of rounding up wounded legionaries but then urgent new orders arrive. He is the only ranking Roman officer left in the line of the Palmyran advance. He must take command of the fort of Alauran, the last stronghold still in Roman hands, and hold it against the enemy until reinforcements arrive.
What Cassius finds at Alauran would daunt the most seasoned veteran, let alone a nineteen year old with no experience of war. A mere scattering of divided and demoralised legionaries remain, backed up by some fractious Syrian auxiliaries and a drunken Praetorian Guardsman. With the Palmyrans just days away, Cassius must somehow find the discipline, resourcefulness and courage to organise the garrison, save Alauran and secure Rome’s eastern frontier…

Time’s Eye (Time Odyssey Book 1)

Time's Eye (Time Odyssey Book 1)
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“Wonderfully entertaining . . . a story that engrosses you with its dramatized ideas about the nature of existence . . . You won’t set the book down either to eat or sleep or work if you can help it.”—Chicago Tribune 

In an instant, Earth is carved up in time and reassembled like a huge jigsaw puzzle. Suddenly the world becomes a patchwork of eras, from prehistory to 2037, each with its own indigenous inhabitants. The explanation for this cataclysmic event may lie in the ancient city of Babylon, where two groups of refugees from 2037—three cosmonauts and three U.N. peacekeepers—have detected strange radio signals. The peacekeepers find allies in nineteenthcentury British troops and in the armies of Alexander the Great. The cosmonauts join forces with the Mongol horde led by Genghis Khan. Both sides set out for Babylon, vowing to win the race for knowledge—as a powerful and mysterious entity watches, waiting.