I've been a Wilbur Smith fan for many years. I think "River God" is one of
the great historical fiction novels of all time.
Mr. Smith's writing inspired me to crossover from 30 years of writing
do***entaries to trying my hand at a novel. I'm happy to say it worked out
well. The manuscript quickly won two national awards, got picked up by an
agent, and sold to a top historical fiction publisher. The book was just
released two weeks ago. I wanted to let you know that, because if you're a
fan of Wilbur's character-driven, fast-paced adventure stories, then
you'll
most likely enjoy "Sand of the Arena." You'll probably see a similarity in
the writing styles. Here's some more info on it, if you're interested:
"Sand of the Arena," Book One of the new Gladiators of the Empire series
by
James Duffy, has just been released by McBooks Press. It's a realistic
look
at life and death in the gladiator training camps and arenas of the Empire
in the 1st Century AD. The story follows the life of Quintus Honorius
Romanus as he struggles to overcome the loss of his family and the loss of
his identity to a scheming slave. The epic adventure sends Quintus across
the Empire in search of a new life and a new family. He finds both in the
gladiatorial schools and arenas of Britannia, Pompeii, and Rome.
The book has received a great deal of praise from other ancient world
authors, such as John Maddox Roberts (“…an exciting, thrilling novel… an
extraordinary knowledge of the world of the Roman arena…”) and Nicolas
Nicastro (“…an action-packed, head spinning ride… his affection for his
gladiators ****nes through on every page..”). Publisher's Weekly said: “For
this first entry in a new series, debut novelist Duffy recreates in gory
detail the world of Roman gladiators, complete with larger-than-life
characters and plenty of fast-paced, sanguinary action... (an)
entertaining
read.” It also has a 5-star review average at Amazon.
Future books in the series will follow Quintus and his ludus comrades in
adventures set against the historical events that helped shape the early
Roman Empire.
For more information on "Sand of the Arena," and to listen to audio
excerpts, visit: www.GladiatorsOfTheEmpire.com
You can view a :30 sec. video trailer for the book at:
www.JamesDuffy.info/TVSpot/SandSpot.wmv
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