I hang out on a lot of alternate history groups on Facebook. This means I often cross paths with several independent alternate history authors. Many of them produce some very promising sounding novels. Sometimes, when the planets align just right, these books even get released as audiobooks. And as I've said before, I'm more than happy to help those who ask for reviews. Where am I going with this? It relates to the book we're going to be reviewing today. We're taking a look at Inceptio, Roma Nova book 1, by Alison Morton.
I have known about the Roma Nova series for a while due to various post and interactions Alison has made in the Alternate History Online group on Facebook. Of course, the series wasn't initially in audio, and I've covered before how that is an issue. Thankfully, the first four books in the series have been adapted into audiobooks, and now here we are. Usually, I like to read most or all of a series before I review it. However, as I somewhat know Alison, I thought it would be polite to go ahead and review the first book in the aeries as a gesture of kindness and appreciation.
Okay, let's delve into the history of Roma Nova itself. That is, the nation not the series, but I'm sure we'll probably talk a bit about that as well. I've already told you the basics, pagan patricians fleeing persecution founded their own nation. The Roma Novans made alliances over the years and expanded their territory. By the present day, they're about the size of Luxembourg, and are located about where Slovenia is in our world. However, it is also mentioned that Slovenia still exists. Traditionally, silver mining served as the backbone of the Roma Novan economy, and proved a major boon in the early days of Roma Nova. These days, Roma Nova is home to many tech companies and start-ups. Roma Nova has traditionally been leaders in technology and innovation.
So, Roma Nova caught some lucky breaks early into its history. It's high enough in the mountains to be easily defensible, but not so high that they can't grow all of the delicious foods Romans like to eat. It has the basis for a good economy, and has managed to avoid most major conflicts. This isn't to say that Roma Nova never got involved world affairs. For example, they contributed troops to the Battle of Vienna in 1683. They also helped push back the forced of Napoleon IV. From this, we can gather that the Napoleonic Wars went differently than in our world. Still, Roma Nova stayed out of the World Wars. Certain lines of dialogue imply that the German Empire won World War I, only to break-up later. More recently, Roma Nova has, begrudgingly, joined their world's equivalent of the European Union and NATO. Apparently, the Soviet Union is still around, and the Eastern Bloc equivalent isn't too far from Roma Nova.
Maybe Roma Nova did catch some lucky breaks, but I'd say they're at least somewhat plausible. Nations like Luxembourg and San Marino survived by playing major powers-off of each other, and other such tricks, but just as often, they survived due to pure chance and dumb luck. Sometimes reality really is stranger, and more unbelievable, than fiction. The only real issue I can think of is that Christian nations might not have been very willing to do business with a staunchly pagan nation like Roma Nova. Still, the Norse established quite the trading network before they converted to Christianity, so you never know.
We'll came back to Roma Nova in just a minute. For now, let's go across the Atlantic and see what things are like in North America. It's is mentioned that Louisiana and Quebec are, basically, dominions of the French Empire. This, along with how the United States never expanded beyond the Mississippi River, suggest that the Seven Years War went differently than in our world, assuming it even happened at all. America is called the Eastern United States, because there was supposed to be a Western United States to go along with it, but never materialized. The leaders of the American Revolution were more fragmented than in our world, so the British were able to quash the rebellion. However, America was granted independence in 1865. Also, the Dutch held onto the New Netherlands until 1813. Despite this, New Amsterdam is still called New York, as it is in our world. So, it would appear the Second Anglo-Dutch War happened differently, if it happened at all.
I spot a few issues here. First off, it's kind of odd that the British left America full stop in 1865. Wouldn't it make more sense for America to become a self-governing dominion, and then transition to full independence like Canada did in our world? Or perhaps the Revolutionary War could have been averted all together. It is speculated that, had the French won the Seven Years Wars, and either gained the Ohio River Valley or kept their North American colonies, it might have resulted in Britain's North American colonies having a closer relationship with their mother nation, and thus being considerably less likely to rebel.
On that note, the fact that the Dutch kept the New Netherlands until 1813 also makes an alternate American Revolution questionable. The New Netherlands would cut British North America in half. This would cause New England and the Southern Colonies to drift further apart in terms of culture and their relationship to each other. This means a united revolt is unlikely, especially since the South was traditionally largely Loyalist, and perhaps more so in such a scenario. In fact, even if they did get independence, the colonies might choose to become separate nations. This is sort of like how Australia and New Zealand as separate nations, despite being former British colonies locate relatively close to each other.
Okay, but even assuming the disunited British colonies would choose to be a single nation, why would New Netherlands be part of them? They were ruled by a separate nation, got their independence sooner, and presumably have a very different culture compared to British North America. I should have noted this before, but it is mentioned that Alaska is a colony of the Eastern United States. This is despite the EUS lacking any land bordering the Pacific Ocean. Uh, how does that work? Does the EUS own the Panama Canal? For that matter, is the canal even in Panama, or is it in Nicaragua?
We're also given hints that the Native Americans survived in the western portions of the Eastern United States due to the British sticking around. I highly doubt this, given that Canada and Australia screwed over their native populations just as much as America did. It is also mentioned that the capital of the Eastern United States is Washington. First off, Washington wasn't a preexisting city. It was created after America got its independence as a city that was neither Northern nor Southern. Even if it somehow still gets founded, I seriously doubt it would be named after an anti-British rebel...unless Washington fought for the British in the world of Roma Nova.
Now, one touch I did like is that there is still resentment amongst some people, especially in rural areas, over Britain suppressing the rebellion. In our world, a disturbingly high number of people bemoan the fact that the Confederacy lost the American Civil War. This resulted in the Lost Cause narrative, which deified the Confederates as noble defenders of the South, and totally ignored the brutality and inhumanity of slavery. So, it is possible that something similar happened with the American Revolution in the world of Roma Nova.
Okay, so the worldbuilding outside of Roma Nova has some issues. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Roma Nova is the focus of the novels, as it rightly should be, and the rest of the world is primarily there to add flavor to the setting. Obviously, this means that rest of the world wouldn't have the same amount of attention and detail put into it. I've done this a lot of times in my own writing, and so have plenty of other alternate history writers. The depiction stood out to me as an American. I'm sure that there are certain things about British History I've missed in my own writings.
Okay, now that we've got that out of that way, let's talk about characters, and a but more about Roma Nova itself. Karen is actually the Anglicization of our protagonist's real name, Carina. Her mother was Roma Novan, her father was British, and she was raised in the Eastern United States. She speaks Latin due to taking Saturday Morning Latin Class. She serves, in this novel at least, as the audience surrogate. We learn about Roma Nova through her eyes, and she the one who asks questions that explain how Roma Nova works.
She has a love interest in the form of Conrad Tellus. He's half-Austrian and half-Roma Nova. I kind of had a hard time envisioning him. The church my family attended had three ministers, one of whom was named Conrad. As such, I always associated Conrad as being an old man name. Though, I concede, this is more of a just me issue.
So, a bit about Roma Nova I should have mentioned before. Roma Nova has an extremely high degree of gender equality, and they always have. In fact, in certain regards, women have the upper hand in Roma Novan society. Early in the history of Roma Nova, men had to commit to the defense of the fledging nation, while women were left to run the settlements by themselves. Women quickly rose through the ranks of the new government, and some even joined in the fledgling army of the new nation.
This isn't as crazy as it might sound. Imperium, the right of rule, was very important to Roman society. How much imperium you had depended on your social standing. The male head of household would have the most in a villa, but it wasn't uncommon for his wife to have the second most imperium within the family. Furthermore, highly martial societies such as the Spartans, the Mongols, and the Aztec often had great gender equality because women had to keep things running while the men were off to war. I should also probably mention the inspiration for the series. Alison first got the idea for Roma Nova when she visited some Roman ruins as a child. She began to ponder what it might have been like if woman had been allowed to rule the Roman Empire.
Despite Roma Nova being a republic, Carina's grandmother, Aurelia Mitela, is one of the most respected people within the Roma Novan government. In fact, Carina's family is practically royalty by Roma Novan standards. She even remarks on how it is like The Princess Diaries...which was somehow still written, meaning Meg Cabot must somehow still exist. This raises an even bigger question: does Rick Riordan exist in this world? If so, did he still write Percy Jackson and the Olympians? And what would the Roma Novans think of it? Hmm, I guess that's really only a question I would care about.
Modern Roma Nova pays homage to its ancient roots in numerous ways. Gladiator games are still a popular, but they're no longer to the death. You also can't maim or seriously injure your opponents, and everyone where's safety gear. Police departments enjoy bread and honey rather than doughnuts or...whatever it is British police officers stereotypically eat. Roma Nova, as mentioned, worships the traditional Roman gods, but secularism is on the rise in more recent times. And they all still speak Latin...somehow. Roma Nova might have taken step to preserve the language, but look at how many languages Latin splintered into in our world. Surely, Latin in Roma Nova would have gone through at least a few changes?
Roma Nova certainly sounds like a fairly nice place. I'm not sure if I'd want to live there, but I certainly would want to visit it if I could. I did like that it isn't shown to be completely perfect and does have its own problems. For example, Roma Nova currently has a bit of an illegal drug problem, and they had a civil war back in the 1960s. The flaws made Roma Nova feel more like a real place.
Inceptio is really about setting up the action for the rest of the series. In that regard, it does an excellent job. My only complaint would be that the ending felt a tad rushed. Other than that, Inceptio is an excellent book. I really will have to get back to checking out the other books in the series. Thankfully, this will be easy, because the first four Roma Nova books are available as audiobooks. Inceptio is narrated by Cailin Thorburn, who does an excellent job.
So there you have it. Inceptio is a great start to what looks to be a very promising alternate history series. It has my attention, and I’m eager to see where the story goes from here. Check it out if you haven't already.
Well, I think that's enough from me for now. I will see you guys next time.
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