Justinian’s Wall, Stittsville author John W. Egan’s recently published novel, continues the Roman Sky series. The alternative history series is set in a 6th century Roman Empire that has had airships for two centuries.
John’s version of alternate Roman history sprung from the story of Leon, a 3rd century Roman merchant who demonstrated a sky lantern used to signal armies in China to Emperor Severus Alexander. It led to nothing but a mention in the records of that time. But what if it had inspired someone back then to see if a person could be lifted into the sky? The Roman Sky series explores that possibility and how it might have played out. The series begins at the eastern edge of the empire and the war with Persia, and then shifts to Constantinople, the capital of the empire. The recently published fourth book in the series, Justinian’s Wall, takes place at the western edge of the empire in Caledonia, what we now call Scotland.
The main character of the series, Cillian, is a Sagittarius – a soldier and archer – serving on an airship in an airborne legion. While his talent for surviving and winning battles is recognized by others, he has doubts about his abilities, choices, and future, and how to handle those who hate him for being half Goth.
Cillian also longs to see his parents and sister again, his only contact with them is through the occasional tablets they exchange, which take months to arrive. And being a soldier limits his chances of finding love or starting a family of his own. So, the friends he makes in the legion become his family. But it is a family that constantly changes due to illness, battles, replacements, and promotions. And as Cillian rises in rank and comes to the attention of the empire’s leadership, his life becomes increasingly complicated.
Justinian’s Wall begins as Belisarius gathers an army at Hadrian’s Wall that guards the frontier of Roman Britannia. Cillian is part of this army that is to conquer the Picts of Caledonia, which no Roman army has ever done. Having survived the Nika Riot a year earlier, Emperor Justinian ordered this invasion. He needs a victory to demonstrate the Gods’ approval of his reign and a campaign to reward the senators who stood by him and occupy the senators who staged the riot with contracts for the army.
Cillian’s concerns about the campaign, his airship, and those it carries are about to be overtaken by the revelation of a secret about him. And once the army crosses Hadrian’s Wall and heads north toward the ruins of the long abandoned Antonine Wall, it will discover that the Picts are not alone, that they are not the only threat, and that the war will not go as anyone expected.
John enjoyed continuing his Roman Sky saga and introducing more historical context: “This story sets up a new conflict to challenge Cillian and a new climate to challenge the airships. It also lets me celebrate my Irish-Scottish-Pictish ancestry and use the ongoing explosion of research on the Picts to develop those characters and correct some of the myths about them. They were no more tattooed than other cultures of that time in Europe, nor did they paint themselves blue and go into battle naked. Their language was a Brittonic language that is related to Welsh and influenced by Old Irish as well as having been written using Irish Ogham markings. It was fun to reverse engineer modern place names into similar Pictish names and develop their society based on what is known now. And since Cillian’s 6th century is dominated by a pagan Roman Empire, the Druids have survived to play their part in this story. Including these characters also let me address some of the myths about who they were. The society and army described in the series blend the customs, logistics, and technologies of the Late Roman Empire from the 3rd to 9th century in our history, plus those that evolved from the development of hydrogen gas and airships. The actual diversity of the Roman Empire and its army are preserved in this series’ historical and fictional characters, as are slavery, male domination, and the rigid rules on relationships of that era. The Gothic Kingdom in the series and Goths in history are a contrast to Rome – among other things, they allowed women greater rights and were less rigid about relationships. The characters of this series reflect those societies, warts and all.”
In addition to plenty of history, John took inspiration from his own life as he wrote. “Justinian’s Wall also reflects my own experiences of being far from home and family, surrounded by interesting friends and foes in the midst of an unusual war while on loan to another country’s army. It makes Cillian and his world all the more real for me, and hopefully for those who read Justinian’s Wall.”
Researching for Justinian’s Wall took up more of John’s time than actually writing the story, which took only ten months before the final draft reached the editor. Other works by John W. Egan include The Ebola War and Angel and Mercy: The Ceasefire War (both written in collaboration with Bakar Mansaray); Winter of 1813 and Spring of 1813, of the Beyond 1812 series; and Empire’s Gate, Empire’s Shield, and Empire’s Victory, the first three books in the Roman Sky series.
The next book in the Roman Sky series, The Pictish Shore, will publish this summer. Additionally, Summer of 1813, the next installment in the Beyond 1812 series, is due out in December.
Paperback editions of Justinian’s Wall are available for purchase from Amazon, and e-book editions can be purchased from all major book sellers.