Ahimsa Kerp is a peripatetic language mercenary and spec-fic writer who hails from the Pacific Northwest of the United States but has lived on 5 continents. He is fond of rambling hikes, board games, and tofu tacos. He is the author of several novels, role-playing game books, and the co-founder of Knight Owl Publishing. He earned his Masters in Ancient History from the University of Queensland.
The Roman Empire was built at the expense of a thousand extinguished rivals, and during the reign of Domitian its long-forgotten enemies join together to enact a terrible curse. The dead began to walk, creating a plague of undead that sweeps across the Empire. And even the elite Roman forces, bolstered by war elephants, cannot hold them back. The only hope of stopping the lifeless monsters is a disparate group of misfits and rogues led by the most ruthless Senator in Rome.
The vast majority of media about Rome concerns either Augustus or Julius Caesar. The few exceptions generally stay in the Julio-Claudian line. That’s about 70 years in what was arguably a 1600 year span. McCullough wisely sets this seminal work before the Empire, about 100 BCE. She is writing fiction but the verisimilitude she wields makes it feel like real history. The rivalry between Marius and Sulla drives the story recklessly forward. Given that Julius Caesar’s grandfather and father are in this book, you could consider this a Rogue One to HBO’s Rome.
With extraordinary narrative power, New York Times bestselling author Colleen McCullough sweeps the reader into a whirlpool of pageantry and passion, bringing to vivid life the most glorious epoch in human history.
When the world cowered before the legions of Rome, two extraordinary men dreamed of personal glory: the military genius and wealthy rural "upstart" Marius, and Sulla, penniless and debauched but of aristocratic birth. Men of exceptional vision, courage, cunning, and ruthless ambition, separately they faced the insurmountable opposition of powerful, vindictive foes. Yet allied they could answer the treachery of rivals, lovers, enemy generals, and senatorial vipers with…
The year 68 CE is a very important, not to mention interesting, year in Roman History. Because history was written by the upper class, we tend to lose sight that Nero was a populist, a man of the people. Tacitus gives you the scoop here on all the soap opera that unfolds with the end of the Julio-Claudian line. If you think history is boring, you might be surprised at how fast-paced and scandalous these accounts are.
AD 69, the year following Nero's suicide and marking the end of the first dynasty of imperial Rome, was one of the most dramatic and dangerous in the city's history. In the surviving books of his Histories, the great barrister-historian Tacitus gives a gripping account of the long but single year' that saw the reigns of four emperors: disciplinarian Galba; conspirator and dandy Otho; unambitious hedonist Vitellius; and pragmatic victor Vespasian, who went on to establish the Flavian dynasty. In a narrative that extends from Britain to Egypt and from the Caucasus to Morocco, taking in revolt, conspiracy, battles and…
It’s important to state up-front that Seutonius is garbage. You need to consider him to be like the National Enquirer or TMZ of his era. He was all about the clickbait; in that regard, centuries ahead of his time. That said, the salacious stories in here are pure fun and inspired Robert Graves in his creation of I Claudius.
'Suetonius, in holding up a mirror to those Caesars of diverting legend, reflects not only them but ourselves: half-tempted creatures, whose great moral task is to hold in balance the angel and the monster within' GORE VIDAL
As private secretary to the Emperor Hadrian, the scholar Suetonius had access to the imperial archives and used them (along with eyewitness accounts) to produce one of the most colourful biographical works in history. The Twelve Caesars chronicles the public careers and private lives of the men who wielded absolute power over Rome, from the foundation of the empire under Julius Caesar and…
Imagine if a current world leader came into power and hired someone like Noam Chomsky or Slavoj Žižek or Tom Stoppard to be their advisor. That’s the case with Nero, and Seneca’s wisdom and foresight helped change Rome, albeit momentarily, into something like a republic again. These letters from Seneca span his political exile and his return to power. Plus Seneca is responsible for a really good joke about divine pumpkins that you’ll have to read this book to find out more about.
'It is philosophy that has the duty of protecting us ... without it no one can lead a life free of fear or worry'
For several years of his turbulent life, in which he was dogged by ill health, exile and danger, Seneca was the guiding hand of the Roman Empire. This selection of Seneca's letters shows him upholding the ideals of Stoicism - the wisdom of the self-possessed person immune to life's setbacks - while valuing friendship and courage, and criticizing the harsh treatment of slaves and the cruelties in the gladiatorial arena. The humanity and wit revealed in…
By now everyone knows World War Z but this is the OG Zombie book that prepares you for the inevitable apocalypse. If you’re the kind of person who is always wondering the best place to live when zombies attack, or the best weapons to use (hint: you don’t have to reload a sword) to defeat the shambling hordes, then take a look at this.
Don't be reckless with you most precious asset - life. This book is your key to survival against the hordes of undead who may be stalking you right now without your even knowing it.
It covers everything you need to know, from how to understand zombie behaviour to survival in any territory or terrain.
The Zombie Survival Guide offers complete protection through proven tips for safeguarding yourself and your loved ones against the living dead.
It might just save your life.
'A bloody-minded, strait-laced manual for evading the grasp of the undead.' Time Out
I am a freelance writer from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, specializing in media history and speculative fiction. I have been enchanted by animation since childhood and followed many series avidly through adulthood. My viewing inspired my MA thesis on the history of animation, out of which grew two books on the history and theory of animation on television, America 'Toons In: A History of Television Animation (available from McFarland and Co.) and The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows (available from Rowman and Littlefield). Hopefully, others will follow.
Jefferson Ball, the mightiest female dog in a universe of the same, is, despite her anti-heroic behavior, intent on keeping her legacy as an athlete and adventurer intact. So, when female teenage robot Jody Ryder inadvertently angers her by smashing her high school records, Jefferson is intent on proving her superiority by outmuscling the robot in a not-so-fair fight. Not wanting to seem like a coward, and eager to end her enemy's trash talking, Jody agrees.
However, they have been lured to fight each other by circumstances beyond their control. Which are intent on destroying them if they don't destroy each other in combat first...
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