Ian J. Miller

If you are looking for a book that is well researched and includes plenty of ancient Rome’s intrigue, politics, philosophy, logic, military strategy, and a great protagonist, then you should read Athene’s Prophecy by Ian J. Miller is a superb choice. Oh, did I mention time travel and some great battles?
While the book contained plenty of technical jargon which required this reader to stop and do a bit of research to fully understand what Mr Miller was referring to it did not deter from my interest in his book and his subsequent sequel - Legatus Legionis: Book Two in the Gaius Claudius Scaevola Trilogy – which I already purchased in e-book format.
The hero, well, I just liked him from the start. Young, intelligent and a bit cocky, just like a privilege Roman citizen/soldier would be.
If you like to be challenged when you read science fiction, this is the author to do it for you.
I highly recommend Athene’s Prophecy for the sheer knowledge the author brings to the page.
This book was purchased by J. F. Nodar.… (plus d'informations)

Red Gold is a very complex sci-fi story. As is quite common with these types of stories, the author did massive amounts of research and world building. Unfortunately, there were times when the tech speak was too much for me. I couldn't picture what the author was describing (or quite frankly, didn't care!) But you can't skip over these long details, because most of them become relevant to the plot later. (Which made it even more confusing to me. I found myself having to go back and re-read the descriptions that had boggled me early, trying to make sense of what was happening.) I can't say that this is necessarily bad, as a lot of sci-fi books (Honor Harrington series is the first that comes to my mind.) do this. But there are so many that do it more seamlessly. I kind of prefer those. On a plus note, in between all the technical jargon and complex information is a very exciting story! The world constructs that the author comes up with are quite plausible to me. The shady business dealings, the murder, espionage, and intrigue make the novel feel like a sci-fi Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

I liked David. He is what I think most of us strive to be. Honest, straightforward, hard-working, and forward thinking.You find yourself rooting for him, and despising his business partner deeply. And yet, the dichotomy is not Good vs. Evil, it is more complex than that. Really, Robbie's character is a fairly typical businessman. He is a money manager, shifting funds around from business to business, trying to make more money and often losing it instead. Yeah, he starts up some immoral businesses on Mars: prostitution, gambling, and entertainment ventures; but his motivations are to make money. Towards the end he becomes so consumed with his greed that he does stuff that is pretty evil, but he doesn't start out that guy. It is a fascinating descent and moral lesson to observe how this character's choices determined his fate. At any point, even up to the very end, Robbie could have changed his choices and thereby changed his outcome. The same could have been said for David. Very good stuff!… (plus d'informations)