KING’S ENEMY
Hodder & Stoughton, September 2024
IN A BROKEN KINGDOM, ONE LAST STRONGHOLD REMAINS
The Battle of Evesham has been fought and lost. The King is triumphant, Simon de Montfort is dead, and Adam de Norton is a prisoner, stripped of everything he once honoured and prized.
Escaping from captivity in the grim castle of Beeston, Adam becomes a fugitive in a country in turmoil. Branded a king's enemy, he can be slain with impunity.
Together with the widowed Joane de Bohun, Adam flees across a bleak winter landscape, evading both pursuing royal troops and a desperate band of outlaws to seek shelter with a surviving rebel force in the north. But when the rebels are beaten once again, only one place in the land still holds out defiantly against the king: Kenilworth Castle, the mightiest fortress in England.
Joining the garrison of Kenilworth as it prepares for one of the most epic sieges in English history, Adam finds dangerous foes both inside and outside the walls. But as the siege grows ever more brutal, he must decide between a valiant defence and a still more perilous bid for freedom.
WAR CRY
Hodder & Stoughton, December 2023
1265: England has a new master.
Simon de Montfort's victory at the Battle of Lewes has made him king in all but name. He has vowed to restore the rights and liberties of the kingdom, but now even his friends grow wary of his power.
As old alliances break down, new rebellions gather strength. The captive king's supporters muster, vowing to overthrow the new regime.
Meanwhile Adam de Norton, who won the honour of knighthood on the field at Lewes, has reclaimed his ancestral lands. A peaceful and prosperous future lies before him - until he receives a summons he cannot refuse.
War is inevitable. But this time, will Adam be on the winning side?
BATTLE SONG
Hodder & Stoughton, March 2023
Definitely one of my historical reads of the year. Powerful and visceral… Highly recommended – Elizabeth Chadwick
Wonderful, and the best book I've read in a long time – Matthew Harffy
Truly excellent, magnificently researched, first-class historical fiction! – Angus Donald
A Knight's Tale, but with fewer jokes and more blood – The Times
Jam-packed with jeopardy, action, emotion as well as beautifully-depicted scenes… a completely unforgettable novel – Historia Magazine
I didn't simply read this book, I lived it, and I loved it – K.M. Ashman
Brutal times, rich in history, compellingly told… A page turning winner – David Gilman
Muscular and poetic – Anthony Riches
Hugely enjoyable. Like all good fiction, it leaves you wanting more – Harry Sidebottom
'There is a fury in England that none shall suppress - and when it breaks forth it will shake the throne'
1264: Storm clouds are gathering as Simon de Montfort and the barons of the realm challenge the power of Henry III. The barons demand reform; the crown demands obedience. England is on the brink of civil war.Adam de Norton, a young squire devoted to the virtues of chivalry, longs only to be knighted, and to win back his father's lands. Then a bloody hunting accident leaves him with a new master: the devilish Sir Robert de Dunstanville, who does not hesitate to use the blackest stratagems in pursuit of victory.
Following Robert overseas, Adam is introduced to the ruthless world of the tournament, where knights compete for glory and riches, and his new master's methods prove brutally effective.
But as England plunges into violence, Robert and Adam must choose a side in a battle that will decide the fate of the kingdom. Will they fight for the king, for de Montfort - or for themselves?
Searingly vivid and richly evocative, Battle Song is tale of friendship and chivalry, rivalry and rebellion, and the medieval world in all its colour and darkness.
Stirring, evocative and richly immersive – Ben Kane
Superb storytelling. Faultless research… I loved it – Carol McGrath
Twilight of Empire Book VI
TRIUMPH IN DUST
Head of Zeus, January 2019
"Thrilling, dramatic… Castus, a man past his prime, resolutely pagan, vulnerable and brave, shines in this superb conclusion to a landmark series.”
Sunday Express
"Ross is wonderful at conjuring up this Rome - an empire that is sprawling and unwieldy, beset by religious schisms and threatened on its frontiers. Fans of Harry Sidebottom or Ben Kane who are yet to discover Ross will devour this series.”
The Times
"The excellent Twilight of Empire series marches on… Hot, sweaty, gripping and bloody - ‘Triumph in Dust’ is bloody good too!”
Sunday Sport
When the simmering conflict between Rome and Persia threatens once again to ignite into open war, there is only one man the Emperor Constantine can trust to defend the eastern frontier.
Aurelius Castus has fought long and hard for Rome. When the summons comes to command an army once more, he obeys with a heavy heart. Is he still the fearsome fighting machine of old? Will his young, ambitious officers respect and follow a great soldier of former days?
But when tragedy strikes the imperial household, Castus must race to defend the last bulwark standing against the might of Persia. In the pitiless heat of the Syrian desert, engulfed by whirling sandstorms and facing a fearless, treacherous foe, Castus knows that the fight ahead will be the fiercest he will ever know, and very probably his last.
The Gripping Final Instalment of the ‘Twilight of Empire’ Series
Twilight of Empire Book V
IMPERIAL VENGEANCE
Head of Zeus, January 2018
"Utterly thrilling... packed with historical and military details... My favourite element of Imperial Vengeance, though, is its depiction of the imperial family. All of these figures are absolutely fascinating, while the dynamic between them is both enthralling and lethal. Ian Ross has secured Constantine a firm place in Roman military historical fiction.
Kate Atherton"
Victory will have its Price
Aurelius Castus is one of the leading military commanders of an empire riven by civil war, but age is telling upon him. As the emperor Constantine grows ever more ruthless in his pursuit of total power, and more forceful in his promotion of Christianity, Castus fears that the world he knows and loves is slipping away.
On the eve of the war’s final campaign, Castus discovers that the emperor’s son Crispus, hero of the west, aims to depose his father and restore the old ways of Rome. As the armies march and the fleets sail, Castus knows that greater dangers lie beyond the battlefield, and victory will have its price.
With a sadistic torturer on his trail, and all that he loves under threat, Castus must choose between honour and survival, and face a final confrontation with the most powerful man in the Roman world, the ruler he has sworn loyally to serve: the emperor Constantine himself.
Twilight of Empire Book IV
THE MASK OF COMMAND
Head of Zeus, January 2017
It’s the early 4th century and the Roman Empire is divided. Crispus, Emperor Constantine’s heir, is sent northwards to bring order to the Germanic tribes.
But Aurelius Castus, commander of Crispus’s army, discovers the most dangerous enemies are the most secret. This tense, immersive novel is driven by the forceful yet always human Castus who is driven to the limits of endurance to protect what he holds dear. The best of a fine series, this also stands very well on its own.
Kate Atherton - Sunday Express
When a treacherous act of murder throws the western provinces into turmoil, Aurelius Castus is ordered to take command of the military forces on the Rhine. But he soon discovers that the frontier is a place where the boundaries between civilisation and barbarism, freedom and slavery, honour and treason have little meaning.
At the very heart of the conflict are two vulnerable boys. One is Emperor Constantine’s young heir, Crispus. The other is Castus’s own beloved son, Sabinus. Only Castus stands between them and men who would kill them.
With all that he loves in danger, Castus and a handful of loyal men must fight to defend the Roman Empire. But in the heat of battle, can he distinguish friend from enemy?
Twilight of Empire Book III
BATTLE FOR ROME
Head of Zeus, January 2016
The Roman Empire is on the brink of civil war. Only Maxentius, tyrant of Rome, stands between the emperor Constantine and supreme power in the west.
Aurelius Castus, promoted from the ranks for valour and loyalty, is now a tribune in Constantine's army. But great honour brings new challenges: Castus is tormented by suspicions that his aristocratic wife, the mother of his child, has been unfaithful. And as Constantine becomes increasingly devoted to Christianity, Castus is forced to ask himself whether he is backing the wrong man.
All know that the coming war will decide the fate of empire. But Castus's own battle will carry him much further - into the shadowy realms of treachery at the heart of Rome itself.
Twilight of Empire Book II
SWORDS AROUND
THE THRONE
Head of Zeus, July 2015
Rome is in peril. The old order is changing - and Aurelius Castus has been summoned back from Britain to find himself caught up in a treasonous conspiracy threatening to bring down the Emperor Constantine.
Rewarded for saving the emperor's life in battle, Castus is promoted to the Corps of Protectores, the elite imperial bodyguard. The swords around the throne.
But he soon discovers the court to be as dangerous as the battlefield; behind the gilded facade of empire, there are spiralling plots, betrayals and seductions. A nest of traitors. And one relentless enemy.
Twilight of Empire Book I
WAR AT THE EDGE
OF THE WORLD
Head of Zeus, UK, January 2015
The Overlook Press, USA, June 2015
“A thumping good read, well crafted, atmospheric and thoroughly enjoyable. An impressive debut by Ian Ross - Where’s the next volume, please?”
- Ben Kane
“Hugely exciting, the first in what promises to be a gripping sequence of books about a period in the history of Roman Britain that is often overlooked by novelists.”
- Nick Rennison, BBC History Magazine
The epic first instalment in a sequence of novels set at the end of the Roman Empire, during the reign of the Emperor Constantine.
Centurion Aurelius Castus - once a soldier in the elite legions of the Danube - believes his glory days are over, as he finds himself in the cold, grey wastes of northern Britain, battling to protect an empire in decline.
When the king of the Picts dies in mysterious circumstances, Castus is selected to guard the Roman envoy sent to negotiate with the barbarians beyond Hadrian's Wall. Here he will face the supreme challenge of command, in a mission riven with bloodshed and treachery that tests his honour to the limit.
As he struggles to avert disaster and keep his promise to a woman he has sworn to protect, Castus discovers that nothing about this doomed enterprise was ever what it seemed.