The Path of Redemption By Tom Haward – Sponsored by Goddess Fish Promotions

August 6, 2025 · by sybrinapublishing

THE PATH OF REDEMPTION

By Tom Haward

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GENRE: Alternate History

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BLURB:

With Grand Protector Faust missing and Caesar dead, Senator Frigus is trying to hold the fraying threads of the Empire together by keeping this information secret. The Empire is already fragile, and if the truth spills onto the streets of Rome and beyond, the Empire could crumble.

Faust is prisoner of the giant Bjorn Askå and his cellmate is the rebel leader, Boatman King. Abducted by Askå, they’re now part of his grand plan to rule the entire world, with the Empire his next target. Can Faust and Boatman forge an alliance or are their own ambitions stronger than any desire for a truce?

A continent away, Bella, Maverick and the other rebels have escaped to the RIA where they lick their wounds from the disaster of Faust and Askå’s attack on their underground headquarters. They believe they have covered their tracks and hope the 35, leaders of the RIA, will equip them to take the fight to Rome again, this time with the advantage of surprise.

Olivia King, though, she is tired of the fight. Traumatised from being tortured at the hands of Maximus Nero and conflicted about her husband’s relentless desire to crush Rome, she is unsure whether she has the energy to keep fighting those who have caused her so much pain.

With the world and its people in turmoil, one thing is for certain: chaos remains in a world needing redemption.

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EXCERPT

Southwark London 2030

Marcus flipped his eyepiece up and walked away from the vantage point he’d found for spying on what Maximus was doing. There were other crosses lining London Bridge, but in the cold January night, the bodies nailed to those crosses were quiet. If any were still alive, they were conserving energy, swapping between trying to breathe and trying to push themselves up on their nailed feet so their lungs were able to intake some life-saving oxygen. The orange glow of street lights showed the odd misty puff of breath feebly forming and then dispersing, like death swatting away the attempt at clinging on to life.

Indeed, the early morning, just before the arrival of dawn, was quiet. Quiet didn’t mean calm and he was feeling the pulse of adrenaline rushing through him. All the soldiers around him were because if they were guarding the son of Caesar then there was a good chance rebels would be appearing. It wasn’t guaranteed, but Maximus wanted to make a show of crucifying someone and he believed twenty-five soldiers as his protection was a necessary element to that.

When Marcus and his comrades were called up to be ready to go immediately, a few soldiers pulled out their phones and texted their loved ones saying they were going on a dangerous shift and to be prepared. Marcus scoffed at their fear and told them so. The response was that Marcus was new to this city and he should prepare himself for encountering Boatman King or The Beast, because that encounter would likely be his last on this earth.

The Author Discusses The World He Created For The Book

We appear to be living in a world where modern empires are crumbling under corruption and greed. It’s like the world exists on a flat circle (Nietzsche I think?) and we’re seeing history repeat itself yet again. It’s a rather cynical view of human hostly but I think rather apt, so I wondered about the what if an empire didn’t fall? I wondered what the world would be like if an empire managed to survive itself. And then I wondered which empire would be the most interesting to explore in that context.

In 2016 I had an idea for a novel which explored a number of alternate histories. Each history ran alongside the other with a golden thread running through (it’s still an idea in development for me), which connected certain places and people. In this idea I had the thought of a wild west reality, a Victorian England reality and a Roman Empire reality.

As I started writing this idea into a novel, the Roman element stuck with me and had such a magnetism to it, I dropped the other elements and focused on exploring a Roman Empire world set in the not too distant future. And I loved it.

I also concluded that my initial agreement that the world is a flat circle needed to play a part in the ethos of my books, so that’s why The Path of Redemption (and my previous two books which make this series) has so many familiar elements. The fusion of modern and ancient along with people’s lust for blood and chaos run through the book, because humanity has never really changed. Instead of lining the streets to watch crucifixions, people switch on their televisions and laptops. I wanted a world which showed the ancient brutality but it was mixed with modern technology. Crucifixions online and the victim has a saline drip to keep them alive longer. Chariots with bullet proof glass and hydrogen fuel.

It’s a world where I want people to recognise but find the difference jarring and therefore engaging. Slight name changes of things we know; improvements to some tech but stuck in the ancient days with other elements.

I know this world I have created is also focused on character and seeing those characters find their path out of the chaos or back into it. We’ll see.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Tom was born in Essex and at 4 months old he and his identical twin were adopted into an oyster farming family. Tom now runs the business as generation eight of Haward oyster farmers. He has a fiancée, baby daughter and a cockapoo.

Tom has an MA in Creative Writing and has loved telling stories since he was a child, whether verbally or through prose.

The Path of Chaos was his debut novel. He is also working on a six episode comedy screenplay and tweets passionately about his family’s industry and the challenges it faces.

Website: https://tomhaward.co.uk/

Twitter: https://x.com/HawardTom

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tomhawardauthor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hawardtom

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