spqr a history of ancient rome by mary beard

The week Uncle Hugo's began selling the book, Entertainment Weekly ran the store's bestseller list, with Monster Hunter International at #3. He purchased a large number of POD (print on demand) copies for the store and handsold them. Don Blyly of Uncle Hugo's Science Fiction Bookstore in Minneapolis, Minn., asked for a copy, read it and finished it in one night. He self-published his first book, Monster Hunter International, when he was an accountant and a gun dealer, and discovered how fundamental handselling is, along with a bit of luck. Larry Correia took a somewhat unexpected journey on his way to becoming a bestselling author. Correia effectively draws on Indian imagery with place names like Gujara and Uttara and a stratified society that includes the 'casteless.' The hero, Ashok-a Protector who serves the Law, which has long ago replaced religion-is sent on a journey and, as in all good quest sagas, it's not the voyage he expects.

Son of the Black Sword (Baen Books, $25), the first volume of Larry Correia's new series, Saga of the Forgotten Warrior, delivers requisite epic elements: gods, demons, a mysterious dream, a terrified populace, rebels, an ancient blade named Angruvadal and its wielder, Ashok, who has magic in his blood. It can be, on the surface, a search for a kingdom, a queen, a treasure, a secret more deeply, it's a search for meaning or a hidden identity. A fantasy epic has a central requirement: a quest.

Spqr a history of ancient rome by mary beard