The captivating debut novel by M.J. Woodman

What if Rome never fell?

In an alternative reality, the Roman Empire never fell, and the world was never the same. Present-day Appia, real-world North America, fractured by a mythical war in recent history, has been divided into five imperial fortress states. These states, shielded by an invisible forcefield and known as Havens, are designed to protect inhabitants from the world beyond. What lies beyond? Electa Steel wants to know.

Electa, on the cusp of womanhood, faces an uncertain future in Latia, the capital state in Appia. While sun-drenched Latia may be a paradise for some, it is a prison for others. Feeling suppressed by her society’s rules, expectations, and religion, she rebels quietly in the only ways she knows how - drinking, smoking, fighting, and partying. Her youthful but futile resistance cannot last for long. Her 17th birthday looms and with it, the Choosing. This rite of passage promises wealth and happiness for a chosen few, but Electa, as a plebeian, faces an almost certain fate - expulsion from her Haven and homeland.

Electa’s fate takes an unexpected turn when, against all the odds, she is chosen to remain in her society for the rest of her life and to compete in Imperial Panore, a once-in-a-generation event to find a wife for the future Emperor. Whisked into the majestic world of the imperial family on Palatine Hill, Electa is not only an outsider but an insect to the glamorous patricians who live in marbled villas and worship the omnipotent deity Dominus. She refuses to mask her disillusion with the world of which she is now a part, and this attracts the attention of the drunken, arrogant Prince Asher Ovicula, whom she competes to wed.

A mysterious terror organization, Spartaca, recruits Electa to overthrow the tyrannical Latian regime. Electa is tasked with winning Imperial Panore and assassinating the future Emperor. Radicalized by witnessing the world beyond the Havens, ravaged by the war waged by her own people, Electa devotes herself to the Spartacan cause. She must first learn to sing politics and wield power in a world dominated by men. Ultimately, if she is to be crowned victor, she must become a Gladiator, defeating her competitors in a brutal tournament, where there are but two options - death or glory. The stakes are high, with her life, and her family’s hanging in the balance, Electa must win the tortured Prince’s heart whilst navigating her own.

Enamored by the captivating and powerful Lysander Drusus, a man who embodies all she hates about her society, she will call into question her allegiances, threatening the lives of her loved ones and newfound allies. Her talent for deception is the only thing keeping her alive, for now, but if Electa is anything, it’s defiant, and she will defy the path fate has laid before her and the will of men who try to control her until her last breath. Electa’s fight started as one for survival and freedom, but revelations about her own nature will change her and Appia forever.

For fans of Victoria Aveyard’s Red Queen series, the Hunger Games, and The Man in the High Castle.