I had never heard of Harry Turtledove before last month. I saw his book while visiting my local library. I was intrigued by Gunpowder Empire because of my enjoyment of the ancient Roman empire. I've recently watched the entire ROME television series (via Netflix) and the SPARTACUS: SAND & BLOOD series (also via Netflix). So I was ready to enjoy this science fiction book about an American family in the 28th century who is able to travel to alternative timeline ... and in this case the alternative timeline is a city-state modeled after ancient Roman Empire.

The concept is unique and reminded me of KINDRED by Octavia Butler. A modern-day mentality operating in a long-gone culture. Turtledove does a nice job of making us realize the challenges of living in ancient Rome -- no electricity, no Internet, no pre-packaged food, slavery is standard and accepted, war is up-close and personal...

I enjoyed the set-up for the book ... but, the story got slow for me after awhile. The two major players in the story are youngsters (teen-age high schoolers). I think that is probably what limited the enjoyment of the story for me. Seeing things from a teenagers POV was a stretch for me in many ways.