Blog Tour: THE PATH OF CHAOS by Tom Haward
THE PATH OF CHAOS
by Tom Haward
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GENRE: DystopianAlternate History
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BLURB:
Itis the year 2030, and the Roman Empire never fell. Emperor Nero II rules halfthe world, but half the world is not enough for the unpredictable Emperor.
Britanniais a Roman outpost. London Bridge is lined with crucified bodies. The streetsare patrolled by soldiers in high-speed, horseless chariots. Nero viewsBritannia as a vital but fractious asset for his planned invasion of theRepublic of Indigenous America.
BoatmanKing was born out of rage. A rage that propels him to try and destroy theEmpire. He’s not alone: he leads clandestine rebels fighting to drive theEmpire from Britannia. These rebels are his weapon, which he hopes will obliterateNero and the entire Empire.
Rebellion,though, comes at a steep price. Olivia, Boatman’s wife, is caught and crucifiedon London Bridge by Nero’s son, Maximus, who is intent on flushing Boatman fromhiding.
Instead,Maximus draws Maverick ‘The Beast’ Kirabo, Boatman’s fearsomesecond-in-command, a champion gladiator who now fights for Rome’s dismay, nottheir entertainment.
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Excerpt One:
“Soldier Gallusand Soldier Marius, I need you to accompany me to my home.” Both soldierssaluted and followed Faust to his chariot. Faust climbed on and sat down at therear. Gallus remained standing whilst Marius fired the engine. The bulletproofglass roof closed over the soldiers’ heads and sealed the chariot. They spedoff away from London Bridge going south to Augustus Park where Faust’s housewas situated.
Within fifteenminutes Faust was striding through his front door, gun drawn and Gallus andMarius flanking. The town house had three floors, six bedrooms in total and anairy, open-plan ground floor. Each soldier took a floor and searched. Theyquickly cleared the rooms, finding no-one present and nothing out of theordinary to report.
They convenedin the kitchen, and Faust holstered his gun.
“Maybe we beatthem to it?” said Marius.
Faust gruntedand didn’t bother to respond. He knew something wasn’t right in the house butcould quite place it. He needed to walk through and check it off. He’d onlysearched the ground floor but something didn’t make sense.
“I need youboth to stand guard outside. Anyone so much as approaches the housesuspiciously I want you to shoot them. If anyone is allowed access to the housewithout my permission, I will crucify you both upside down. Understand?”
Both men noddedand saluted and left the house to take sentry out the front.
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Please describe a pivotal scene in yourbook and why it's important.
The Path of Chaos revolves around many different charactersperception of power and what makes that power so important. For some it’s simplyto have power for power’s sake; for others it’s so appear important in spite oftheir inadequacies; for one person in the novel power is a gateway to escape.
That’s where Titus comes in. Titus is the Commander ofBritannia, that is, he’s the General overseeing Roman occupation of thecountry. He hates London though. He believed his posting was going to propelhim to something much greater in the Empire but instead he feels trapped by aplace he sees as dreary and uninspiring. With this in mind, Titus decided tobetray the Empire and seek to escape. Culmination of events makes Titus believe his life might be disposableanyway, so he decides to pre-empt any potential problems that might come hisway.
This moment in the book is important because it acts as acatalyst for other events but also highlights the chaos which whirls around thelives of most of the characters. Men and women who almost gravitate towardchaos and, in turn, create more chaos in their paths. Titus is the highestranking soldier in Britannia but feels the weight of his vulnerability when inthe presence of Emperor Nero II and this is, to me, really important tounderstanding the volatility of the world I have created, because it’s verysimilar to the world we currently inhabit.
Even though The Path of Chaos is filled with live streamedcrucifixions and guns and swords, the constant struggle for power that can soeasily be taken away is reminiscent of governments around the world. Titusbelieves he’s the most powerful man in Britannia but that appears to crumble inmoments for him and I feel that’s a key message in the book.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Tom was born in Essex and at 4 months old he and his identicaltwin were adopted into an oyster farming family. Tom now runs the business asgeneration 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 storiessince he was a child, whether verbally or through prose.
The Path of Chaos is his debut novel. He is also working on a sixepisode comedy screenplay and tweets passionately about his family’s industryand the challenges it faces.
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5350971.Tom_Haward
https://m.facebook.com/tomhawardauthor/
https://cinnabarmothliterarycollections.com/contributing_authors/tom-haward/
https://www.instagram.com/hawardtom/
https://www.amazon.com/Path-Chaos-Tom-Haward-ebook/dp/B0BVG8H9MY/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0
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GIVEAWAY
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