The Sword of Jupiter Audiobook By Travis Starnes cover art

The Sword of Jupiter

Imperium, Book 1

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The Sword of Jupiter

By: Travis Starnes
Narrated by: Kevin Kemp
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An uncertain future in a new past.

During the test flight of a prototype faster-than-light craft, Lt. Commander Ky is flung into an ancient past that never existed. Rome has fallen, defeated by the mighty Carthaginian Empire, its survivors chased off the continent and onto what had been the remote province of Britannia.

Hounded by the Carthaginians bent on conquering the known world, Rome is on the verge of destruction. Stranded and alone, except for a tactical AI implanted in his head, Ky has lost everything and must find a way to live in a world different than anything he's ever known.

For Ky to survive, he needs a new home. For the Romans to survive, they need a miracle. But can a man from the future work with people so far in his past, or is this match doomed to failure?

©2021 Travis Starnes (P)2022 Podium Audio Action & Adventure Military Science Fiction Time Travel Military Fiction
Engaging Premise • Interesting Worldbuilding • Diverse Character Voices • Detailed Historical Elements • Distinct Accents
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I really enjoy a good alternate history book and this is well up there with the best. The entire series is fantastic. I hope there are more coming.

Really fun alternate history well worth a credit!

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tl;dr I'm dropping it from an initial 5-star based on premise and first couple hours of the audiobook to a 3 or 3.5 about halfway through. This seems to have been Starnes' first book, and it shows. If you like the premise, read David Drake's "Belisarius" series or the follow-up series "The General" instead. They have the same basic premise (futuristic knowledge and abilities given to a leader in ancient Rome for Belisarius / an original setting with 19th century technology for The General). He wrote them in the late 1990s and he was a more experienced author so the characterization is much stronger.

Regarding Sword of Jupiter:

- The protagonist is emotionally flat
- Characterization is shallow; it's hard to remember who the different secondary characters are
- The protagonist is so physically superior that he is never threatened at any point
- The protagonist never faces any real challenges. People who oppose him are defeated or convinced quickly, usually within the same scene
- It feels like some scenes get repeated with names swapped, e.g. "Hey, I'm introducing this new thing and I know change is hard but it's going to make you rich."
- There's too much focus on the Connecticut Yankee stuff ("I am going to introduce fractional reserve banking and new metallurgy") and not enough on (use rot13.com to unspoiler) svaqvat bhg jub cbvfbarq gur Rzcrebe or
cebterff gbjneqf uvf vzcynagrq NV orpbzvat fncvrag naq gur vzcyvpngvbaf gurerbs or gur ernpgvbaf sebz gur yrtvbaf jura orvat gbyq gurl nera'g nyybjrq gb ybbg naq nurz nalzber which seem much more interesting but have been largely (but not entirely) forgotten.



To be clear, the book isn't awful and I did finish it, although I set it to 2x partway through. It's got an excellent premise and the problems are easily ascribed to author inexperience. I am sure later books in the series will shake off these issues if people want to keep reading.

Interesting premise brought low by an inexperienced author

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This was an excellent story with masterful performance in the reading. Bvvvvvvvccc hvgvvvvhg hhgfvvvh hhgvvvhhh

Excellent storytelling!

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excellent book. excellent reading. finally a good scifi/fantasy book. it has been too long since my last good find.

Yes Yes Yes

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Although somewhat verbose, the plot is original and highly entertaining. In essence, it comprises a mix of time travel, and alternate universes, with a touch of futuristic spacefaring elements. Looking forward to volume-2

AN INTERESTING DIVERTING PLOT - MIX OF SCYFI TYPES

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A fun story and easy listen, reminds me of the Olan Thorenson series. Exceptionally good narrator, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Amazing Narration

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A well written and engaging futuristic twist on a classic tale. Live on Sir Boss!

Highly enjoyable!

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I have just over 6,000 hours of listening, this is one of the best.

In my all time top 10

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Very different take on a time travel adventure. No longer reliant on the past having happened the way it did before he is able to weave a very enjoyable story. Looking forward to the next installment.

Exciting

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This book is 70% the main character explaining himself to various groups of skeptical Romans and 30% actual plot driven story. I normally appreciate longer books but this one could have been cut down shorter and been a better book for it.

For a more concise take on the same idea, I'd recommend A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, from which this author seemed heavily inspired.

For a longer series that is more story driven and overall more interesting, I'd recommend The Lost Regiment series by William Forstchen.

Decent but Repetitive and Derivative

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