Last week I reviewed Rome The Eagle of the Twelfth by M.C. Scott, it was rather fantastic. Afterward  I was pleasantly surprised when Bantam Press got in touch and offered an excerpt from the novel that I could share with readers of the site. As an added bonus, there is also some additional insight direct from the author herself. Please enjoy!    **** The heights were hemmed about by winter trees, blowing ragged in the coming breeze, shading the grey hillside with copper. The scent was of dying fires, and oiled leather, and iron; the scent of any army in the morning; the scent of awaited death; a scent so peaceful, I could have lain down with that as my shroud, and slept. And that was when the sun scraped through a finger’s width of mist and Helios cast a single ray, spear-straight at our Eagle, washing it with living light, the breath of the gods. Horgias took hold of the haft and raised it up so that it flew above us, our guardian and our care, ours to protect until death. We cheered, how could we not? And so revealed how very few we were. There was a moment’s…

They are known as the Legion of The Damned… Throughout the Roman Army, the XIIth Legion is notorious for its ill fortune. It faces the harshest of postings, the toughest of campaigns, the most vicious of opponents. For one young man, Demalion of Macedon, joining will be a baptism of fire. And yet, amid the violence and savagery of his life as a legionary, he realises he has discovered a vocation – as a soldier and a leader of men. He has come to love the XIIth and all the bloody-minded, dark-hearted soldiers he calls his brothers. But just when he has found a place in the world, all that he cares about is ripped from him. During the brutal Judaean campaign, the Hebrew army inflict a catastrophic defeat upon the legion – not only decimating their ranks, but taking away their soul, the eagle. There is one final chance to save the legion’s honour – to steal back the eagle. To do that, Demalion and his legionaries must go undercover into Jerusalem, into the very heart of their enemy – where discovery will mean the worst of deaths – if they are to recover their pride. And that, in…