Category Archives: novels

CITIZEN MAGUS – Journals of Natta Magus Book I

citizen_magus_final_20150920_1000hRemington Blakes, a magus from a 21st century where magic powers the world, has a big problem.

His former mentor, William Ford, stranded him in ancient Rome without a memory as to how or why. Well a guy has to eat, so he’s forced to eke out a living as a magus-for-hire among Rome’s plebeians. He calls himself “Natta Magus” since his real name sounds too Germanic to the discriminating Romans.

So when Natta learns that Ford has conjured daemons to kidnap a senator’s young daughter, he jumps at the chance to track Ford down. Natta chases him to Rome’s Germanic frontier to not only rescue the child, but learn the terrible secret behind why he left Natta in Rome.

SHADOW MAGUS – Journals of Natta Magus Book II

shadow_magus_20160613_ebook_300hNatta Magus is getting used to life in Augustan Rome. While it doesn’t have twenty-first century perks like baseball or coffee, at least his unique magical skills can help his Aventine Hill friends.

But the Roman government has noticed his talents, and they call on him when a religious artifact from Rome’s ancient past is stolen. Natta discovers the thief is a magus as powerful as him, which should be impossible in this era. Unlike him, the magus wants Rome to die screaming.

Play ball.

SHADOW MAGUS is the sequel to CITIZEN MAGUS, and book two in the Journals of Natta Magus series, by the author of the Roman sci-fi/alt-history Codex Antonius saga.

WOUNDED MAGUS – Journals of Natta Magus Book III

Natta Magus watched Helva, the granddaughter of Cleopatra, literally leap into hell to save him and Augustan Rome from annihilation.

The least he could do was bust her out. His twenty-first century honor would accept nothing less.

So along with Cana, a slave-turned-magi apprentice, and Paetus, his self-appointed chronicler, Natta sets off for Alexandria, Egypt, where he hopes to find a way into the Egyptian underworld to rescue Helva.

But his ship is attacked and sunk along the North African coast, bringing him face-to-face with a former adversary who has somehow gone from every day, first-century human to magical demigod. And not only that, the adversary wants Natta’s help in bringing about a magical apocalypse that will change the world and the history he knows.

Natta has to fight his way through pirates, daemonic hordes, and his own dark temptations to not only stop the apocalypse, but save Helva from the Torture Goddess herself.

Just another day for him in the Roman Empire.

WOUNDED MAGUS is the sequel to SHADOW MAGUS, and book three in the Journals of Natta Magus series, by the author of the Roman sci-fi/alt-history Codex Antonius saga.

NATTA MAGUS – Journals of Natta Magus Book IV

Natta Magus has a chance to do the one thing he’s wanted since he got stuck in ancient Rome: Go back home to 21st century Detroit.

But there’s a catch. He must do one last job for Octavian Caesar Augustus. The same tyrant a-hole who had him kidnapped from Carthage where he was celebrating with his friends and new girlfriend, Helva Ptolemy. A rogue Roman agent is accumulating magical weapons from the 21st century to overthrow Augustus and start a new Roman civil war. Augustus wants Natta to guide a team of Praetorians into modern Detroit and bring the traitor back to Rome for justice.

If Natta refuses, he never gets the chance to go home, and Rome descends into a brutal civil war fought with 21st century magic. If he accepts, he can go home…but he’ll never again see the people in Rome he’s come to love.

In the final chapter of the Journals of Natta Magus series, Natta must decide where he truly belongs.

JOURNALS OF NATTA MAGUS – 4-in-1 Ebook

Remington Blakes, a magus from an alternate 21st century where magic powers the world, has a big problem. His former mentor, William Pingree Ford, stranded him in ancient Rome without a memory as to how or why. Well a guy has to eat, so he takes on the name “Natta Magus”, which means something like “Artisanal Wizard” in Latin, and ekes out a living as a magus-for-hire among Rome’s plebeians.

As Rome’s only practicing magus, Natta’s adventures take him from the Eternal City’s brutal arenas to the wilds of Germania to a diminished Carthage. All the while he searches for a way back home to the 21st century.

Now you can get all four volumes in the complete Journals of Natta Magus series (CITIZEN MAGUS, SHADOW MAGUS, WOUNDED MAGUS, and NATTA MAGUS) in one low-priced ebook.

MUSES OF ROMA – Codex Antonius Book I

All starways lead to Roma…

Marcus Antonius Primus began a golden age for humanity when he liberated Roma from Octavian Caesar and became sole Consul. With wisdom from the gods, future Antonii Consuls conquered the world and spawned an interstellar civilization.

It’s three weeks before the millennial anniversary of the Antonii Ascension. Kaeso Aemelius, star freighter captain and a blacklisted spy from a Roman rival world, misses his lone-wolf espionage days. So when his former prefect asks him to help a Roman official defect, Kaeso sees it as a way back into his old agency. But can Kaeso protect his crew of outcasts from unseen forces who would lay waste to entire worlds to stop the defector from revealing a civilization-shattering truth?

An exciting start to a series for fans of space opera and Roman alternate history.

MUSES OF TERRA – Codex Antonius Book II

“You can’t outrun your responsibilities. They’ll catch you and tackle you to the ground.”

Marcus Antonius Cordus thought he left his past behind when he escaped Terra six years ago. All he wants is to explore the universe with his mercenary friends and stay far away from Roman politics.

But the unseen alien Muses have different plans. Cordus begins to see ghosts from the past and hears voices when no one is near. Like his Antonii ancestors, he fears his mind is slipping. If he loses control, he will become a slave to Muse plans to dominate humanity. Or worse: banishment from the mercenary family who loved him when no one else would.

So when a new Muse strain invades Roman space, Cordus must choose between the freedom he’s always wanted and stopping the apocalypse that he was born to prevent.

MUSES OF TERRA is book two of the Codex Antonius and sequel to the exciting sci-fi/alternate history novel MUSES OF ROMA.

MUSES OF THE REPUBLIC – Codex Antonius Book III

“Sometimes the best consuls don’t want to be consul.”

Having saved Terra from annihilation, Marcus Antonius Cordus is awarded something he fought his whole life to avoid: Consulship of the Roman Republic.

His only joy comes from his secret relationship with his Praetorian Prefect, Aquilina Servilia, the woman who coaxed him out of hiding to save Terra. But her quest for vengeance on the factions that murdered her mother could prompt another Roman civil war.

So when he learns the alien Muses are now influencing the Zhonguo Sphere’s emperor, Cordus jumps at the chance to leave the viper pit of Roman politics. Faced with imminent invasion, he leads a team of Praetorians, rogues, and Zhonguo defectors to the Muse homeworld to destroy the Muse strains once and for all.

But the Muses have plans of their own, and their carefully laid traps ensnare Cordus at every turn. Can he save the Republic when the Muses force him to choose between his duty as Consul, his loyalty to his friends, and his love for Aquilina?

MUSES OF THE REPUBLIC is the exciting sequel to the sci-fi/alternate history MUSES OF TERRA and the final chapter in the Codex Antonius series.

CODEX ANTONIUS – 3-in-1 Ebook

In an alternate universe where Rome spawned a galactic empire, a misfit crew fights to free humanity from a ruthless alien intelligence. Now you can get all three volumes in the Codex Antonius series (MUSES OF ROMA, MUSES OF TERRA, and MUSES OF THE REPUBLIC) in one low-priced ebook.

 

 

 

 

ZERVAKAN – Gunpowder Fantasy

Reason and science gave the Recindian Compact wondrous technology like steam engines, telegraphs, and gunpowder. The world had order. It made sense.

Until one night two multi-colored bands of light appeared in the sky, spanning the horizons like rings around the planet. Soon after, unnatural storms assaulted Compact cities. Whispers spread of ghoulish creatures haunting Compact forests. And then a message from a legendary race called the Mystics – ally with us to fight the growing evil or we all perish.

Desperate, the Compact’s leaders turn to disgraced history professor Taran Abraeu. Taran once tried to save his dying daughter in a failed search for the mythic healing magic of the Mystics. His family and colleagues mocked him. Now his research may save them.

When Compact leaders ask Taran to accompany a secret delegation to the Mystic homeland, Taran is swept up in an adventure that forces him to fight a horrifying enemy that only he among all his people can comprehend.

ASPECT OF PALE NIGHT – Mystery

Think Stephanie Plum meets The Big Bang Theory, and you’ll have the premise behind this all new “geek chic” mystery novel, ASPECT OF PALE NIGHT.

Times are tough in metro Detroit, especially for Hamtramck girl and part-time tech blogger Toni Dzielny. Within days, she’s lost her technical writing job, has to swear off coffee due to her hypertension, and interviews for her dream job as a writer for the Detroit Free Press, only to find she’s competing for the same job with her beautiful nemesis, Kayla Ratcliff.

As if that weren’t enough, she learns her ex-boyfriend, Leo Donnelli, was murdered less than two miles from her house. But before he died, he snail-mailed her a mysterious computer disc telling her to “keep it secret, keep it safe.” And the fact the police consider her a “person of interest” in Leo’s murder doesn’t bode well.

So when the real murderer threatens violence against Toni, her friends, and her family, she’s had enough.

Toni enlists the help of her brilliantly nerdy friends to clear her name and learn the contents of the disc before she shares Leo’s fate. They discover the disc not only points to why Leo was murdered, but that it holds a secret that could destroy a local cancer center’s new research…and her mother’s only hope for treatment.

THE LAST KEY – Epic Fantasy

The Andean Commonwealth is a land where humans use their Faith to magically shape the world around them. Warrior-priests called dahkshari keep order by serving as judge, jury, and executioner. And “heretics” strike out into the unknown frontier along Andea’s borders to escape the overcrowded Great Cities and the strict Faith dogmas of the cleric lords.

Raven Byrne is a novice dahkshari about to complete his training. He discovers that a popular Andean war hero named Thallan Brael wants to use an ancient magic called the Reaping Keys to avenge the deaths of his family, who were killed during Andea’s recent war with neighboring Loquath. If Brael finds all three Reaping Keys, he could “reap” the souls of every Loquathi man, woman, and child. The guilty and the innocent would pay for the lives of Brael’s dead family.

With the help of Brael’s niece, Seala Mesalek, Raven embarks on a journey across Andea’s dangerous frontier to stop Brael from using the Reaping Keys to commit genocide. Can Raven learn to put aside his prejudice against heretics, and his doubts in himself, to become the honorable dahkshari Andea needs?

From The New Podler Review of Books: The Last Key is a great fantasy story. Steiner has crafted a world where politics muddy the boundary between good and evil and forces the characters to find a clear path to solve a world-shattering crisis. His characters rise above stereotypes and engage each other with realistic dialogue that comes naturally to them. And they evolve. Although it is only his first novel, The Last Key clearly exemplifies Steiner’s mastery of writing high fantasy. He is one to watch.