Inceptio (Roma Nova Thriller, #1) (Roma Nova, #1)

by Alison Morton

[wyvernfriend]

Could have done with some help to make the transitions work between scenes a little better as the whiplash between them was a bit unsmooth for me, but overall I enjoyed it.

A story of an alternative world where a Roman colony survived the downfall of Rome and became a power in it's own right. It's matrilineal and just that little bit different from our world. Into this world comes Karen Brown, whose mother was from Roma Nova but she lives in New York as an advertising executive, working with the Conservancy Corps until she intervenes in an altercation and everything changes. Suddenly her life is turned upside down, she's under stress from a government enforcer, her only choice is to run, to Roma Nova where she finds a new direction in life as she is one of the privelidged.

She discovers something about her rescuer, Conrad Tellus and this isolates her somewhat, but she's finding that life in Roma Nova is full of surprises.

I found that she coped with the culture shock quite quickly, and the aforementioned scene whiplash broke the smoothness of the read but I still want to read more.