The Shards of Heaven
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First edition cover
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| Author | Michael Livingston |
|---|---|
| Audio read by | Paul Hodgson |
| Cover artist | Larry Rostant |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre |
Historical fiction Fantasy |
| Published | November 24, 2015 |
| Publisher | Tor Books |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 416 |
| ISBN | |
| Followed by | The Gates of Hell |
The Shards of Heaven is a 2015 historical fantasy debut novel by Michael Livingston. It chronicles Octavian's war against Mark Antony and Cleopatra, seen from the perspective of the minor historical figures who surround them.
Years after the murder of Julius Caesar, his adopted son Octavian has succeeded him as a powerful force in Rome, if only as a senator with a large personal army. Octavian is somewhat threatened by the existence of Caesarion, Caesar's son by the Egyptian queen Cleopatra, who is himself Pharaoh alongside his mother. Octavian's nemesis Mark Antony has left Italy for Egypt, where he has fathered three children with Cleopatra, and his declaration of Caesarion as Caesar's legitimate heir incites war with Rome. Meanwhile, Caesar's other adopted son, Juba, has found the fabled Trident of Poseidon, a magical artifact with unearthly destructive power. He intends to use it—and the other so-called "Shards of Heaven"—to avenge himself on Rome for the death of his natural father, the king of Numidia.
Livingston, a historian and professor of medieval literature, had been writing fiction for years while publishing multiple academic works. He wrote The Shards of Heaven during the decade after the publication of his first short story in 2005. Asked about his choice of setting, Livingston said:
As a series, the Shards of Heaven trilogy is about resolving a hidden "truth" behind the mythologies of our world, and the threads that I needed for this all come together in a fierce knot during the first century before the Common Era. So that's where the story needed to be. That fact aside, however, I know of few moments of higher historical drama, with more fascinating characters of rich complexity, than the end of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire. Mark Antony, Cleopatra, Augustus Caesar, Caesarion, Juba II, Cleopatra Selene ... any one of these alone would be enough to fascinate a lifetime. Placed on a single stage, they are an incredible cast for a writer.
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