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eg_m's review
4.0
Immensely creative, Inceptio, takes place in an alternate time line where a modern day Roman state thrives in the alps. Epic in its scope, the story ranges from alternate New York City to Washington DC and finally the European Roma Nova, incorporating elements of political intrigue, mystery, crime, action and romance. At the center of the story is Karen Brown, a passive young American who transforms through circumstances into Carina Mitela, heiress of a noble family and force to be reckoned with.
If Inceptio, has a flaw, it is that it covers so much plot so quickly, characters are often meagerly sketched rather than fully articulated leaving the reader wondering what really motivates important secondary characters. Unlike many in the genre,Inceptio, does not fall into the trap of information dumping. Beautifully organized, Inceptio’s world building flows with the narrative rather than interrupting it, never assuming or requiring a knowledge of ancient roman while seamlessly moving forward the fast paced narrative.
If Inceptio, has a flaw, it is that it covers so much plot so quickly, characters are often meagerly sketched rather than fully articulated leaving the reader wondering what really motivates important secondary characters. Unlike many in the genre,Inceptio, does not fall into the trap of information dumping. Beautifully organized, Inceptio’s world building flows with the narrative rather than interrupting it, never assuming or requiring a knowledge of ancient roman while seamlessly moving forward the fast paced narrative.
erincataldi's review
3.0
After a failed kidnapping attempt, average, ordinary New York resident, Karen Brown has to open her eyes to some harsh new realities. Things aren't as they seem and her family history is suddenly more complex then she realized. Both parents are dead but, it's her mother's ancestry that is suddenly important. She always knew her mother was from Roma Nova, a European country, but she didn't realize that her mother was from a very powerful and wealthy family. As her 25th birthday approaches Karen stands to inherit a lot of money and a business, a fact that was unbeknownst to her, but very clear to her new enemies. A representative from Roma Nova comes to New York to inform and protect Karen but things quickly get deadly as an assassin with nothing to lose won't stop pursuing Karen. Will she ever be safe again in New York? Fast paced this book will appeal to fans of political thrillers, alternate history, and strong female leads.
I received this book for free from the author in return for my honest, unbiased opinion.
I received this book for free from the author in return for my honest, unbiased opinion.
drasalau's review
4.0
It was a very good book considering I did not put it down until I finished it. I had some issues with some common cliches and the pacing was rather brisk. Predictable romance and the characterization of some folk seemed a little.. off. Otherwise, I though it was a very interesting take on the concept.
clacksee's review
4.0
You know the old meme of a bunch of kids standing under a trench coat, pretending to be an adult? This is four novellas standing under a novel-sized trench coat.
In the first novella we meet ad exec and New Yorker Karen Brown. She learns that the aunt and uncle who raised her hid the truth of her parents from her. Unoriginal plot aside, it’s engaging and well executed. The characters are interesting and unique.
In the second, Karen is now Cara, struggling to adapt to her new life in Roma Nova. The characters are mostly new and a bit less unique.
The pace picks back up again in the third novella. Karen/Cara is now Pulcheria, working a deadly undercover mission on behalf of the Roma Nova police. Exciting plot and some interesting new characters, but the characters are really starting to blur together now.
Finally, Karen/Cara/Pulcheria becomes Carina and joins the military.
The writing style is excellent. The world building is intricate and well thought out. Most of the characters are unique and engaging. On a line level, it’s well edited.
One star off for the meandering nature of this story.
In the first novella we meet ad exec and New Yorker Karen Brown. She learns that the aunt and uncle who raised her hid the truth of her parents from her. Unoriginal plot aside, it’s engaging and well executed. The characters are interesting and unique.
In the second, Karen is now Cara, struggling to adapt to her new life in Roma Nova. The characters are mostly new and a bit less unique.
The pace picks back up again in the third novella. Karen/Cara is now Pulcheria, working a deadly undercover mission on behalf of the Roma Nova police. Exciting plot and some interesting new characters, but the characters are really starting to blur together now.
Finally, Karen/Cara/Pulcheria becomes Carina and joins the military.
The writing style is excellent. The world building is intricate and well thought out. Most of the characters are unique and engaging. On a line level, it’s well edited.
One star off for the meandering nature of this story.
dblelk13's review
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.25
Holy moly this was awful. There are so many things that this book lacked but I cannot summarize all of them. If anyone were to ask me what irked me the most about this book it would have to be how disjointed the whole storyline was.
clacksee's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
You know the old meme of a bunch of kids standing under a trench coat, pretending to be an adult? This is four novellas standing under a novel-sized trench coat.
In the first novella we meet ad exec and New Yorker Karen Brown. She learns that the aunt and uncle who raised her hid the truth of her parents from her. Unoriginal plot aside, it’s engaging and well executed. The characters are interesting and unique.
In the second, Karen is now Cara, struggling to adapt to her new life in Roma Nova. The characters are mostly new and a bit less unique.
The pace picks back up again in the third novella. Karen/Cara is now Pulcheria, working a deadly undercover mission on behalf of the Roma Nova police. Exciting plot and some interesting new characters, but the characters are really starting to blur together now.
Finally, Karen/Cara/Pulcheria becomes Carina and joins the military.
The writing style is excellent. The world building is intricate and well thought out. Most of the characters are unique and engaging. On a line level, it’s well edited.
One star off for the meandering nature of this story.
In the first novella we meet ad exec and New Yorker Karen Brown. She learns that the aunt and uncle who raised her hid the truth of her parents from her. Unoriginal plot aside, it’s engaging and well executed. The characters are interesting and unique.
In the second, Karen is now Cara, struggling to adapt to her new life in Roma Nova. The characters are mostly new and a bit less unique.
The pace picks back up again in the third novella. Karen/Cara is now Pulcheria, working a deadly undercover mission on behalf of the Roma Nova police. Exciting plot and some interesting new characters, but the characters are really starting to blur together now.
Finally, Karen/Cara/Pulcheria becomes Carina and joins the military.
The writing style is excellent. The world building is intricate and well thought out. Most of the characters are unique and engaging. On a line level, it’s well edited.
One star off for the meandering nature of this story.
powellki's review against another edition
5.0
See this review and more at my blog, A Bibliotaph's Reviews.
Alternative Histories are fun to read, they show a side to history that all historians, both past and present, enjoy questioning. They focus on the 'What if...' side of the story. Inceptio is no exception to this idea of asking the 'What if' questions, challenging history with the question of 'What if one key person had lost a battle that decided Rome's fate?' and 'What if this splinter cell of Roman descendants broke off and formed their own nation and survived?'
Inceptio starts in modern day New York where Karen Brown is having a very bad day. Having collard a group of teenagers picking on an elderly man, she's found herself in hot water for having punched out the son of a prominent politician. Forced to resign her duties as a volunteer park enforcer, Karen finds that she's slowly getting sucked into what is rapidly starting to feel like a nightmare. She's got a tail on her, though she can't imagine why, and at her regular job, she's trying to put together the biggest presentation of her career so far. Enter Conrad, a stunning man from Roma Nova acting as a translator for Karen's client.
Karen's life, still in shambles from her loss of the park job and the feeling of freedom it gave her, is upended rather unceremoniously as she and Conrad quickly become something more than just business associates. She's quickly introduced to the fact that she's extremely wealthy and she has a living grandmother who is one of the heads of a very prominent family in Roma Nova. Faced with the reality that there are people out there trying to kill her, Karen relinquishes her American citizenship and moves to Roma Nova where she takes up the name her mother had given her, Carina.
Followed by the man who'd been hunting her in New York partly on a personal vendetta again her father, Carina must learn to defend herself and to find a way to incapacitate him or risk being stalked until she's dead.
Morton's novels worried me at first, the sight of a 4 page historical note at the beginning of the book an ominous sign in my sight. The front outline exactly what an Alternative History novel is what's different between our history and the ones for her novels. That said however, I was extremely glad for that note as I dove into the first of Morton's series. Fast paced but captivating, Inceptio proves to be a wonderfully written thriller that left me on the edge of my seat guessing. She cleverly kept all motivations for the ongoing plot hidden, but with clues of what was going on. As with any novel that shifts, it was mildly disconcerting to have a chapter of Renschman's thrown in, but they were short and sweet and gave a lot of clues as to what was going to happen next.
Granted, I recognize that Alternative History isn't a genre for everyone. It's a difficult genre at best if your historical knowledge of our own world is a bit silted. Still, I would definitely recommend anyone who wants to check out a good AH Thriller that this is the one to read.
Keep an eye out on May 5th for my review of the second novel in this series, Perfiditas!
Alternative Histories are fun to read, they show a side to history that all historians, both past and present, enjoy questioning. They focus on the 'What if...' side of the story. Inceptio is no exception to this idea of asking the 'What if' questions, challenging history with the question of 'What if one key person had lost a battle that decided Rome's fate?' and 'What if this splinter cell of Roman descendants broke off and formed their own nation and survived?'
Inceptio starts in modern day New York where Karen Brown is having a very bad day. Having collard a group of teenagers picking on an elderly man, she's found herself in hot water for having punched out the son of a prominent politician. Forced to resign her duties as a volunteer park enforcer, Karen finds that she's slowly getting sucked into what is rapidly starting to feel like a nightmare. She's got a tail on her, though she can't imagine why, and at her regular job, she's trying to put together the biggest presentation of her career so far. Enter Conrad, a stunning man from Roma Nova acting as a translator for Karen's client.
Karen's life, still in shambles from her loss of the park job and the feeling of freedom it gave her, is upended rather unceremoniously as she and Conrad quickly become something more than just business associates. She's quickly introduced to the fact that she's extremely wealthy and she has a living grandmother who is one of the heads of a very prominent family in Roma Nova. Faced with the reality that there are people out there trying to kill her, Karen relinquishes her American citizenship and moves to Roma Nova where she takes up the name her mother had given her, Carina.
Followed by the man who'd been hunting her in New York partly on a personal vendetta again her father, Carina must learn to defend herself and to find a way to incapacitate him or risk being stalked until she's dead.
Morton's novels worried me at first, the sight of a 4 page historical note at the beginning of the book an ominous sign in my sight. The front outline exactly what an Alternative History novel is what's different between our history and the ones for her novels. That said however, I was extremely glad for that note as I dove into the first of Morton's series. Fast paced but captivating, Inceptio proves to be a wonderfully written thriller that left me on the edge of my seat guessing. She cleverly kept all motivations for the ongoing plot hidden, but with clues of what was going on. As with any novel that shifts, it was mildly disconcerting to have a chapter of Renschman's thrown in, but they were short and sweet and gave a lot of clues as to what was going to happen next.
Granted, I recognize that Alternative History isn't a genre for everyone. It's a difficult genre at best if your historical knowledge of our own world is a bit silted. Still, I would definitely recommend anyone who wants to check out a good AH Thriller that this is the one to read.
Keep an eye out on May 5th for my review of the second novel in this series, Perfiditas!
kerveros's review
5.0
Inceptio is an interesting book and a good opener to this series.
I was given the opportunity to read the second book in the series in return for a review and I said in that review I would read this when I could and I am very glad I did.
Karen/Carina is still an interesting heroine, her actions are logical and for the most part you can follow along with her train of thought. I thought the villain of the book was good - I wish we found his motivation out sooner but the explanation given was a good (if perhaps obvious) one and it goes some way to explaining his actions.
I didn't like Conrad in the second book and I don't much like him in this either but he serves his purpose and he isn't dislikable.
There are some time jumps in this that could perhaps be handled better but on the whole I found the writing style to be more easily understood than I did the second book - this suggests to me I just needed time to adapt to the authors style of writing.
I will say that the events in book two make a lot more sense having read this book which I am glad about. There are a couple of things that perhaps could have been tied up in this book (mainly US related things such as the ire she earned by striking a senators child(at least I think it was a senator)) but then the focus of the books is on Roma Nova not there so it is understandable why these 'kinda' threads were dropped.
All in all a highly enjoyable read.
I was given the opportunity to read the second book in the series in return for a review and I said in that review I would read this when I could and I am very glad I did.
Karen/Carina is still an interesting heroine, her actions are logical and for the most part you can follow along with her train of thought. I thought the villain of the book was good - I wish we found his motivation out sooner but the explanation given was a good (if perhaps obvious) one and it goes some way to explaining his actions.
I didn't like Conrad in the second book and I don't much like him in this either but he serves his purpose and he isn't dislikable.
There are some time jumps in this that could perhaps be handled better but on the whole I found the writing style to be more easily understood than I did the second book - this suggests to me I just needed time to adapt to the authors style of writing.
I will say that the events in book two make a lot more sense having read this book which I am glad about. There are a couple of things that perhaps could have been tied up in this book (mainly US related things such as the ire she earned by striking a senators child(at least I think it was a senator)) but then the focus of the books is on Roma Nova not there so it is understandable why these 'kinda' threads were dropped.
All in all a highly enjoyable read.
raitalle's review
3.0
I really liked the idea behind this book, as well as a lot of the parts of it. What makes me rate this as only a "Like" was the fact that the book felt a little scattered, at least for me, moving over events and spans of time more quickly than I would have liked. There is a main arc to the book in dealing with the villain, Renschman, but a lot of it really felt more like jumping from mini-plot to mini-plot. Things like her progression from helpless to skilled soldier/fighter felt almost a little too quick to be believable to me (although I definitely enjoyed the path of her character development from beginning to end). Basically, I liked the book, but I would have perhaps liked to spend more time at certain points and with certain characters, to build a more solid relationship with them as the reader.