Muses of the Republic

For a thousand years, the Muses ruled humanity from the shadows. Now Marcus Antonius Cordus is going to kill the gods that made him.

He won't survive the attempt.

Two years after the events of Muses of Terra, Cordus is Consul of a fractured Roman Republic. The Zhonguo Sphere is massing for war. The alien parasite that has guided Rome for a thousand years is dying — and taking Cordus with it. He has weeks, maybe days, before the infection consuming him from within kills him too.

But the Muses came from somewhere. And on a quarantined world at the edge of charted space, the truth has been waiting.

Cordus and a crew of people he loves — Aquilina the Praetorian assassin, Deshi Ku the exiled Zhonguo prince, Dariya the freed slave turned starship captain — are going to find the Muses' makers. They're going to learn what humanity was supposed to be before the gods took over. And Cordus is going to spend the last of his life severing the chains.

The Republic burns behind him. The Zhonguo fleet bears down on Terra. And somewhere on a dead alien homeworld, an answer older than humanity is waiting to be heard.

This is the end of the war for humanity's soul.

"Entertaining alt-history sci-fi at its finest." — Reader review

Codex Antonius is one continuous story across three novels. Muses of the Republic is the final volume — start with Muses of Roma if you're new to the series.

For readers who love the crew dynamics of Firefly, the alt-historical detail of S.M. Stirling, and the deep-time alien mysteries of Foundation and The Expanse.

Rob Steiner writes space opera, fantasy, and LitRPG novels.
He is the author of the Codex Antonius series — a complete trilogy about a Roman Empire that never fell and the alien intelligences that guided its rise to the stars. He also writes the Journals of Natta Magus, about a wizard from an alternate 21st century stranded in Augustan Rome, and the Undying Lairs series, which puts a tabletop-RPG twist on LitRPG.
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Rob lives in New Mexico with his wife, daughter, and a rascal cat.