The Ark and the Empire

The Shards Trilogy, Book 1

By: Dr Michael Livingston

Narrated by: John Smith

Bloomsbury presents The Ark and the Empire by Michael Livingston, read by John Smith.

The beginning of an epic historical fantasy series that reveals the hidden celestial battle behind the course of history.

HISTORY BELONGS TO THE CONQUERORS — BUT THE FUTURE IS FORGED BY THE WEAPONS OF THE GODS

Julius Caesar is dead, assassinated on the senate floor, and the glory that is Rome has been torn in two...

Octavian, Caesar’s ambitious great-nephew and adopted son, vies with Marc Antony and Cleopatra for control of Caesar’s legacy. As civil war rages from Rome to Alexandria, and vast armies and navies battle for supremacy, a secret conflict threatens to shift the course of history.

Juba, Numidian prince and adopted brother of Octavian, has embarked on a ruthless quest for the Shards of Heaven, lost treasures said to possess the very power of the gods — or the one God. Driven by vengeance, Juba has already attained the fabled Trident of Poseidon, which may also be the staff once wielded by Moses. Now he will stop at nothing to obtain the other Shards, even if it means burning the entire world to the ground.

Caught up in these cataclysmic events, and the hunt for the Shards, are a pair of exiled Roman legionnaires, a Greek librarian of uncertain loyalties, assassins, spies, slaves. . . and the ten-year-old daughter of Cleopatra herself.

Book 1 in THE SHARDS TRILOGY
#1 The Ark and the Empire
#2 The Spear and the Storm
#3 The Ring and the Ruin©2026 Dr Michael Livingston (P)2026 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Critic reviews

'A brilliant debut. Livingston has spiced real history with a compelling dose of fantasy!' (Bernard Cornwell, NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of THE PAGAN LORD)