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Jukka M. Heikkilä - historical novels |
| About the Author |
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Germania Karisto 2008 |
A historical adventure set in the dark heart of Germania Young architect Numericus has just finished his studies and is about to start a career in a border town in the Roman Empire, when he is being kidnapped. A bold preatorian officer demands Numericus to decipher the strange markings of his dead father... and join the expedition to the heart of Germania as a scientific advisor. Numericus finds himself on a river galley, which aims to sail down the river Rhenus all the way to the North Sea and from there to sail up the river Albis... all the way to a place Numericus is supposed to determine. Could there still be Romans left in the middle of the wild Germania or does the expedition have some another goal? And what horrors lay upstream? Only a young and beautiful girl rescued from the river could reveal the secret, but she doesn't tell. But why does the girl speak Latin even though she is from an even wilder country up North, Finland. |
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The Games of Augustus Karisto 2006 |
The
Games of Augustus (Augustuksen kisat) is set in Rome, year 2 BC: An
officer of the elite praetorian guard, the personal bodyguard of the
first Roman emperor, Marcus Hilarus finds himself in a new plight after
surviving a murder attempt. He is well aware that somebody on the
highest echelons of the empire wants him dead, so he flees into an
assignment on the second-class side of the Roman military machine, the
navy. Within the troubles of his new assignment, he finds out that his
new role includes a mission in Rome. Not only does he have to return
amidst the people from whom he has fled; he has to lead thousands of
gladiators to fight in a staged naval battle, to honour the emperor --
and die in a pre-arranged defeat... A grim and action-packed novel
about Roman gladiators, an everlasting source of morbid fascination for
later generations. |
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Archimedes of Syracuse Karisto 2003 |
Archimedes
of Syracuse (Arkhimedes syrakusalainen) is a playful novel about the
great mathematician as we have never seen him before -- a portrait of
the scientist as a young man... In this witty and imaginative
coming-of-age story, our teenage prodigy has to leave his home and
family to study in Alexandria and its famed Museion. His relatively
restricted experience of life outside papyrus scrolls is about to
increase drastically during some surprising adventures in Hellenistic
Egypt. Luckily he is aided by a veteran mercenary and his beautiful
slave girl, who gives him something more vivid to think about than the
miracles of geometry. But nevertheless, the famed inventions see
daylight in most surprising circumstances! |
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Antigonus, Son of the Gods Karisto 2000 Nuori Aleksis literary prize |
Antigonus,
Son of the Gods (Antigonus jumalten poika) is an epic historical novel
about Antigonus Gonatas, the King of Macedon in the Hellenistic period
after the demise of Alexander the Great, and Pyrrhus, his childhood
friend and later rival. The novel follows the paths of these youngsters
of royal descent, and their starkly contrasting attitudes towards
politics and power. Gradually one of them grows up to become a wise and
logical philosopher-king, the other a restless and impulsive soldier of
fortune -- as each monarch of the period tries to live up to the
example set by Alexander the Great. A mighty novel about war, politics
and philosophy, it won the 2000 Nuori Aleksis literary prize, which is
chosen by an panel of young adult readers. |
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The Tyrant WSOY 1997 |
The
Tyrant (Tyranni) starts with The Great War Lord Hannibal summoning
Hippocrates and Epicydes to him. The brothers are ordered to go to
Syracuse to ensure that an alliance is formed between Carthage and
Syracuse against Rome. Hannibal does not give the brothers any formal
position, but they have to manage as best they can to achieve their
goal. The prize will be great, as to what it is - Syracuse or perhaps
the whole of Sicily - even in that respect Hippocrates and Epicydes
will have the power in their own hands. The city of Syracuse follows a
violent path through different forms of power structure: from monarchy
through aristocracy and democracy to tyranny. The novel describes
convincingly the political intrigue of the Antiquity and the ceaseless
struggle for power. The novel follows intricately and with vision the
eighteen-month siege of Syracuse, describing vividly the military
techniques and the different viewpoints. |
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The Marine Consul WSOY 1995 |
The
Marine Consul (Merikonsuli) tells a story about the Roman Republic and
naval warfare. The war between Rome and Carthage has stalled to become
numbing siege warfare in Sicily. Captain Gaius Lutatius Catulus
knows that Rome cannot win the war without a new navy. The Senate
does not agree to fund its construction, forcing Lutatius to retire to
run his country estate. However, the goddess of Destiny offers Lutatius
an opportunity, and the warrior in him overcomes the farmer.
Soon, Lutatius has drifted into a game which on his part can only end
in magnificent victory, or overwhelming shame. He is forced to
observe that the world of Roman politics is teeming with enemies who
are many times more cunning and dangerous than the soldiers of
Carthage. Lutatius must meet many a danger and surprise, before Rome at
last perceives him as Marine Consul. At the same time, he learns
that Destiny has its quirks, and glory has its price. |
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Drawings by the Author |
