Sea of Flames

Name: Sea of Flames
Rating: 4.32 (415 reviews)

by Alistair Forrest

First published 2022

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4.2(415)

In 33 BC, the crew of a Greek merchant vessel are drawn into the struggle between Octavian and the alliance of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. Their captain Eurycles carries a private grievance against the Roman responsible for his father Lachares’s death, but revenge soon becomes entangled with intelligence work, divided loyalties and the movement of fleets across the eastern Mediterranean.

Eurycles, the crew and Cleopatra’s attendant Zaramandukht are carried towards Actium as both coalitions assemble ships, soldiers and allied kings for a decisive confrontation. Espionage and defection shape the campaign before the naval battle of 31 BC tests whether personal courage can alter a political settlement already forming around Octavian. The novel was first published in 2022 and later reissued by Sapere Books in 2024.