Nick Brown Books In Order

Publication Order of Agent of Rome Books

Publication Order of Agent of Rome Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Author Nick Brown was born in Norwich in the year 1974 and grew up in Norfolk. He has taught history and English in both the UK and in other countries.

Brown was a keen reader from a young age, and graduated from Enid Blyton and moved on to JRR Tolkien, Douglas Hill. From here, he moved on to Tom Clancy, Ian Fleming, and Michael Crichton.

After he studied for three years in Brighton, he traveled off to Nepal, where he trekked to Mount Everest and worked at an orphanage. After being able to qualify as a history teacher in the year 2000, he worked for five years in England before he took up a post in Warsaw at an international school.

As a kid, he had written bits and pieces but when he left university, he gave it a serious go. He had plenty of time on his hands, since he was looking for a job, so he tried a screenplay. He had purchased a copy of Teach Yourself Screenwriting, which he enjoyed.

In just a few months he had written Crossfire, which is a thriller about two assassins that are hired to kill each other. Then he bought the Writer’s Handbook and got to work sending out synopses to people. There was a bit of interest in it and he signed with an agent in Los Angeles. At the time, he was just twenty-two and believed he was on his way, however, nothing panned out on it. It would eventually take him thirteen years for him to sell anything.

After reading “Dissolution” by C. J. Sansom, he got the inspiration to try historical fiction. This happened after he finished a futuristic thriller and some screenplays.

Researching life during the third century and the Roman army was both time consuming and fascinating project. The book he worked on went through quite a few drafts before it arrived at its finished form and took him five years to write. Nick always wanted Cassius, star of his “Agent of Rome” series, to be a rather atypical protagonist. When he happened upon the research on the Roman “secret service”, he knew he had found an ideal vocation for his rather reluctant hero.

While writing the first book, he is glad he did not do too much research on how much good Roman military books are out there. If he had, he probably would have junked his story and picked another period to write in.

He did do enough research to see the books were set “BC” or in the first century; it made him want to try setting things later on. What he found took him to the third century. Here, he found the Palmyran “revolt” as well as the colorful figure of Queen Zenobia. These seemed like they would make an ideal background for his story.

When Nick is not busy writing, he can be found in a pub, at the movies, or playing football.

Nick writes historical novels. He has written the “Agent of Rome” series, the first of which was released in the year 2011, called “The Siege”.

“Marik’s Way” is the first stand alone novel, which was released in the year 2018. Keep out of trouble. Despite the fact that this is Marik’s mantra, he hardly ever seems able to follow it. After he escaped a brutal civil war in his own native South, the ex-soldier now roams around in the distant North, just attempting to forget about his past and make some kind of future for himself. He suspects that he is paying the price for a moment of weakness that made him flee from his family and comrades as well as everything he knew. However hard he tries, danger and intrigue are not that far away from him.

After a rather unlikely series of events that end with him becoming a bodyguard, Marik survives a horrifying shipwreck and washes up onto a distant shore. He is on the Salka Delta, an isolated region filled with marshes and islands. Here, Reverrik (a mercenary) has enslaved the locals and Marik gets recruited by a small group of rebels. Outlandish creatures and traitors, he faces off against a huge enforcer that is feared by everybody called Hammerhead. Staying out trouble is never an easy thing to do.

Nick Brown’s storytelling in this one is of some high quality, which makes this fantasy tale tons of fun to read. This novel has some well-rounded characters, a back story that is primed to be explored deeper, and a strong ending. This book is definitely proof that you do not need a traditional publisher to give readers quality fiction.

“The Siege” is the first novel in the “Agent of Rome” series, which was released in the year 2011. 270 A.D. Rome has ruled over Syria for over three hundred years now. The weakened empire is facing a desperate threat. It comes in the form of Queen Zenobia from Palmyra who turns her Roman-trained army against all of her former masters and the once invincible legions have been previously destroyed. Palestine, Egypt, and Arabia all fell and at the moment, Antioch, Syria’s capital, is left exposed.

Cassius Corbulo has been handed the menial assignment of rounding wounded legionnaires up but some new and urgent orders take precedence for him. He is the final ranking Roman officer in the line for the Palmyran’s advance. He must take command of the fort of Alauran, which is the final stronghold that the Romans have at the moment, and has to hold it against their enemy until the reinforcements show up.

Cassius sees things while at Alauran that would daunt any seasoned veteran, let alone a nineteen year old that has never seen a war before. Just some divided and demoralized legionnaires remain, with split Syrian auxiliaries and drunken Praetorian Guardsmen to back them up. The Palmyrans will show up in just days. Cassius has to figure out how to find the resourcefulness, courage, and discipline so that he can organize the garrison, secure Rome’s eastern frontier, and save Alauran.