Roma Nova Extra: Stories on the Matriarchy's Alternate Timeline

I've been reviewing the novels of Roma Nova on this blog.  These are alternate history books dealing with a matriarchal society written by Alison Morton. I'm going to list them in chronological order. You can find the reviews of  the 20th century Roma Nova novels Aurelia, Insurrectio and Retalio at their hyperlinks. Three 21st century Roma Nova novels have been reviewed at Inceptio, Carina and Perfiditas. If you read these reviews, you will find out about the series premise, protagonists and story lines.

Roma Nova's origins go back to ancient times. I'd been hoping that Alison Morton would one day reveal the details of Roma Nova's founding.   She has chosen to deal with how Roma Nova was established in the format of  short stories within an anthology that spans Roma Nova's history called Roma Nova Extra. I can't say that the entire history of Roma Nova is covered in this collection.  There could conceivably be Roma Nova stories set in the Renaissance or the 18th and 19th centuries, but for now I will be content with what we've been given.

I pre-ordered this anthology on Amazon, but had to wait until I had sufficient time to read it between review commitments.

                            

The tales that took place in ancient times more than fulfilled my expectations.

 I loved  the independence of Julia in "The Woman in the Market" and her commitment to her Celtic heritage. These beliefs stiffened her opposition to demands for submission from her husband and the local Christian bishop.

Yet my favorite story in the anthology was "Victory Speaks" which was from the perspective of the statue of the Goddess Victory which stood in the Senate of ancient Rome.  It was slated for destruction by Christians.   Perhaps the decline and fall of the Roman Empire was caused by the Goddess Victory withdrawing her support.  I considered this a powerful story and was very moved by the ending.

I normally don't read every story in an anthology, but the only story I skipped in Roma Nova Extra was one I'd already read in the alternate history anthology 1066 Turned Upside Down which I reviewed here .  All the remaining stories held my attention which makes Roma Nova Extra a superior collection.
         

Carina: A Roma Nova Novella

In her latest entry in the Roma Nova series, Alison Morton decided to set a novella between the events of the first two novels that I've already reviewed.  They are Inceptio and Perfiditas. Click on the titles to access the reviews.  I received Carina as a gift from the author via Book Funnel and this is my honest review.
                         
                              
                              
Carina deals with Praetorian protagonist Carina Mitela taking on a mission that turns out to involve a rather large risk.  As always, the stalwart Carina did what had to be done.  It was a suspenseful narrative.  Since I'd already read Perfiditas, which takes place after these events, I knew that Carina would survive.  What I didn't know was whether there would be serious consequences for her actions.  I also didn't know how her superiors in the Praetorian Guards would react.  

My favorite scene in this novella made me a huge fan of Carina's  bond with her grandmother Aurelia.  Aurelia's experience allowed her to make a strong statement of support for Carina which I really appreciated.       

  I continue to be disappointed by the lack of significant Pagan religious content in a community founded by Pagan identified Romans who left Rome because the practice of their religion was outlawed.  In Carina there is a reference to a ritual that sounded like it might have played an important role in the lives of Roma Novans, but it's only briefly described not shown as part of the experience of the characters who attended.  I understand why it was given such short shrift.  Morton is very plot oriented, and this ritual was only incidental to the plot.

Yet I also had another area of disappointment. The fact that Carina took the central character to the independent Republic of Quebec intrigued me.   I hoped that I would learn about another corner of this alternate universe, but this book reveals relatively little about Quebec in Morton's continuity. Again, I understand why there are no long passages about the alternate Canadian milieu.  They would have constituted a digression which would be inappropriate in a fast paced thriller.   I just wanted to know more about Carina's world. 

On the other hand, I thought that the use of "Aquila" as a code recognition sign in communications was a very nice touch in Carina.  Aquila means eagle in Latin.  The eagle was the emblem of ancient Roman legions which had tremendous symbolic significance.   I found an article about it here.  So the utilization of "Aquila" reminds us of Roman military tradition and subtly reinforces Roma Nova's cultural context.

Carina performed the function of being a bridge between Inceptio and Perfiditas very well.  It filled in some blanks in Carina's life while giving us another exciting adventure.