The Wings of Mercury

Imperium Volume 2, Book 1

By: Travis Starnes

Narrated by: Kevin Kemp

A new war. A new enemy.

Nine years ago, Lt. Commander Ky, a test pilot from the future, was flung back in time to a world that never existed. In this world, Carthage won the Punic Wars and Rome was all but destroyed, pushed back to a corner of the British Isles. That war is over. With Ky's help, the Romans formed a new Britannic Empire, defeated the mighty Carthaginian Empire, and set up a new paradigm in Europe.

For five years, Britannia has led the Western world into peace. They have helped the recovering people from new alliances and nations, creating a more or less unified Europe. But the time of peace has ended. Shattered by a sudden, unprovoked attack from the East, using weapons equal to those developed in Britannia, war has returned. Now, Britannia rallies the Western countries into a new Western Alliance to stave off the Eastern threat.

The first book in a sequel series to Imperium.

©2023 Travis Starnes (P)2025 Podium Audio

Another spectacular entry.

I cannot stress enough how great this series is. Once more Travis has delivered a compelling book in this incredible world.

A Marvelous Piece of Sci-Fi, BRAVO!

Imperium represents the best alternate history plot that I have ever read/listened to. In fact, I could not emphasize enough how much I have been enjoying this series, and look forward to the next volume with anticipation. Hence, I highly recommend this series to most sci-fi aficionados, who are bound to love Imperium as much as I have.
My sincere congratulations to Travis Starnes and the narrator - Kevin Kemp!

More please

Hurry up and get the other book read. Very good storytelling and the narrator is just about perfect.

Another great book!

The war continues with the adversary in the east. I Can't wait for the next book!

Can’t wait for the next one!

There is some combination of genres that includes science fiction, time travel, history, and introducing technology or knowledge outside the current timeline with the challenges that creates that I enjoy tremendously, but few authors in this micro-genre really hit it out of the park for me. Often characters that lack depth, getting lost in the weeds of details without a sufficiently compelling storyline, or some other issue fails to engage my imagination in the thought experiment of the problem solving process. Olan Thorensen’s “Destiny’s Crucible” series is definitely my favorite in this micro-genre, but Travis Starnes “Imperium” series now stands in 2nd place. The series faltered a bit for me around the third book, but I’m so glad I kept going. I’m thrilled with this first installment of Imperium Volume II, and anxious to hear the rest. I am perhaps an outlier in the idiosyncrasies of a given series that spark my curiosity and enthusiasm, but if anything in my review resonates with you, definitely give this series a try. The narration is very well done, with most primary characters having clearly identifiable voices, and really adds to the experience. Kudos to Kevin Kemp for the excellent performance. I think Travis Starnes will appeal to a much wider audience than those who have come across his work so far. Taste in books is a very individual thing and I find it useful to know what other authors reviewers enjoy, so in case it’s helpful for someone, my favorites in sci-fi more broadly are Dennis E Taylor, John Scalzi and Andy Weir. Thanks Travis, and please keep the Imperium audiobooks coming!