Showing results by author "J.R. Mathews" in All Categories

This omnibus edition contains the first three books in the Portal to Nova Roma series, a slow-burn empire-building epic that blends ancient history, magic, and a system-apocalypse setting — in a world where victory is never guaranteed, and peace can only be won through war. Alexander is not human — he’s a rogue artificial intelligence haunted by loss. When the only person Alexander ever cared about dies, he decides to abandon Earth and its misery, opening a portal into alternate realities in search of a place to begin again.

Jake is working at the neighborhood market under his apartment when the world ends. He expected nuclear war, a computer virus, or even climate change burning everyone to a crisp to bring about the downfall of civilization. But cruel and arbitrary gods from another world? Who would have guessed that? When these cruel gods shuffled Earth like a deck of cards, nothing was in the same place anymore. Monsters, dungeons, and magical items appear scattered across the globe. And suddenly, everyone has access to a new, strange magical card system that gives them magical powers.

The long-awaited sequel to Jake’s Magical Market is finally here—and now with more market! Well, not quite yet. First, Jake has to survive a perilous trek through time if he ever hopes to return home to his friends, his market, and his former world. The last time we saw our intrepid hero, Jake had barely managed to escape being trapped on a dead version of his own world. Using a combination of his new powers, he threw himself backward through time, back to when the god that trapped him first rose to power.

The Rhine has been conquered. Venice is safe from pirates-for now. And the eastern kingdoms of France have acknowledged Alexander’s claim to the frontier… and the vast riches that come with it. For the first time, Alexander has built something lasting. An empire with walls, shipyards, and foundries. Warships rise from the docks. Cannons thunder from the forges. Legionnaires stand ready-armed with rifles and revolvers-to face any army foolish enough to test them. But in a brutal medieval world, peace is always an illusion.

After losing the only person he ever cared about, Alexander, a rogue artificial intelligence, opens a portal to an alternate dimension to escape his grief. Scanning trillions of different dimensions, Alexander finally finds a world that is reminiscent of the only time he was ever happy, back when he could play virtual reality games with his only friend. Only this new world isn't full of idyllic adventures and fantasy roleplaying. Instead, Alexander finds himself trapped in the middle of a city where monsters have ravaged the world and the only people alive struggle to survive.

Alexander and his growing legion have managed to escape Nova Roma and, more importantly, learned that the rest of the world may not be as ravaged by monsters as they had all thought. Join them as they set sail for ancient Venice, the Queen of the Adriatic, to try to learn more about the wider world outside Nova Roma. Along the way, they'll encounter a growing plague of deadly pirates, deceitful old merchant families out to quash any new competitors in the region, mysterious new allies, and much more.

As the dust settles on the battlefield of Carthage, Alexander finds himself struggling to cope with the aftermath of war. Plagued by demonic corruption and mental exhaustion, he searches for any means to restore his strength and secure his rapidly expanding empire.

Last time we saw Jake, he was [redacted to avoid spoilers] with [redacted] in order to travel to [redacted]. He had finally learned [redacted] and [redacted]. He was just starting to [redacted]! So join him now on his new adventure as he [redacted! redacted! redacted!]. Ok, no spoilers allowed, but be prepared for a life-changing, world-spanning, time-twisting conclusion to Jake's story!

This is a theme that has fascinated the author throughout his career and even appears in his seminal work Ringworld, where the central character celebrates his birthday by instantly teleporting himself to different time zones, extending his “birthday.” The author also discusses the impact of such instantaneous transportation in his essay, “Exercise in Speculation: The Theory and Practice of Teleportation.”