Years after the murder of Julius Caesar, his adopted son Octavian has succeeded him as a powerful force in Rome, if only as a senator with a large personal army.

Octavian's nemesis Mark Antony has left Italy for Egypt, where he has fathered three children with Cleopatra, and his declaration of Caesarion as Caesar's legitimate heir incites war with Rome.

[1] Asked about his choice of setting, Livingston said: As a series, the Shards of Heaven trilogy is about resolving a hidden "truth" behind the mythologies of our world, and the threads that I needed for this all come together in a fierce knot during the first century before the Common Era.

[4] He said that the image, created by Larry Ronstant, was inspired by the covers of Bernard Cornwell historical novels such as 1356, and features "roughed up" Roman centurion armor as would have been worn by Vorenus and Pullo.

"[8] In a blurb featured on the novel's cover, historical novelist Bernard Cornwell called The Shards of Heaven "a brilliant debut", writing that "Livingston has spiced real history with a compelling dose of fantasy!