Sunship - Maggie Morris Wyllie

Siva, once an astronomer in Alexandria, now finds himself far from the secrets of the cosmos, thrust into the blood-soaked lands of Roman Britain, where he must choose between the world he once knew and the brutal reality of war.

"The little ship, carved from a slice of carnelian hung from its copper disk.

'Look,' I said, 'that's the sun, and that's the ship of a god called Ra. He sails across it every day.'"

Siva Ostorius, once a prized scholar in Rome, is summoned to Britain in A.D. 44, where the XX Legion Valeria Victrix leads the invasion. Captured by the Painted People, fierce tribes who defy Rome's rule, Siva's life is spared by the sacred sunship talisman he carries. Sworn into service under Caractacus, the leader of the British resistance, he becomes a spy within the Roman ranks, sending secret messages hidden inside his sunship talisman. Alongside Claudia, the daughter of a pro-Roman king, and Cal, a gladiator bound for the arena, Siva's transformation from slave to warrior unfolds as he fights for Britain's freedom.

But as the cohorts advance and the final battle draws near, Siva must face his greatest challenge. Will the protection of his sunship be enough to save him from the horror to come, or will the tides of war sweep him away, as they have so many others before?