Ben Kane was born in Kenya and raised there and in Ireland. He studied veterinary medicine at University College Dublin but after that travelled the world extensively, indulging his passion for ancient history. Now he lives in North Somerset, where he researches, writes and practises as a small animal vet. He is author of The Forgotten Legion, recently reviewed by Simon A, and The Silver Eagle and is currently working on the third novel in the series.

We intruded in to to his inbox to ask about his writing habits, his historical passions and his views on the use of animal entrails for forecasting the future…

We always like to ask – are you a bookgeek?

Yes! I grew up in a house with no TV, so books were my main form of entertainment.

When you are writing do you have an audience in mind?

Yes, I think all writers do. I aim my books at people like me – who love military historical fiction a la Bernard Cornwell / Wilbur Smith / Simon Scarrow style.

What is the best piece of writing advice you’ve been given?

Write every single day.

Where do you do most of your writing?

In my ‘office’, which is essentially a little room in my garage outside the house.

Do you read reviews/critiques of your books?

Absolutely. While they might cut close to the bone from time to time, I have learned a lot about what people think of my books, and been able to learn some (I hope) ways to improve my writing from them.

What made you decide to write books set around the Roman Empire?

It was a toss up between the Romans and the Vikings, and the Romans won – possibly because I was working in Northumberland at the time I started having ideas about writing. While there, I visited countless Roman sites and museums on Hadrian’s Wall.

Rome is, and probably always will be, a very popular topic for historical fiction. Did you embrace, or avoid, the competition?

I took enormous heart from the fact that first Conn Iggulden and then Simon Scarrow were getting published AND being successful. Because I love books about the Romans, I read and enjoyed them too.

Where did you get the idea for the central premise of the books, the notion of a whole Roman Legion being captured and taken in to service far to East?

In 1997, I took a trip to Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, western China and Pakistan. The ‘Stans’ trip, I called it – I was following part of the ancient Silk Road. While visiting the ruins of a city called Merv, in the desert in Turkmenistan, I read a couple of lines in my guidebook about some Romans who had ended up prisoners there after a battle. Intrigued that Roman soldiers could have ended up so far from Rome, I did some research upon my return to the UK, and found the story to be true. I then promptly forgot it, but when searching for an exciting idea for a book after I’d been signed by my agent, the idea of following those prisoners’ story popped up again. It all went from there…

Your characters rely on the Haruspex Tarquinius to tell them the future and that shapes their actions and attitudes. Do you believe such powers are real?

That’s the second time I’ve been asked this question! No, not at all.

Outside the Roman Empire, what other periods and peoples do you think you might like to write about in future?

My publishers have been good enough recently to buy my next trilogy, which is about the second Punic war between Rome and Carthage – the one with Hannibal in it. So I’ll be writing about Romans for another three years anyway. However other topics I love include the Vikings, and the Middle Ages or the 1800s, so I have plenty of scope for new ideas.

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