In 67 CE, a young glassblower's apprentice, Leandros, stumbles into the workshop of Hero of Alexandria and witnesses a brass sphere spin with enough force to turn gears. By coupling the aeolopile to pumps and mills, Hero, Leandros, and the Mechanists of Canopus ignite a quiet revolution—grain ground by steam, signal beacons whispered along the Heptastadion rails, and a courier line to Antioch. Rome's Prefect in Egypt, Aulus Sabinus, plans to seize the designs to feed imperial war foundries.
Marcia, a scarred imperial messenger riding the steam-barge Nile Swan, must decide whether to deliver Sabinus's sealed warrant or throw in with the rebel machinists sheltering beneath the Pharos. As riots bloom in Rhakotis and Parthian scouts test an ironclad on the Orontes, the city's ancient libraries hide a final blueprint: a rotary engine that could reshape the Empire. Rivets pop, loyalties shift, and Alexandria becomes a crucible where smoke, salt, and ambition decide whose future the aelopile will power.
Theo Kyriazis (born 1981, Thessaloniki) is a Greek novelist and historian of technology. He studied archaeology at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and earned an MSc in Science and Technology Studies from University College London, focusing on early mechanics in the Hellenistic world. After museum work in Piraeus and field surveys along the Nile Delta, he began writing fiction that blends rigorous research with speculative turns. He lives in Athens, where he teaches night classes on ancient engineering and sails a battered dinghy whenever the Meltemi cooperates.
Look, steam carts on the Heptastadion? Physics, hello. Fun set pieces at the library, but the engineering hand-waving yanked me out again and again.
Solid alt-history with neat gadgets. I never fully clicked with the characters, yet the guild politics around the Mechanists of Canopus kept me turning pages.
La Alejandría de vapor es vívida: el Swan del Nilo, los rieles sobre el Heptastadion y las válvulas de lino aceitado. Sabinus es un antagonista creíble y Marcia tiene una voz dura y humana. Un par de capítulos en Antioquía se alargan, pero el diseño rotativo final es oro.
Loved the Mechanists of Canopus and their grit, especially in the Antioch relay scenes. Some politics around Prefect Sabinus slowed the middle, but the Pharos showdown was worth every page.
Kyriazis balances workshop grime and grand stakes with flair. I could smell the salt spray by the Pharos and hear the rivets ping on the Nile Swan, and the Antioch bazaar scene with the ironclad rumor was a delight. A smart, propulsive take on Roman might versus invention.
The image of the brass sphere whipping valves open while Leandros checks the oiled linen seals feels utterly convincing. The Heptastadion rails and the Nile Swan chapters hum with tension, and Marcia's choice at the base of the Pharos landed hard. Alternate timelines rarely feel this tactile.
