Ben Kane

Ben Kane is the bestselling author of The Forgotten Legion trilogy as well as Spartacus: The Gladiator, a top-three bestseller on the Sunday Times list. A lifelong student of military history, Ben has travelled widely, visiting more than sixty countries on seven continents. Ben's latest book, Sands of the Arena and other stories, was published in September by Orion and is also available from our catalogue.

Who were your literary influences as you were growing up and did you have books around you as a child?

I was a complete bookworm as a child. We had no TV in the house, so books were one of the best ways of entertaining myself. I was known to get through 6 plus books per week. Influences: J.R.R. Tolkien, Rosemary Sutcliff, Ronald Welch, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Wilbur Smith, Louis L’Amour.

What does a typical writing day look like? Do you have prompts or pictures on the wall around you or do you go where the story takes you?

After seeing the kids off to school, I do my best to get to my desk by 0900. Often, however, household chores get in the way. Once I start, I only break for coffee and lunch. If things are going well, I can have my word count (1500/day) by 1500, in time for the kids to come back. If it’s a day they aren’t with me, I can keep working until 1800 or even later. I don’t use prompts or pictures – I never have. Nor do I let the story take me anywhere too random, because I plan out most scenes. Inevitably, things happen that I hadn’t predicted, but in general I know how the story will play out.

Can you tell us a bit about your latest book Sands of the Arena and other stories?

It’s a compilation that came about almost by accident. For the last four years, I have run a Kickstarter campaign whereby I write a novella length story, the topic of which has been voted for by my readers. Three of these are in Sands, as well as two free digital prequels I wrote for the Eagles of Rome trilogy, and a never before published short story about Hannibal. The title story is the result of Authors Without Borders, an initiative I started on Facebook during the first UK lockdown in 2020. For thirteen weeks, I and about a dozen author friends wrote our own (separate) stories on Facebook. I wrote 500 words a day, five days a week. By the end, I had a story that was half the length of a novel! I deliberately didn’t finish it – sorry, readers who have been waiting since then – and this year sold it and the other stories to my UK publisher. A win-win situation.

You are known for not stinting on your research as in your Romani walk in full Roman military kit. As an author do you feel a strong responsibility to get the facts right?

I feel massive responsibility – without a best attempt at historical accuracy, I see no point in writing this type of fiction.

Is there anything you discovered in your research that really surprised you?

There are many things. One of the sweetest over the years were the (rare) tombstones to dogs owned by ancient Romans. The following epitaph is my favourite, and speaks across the centuries:

‘Thou who passest on this path,

If haply thou dost mark this monument,

Laugh not, I pray thee, though it is a dog's grave.

Tears fell for me, and the dust was heaped above me

By a master's hand.’

You have recently published the first two books of your Lionheart series. Was this a challenge for you after previously writing about the Roman period?

It was a really big challenge – quite terrifying, if I am honest. I made the leap, however, and really enjoyed it, so much so that in 2022, I am going to write a novel set in another completely different period.

Do you have your eye on any other historical periods for future books?

Absolutely, lots of them, but if I told you, I would have to kill you!

One book that everyone should read?

Fire from Heaven by Mary Renault, part one of a magnificent trilogy about Alexander the Great. There is no better historical fiction, in my opinion.

What is on your 'to read' pile at the moment?

Ahh! So so many books. Among them:

The Praise Singer by Mary Renault (the last of her seven historical fiction novels, I am saving it until I do not know when. Her gems can only be read for the first time once).

Mayflies by Andrew O’Hagan.

A Pair of Silver Wings by James Holland.

This Is Your Everest by Tom English.

Can you tell us one thing about yourself that your readers may not know?

I travelled alone for three months in 1997, along part of the Silk Road, visiting Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, China and Pakistan. The trip of a lifetime.