Spotlight | Guest Post | The Path of Redemption by Tom Haward – A Gripping Alternate History Where Secrets Can Shatter Empires

"The Empire teeters on the edge of collapse, and one whispered truth could send it crumbling into the dust."

👋 Welcome to the Tour!

I’m delighted to welcome you to my stop on the Goddess Fish Promotions virtual book tour for The Path of Redemption by Tom Haward. This gripping alternate history saga pulls you into a world where fractured empires, rebel uprisings, and personal redemption collide in a high-stakes battle for survival.

Today, Tom is joining us with a guest post on a topic every writer contemplates — the pros and cons of writing in your genre. From the creative freedom of alternate history to the ever-changing tides of reader demand, Tom shares his candid thoughts on navigating genre expectations while staying true to your story.

You’ll also find an exclusive excerpt to whet your appetite and a $10 Amazon/BN gift card giveaway you won’t want to miss. So, grab a drink, settle in, and let’s explore the world of The Path of Redemption.

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🔻 Keep scrolling to enter the giveaway! 🔻

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✍️ Guest Post by Tom Haward on "Pros and cons of writing in your genre"

As readers, we often think of genres as a helpful guide to finding our next favorite book. But for authors, writing within (or outside) a genre can be a balancing act between creative passion and market expectations.

Today, Tom Haward, author of The Path of Redemption, shares his candid thoughts on the challenges and rewards of writing alternate history and dystopian fiction. From shifting reader trends to the imaginative power of “what if,” Tom reflects on how genre choice shapes a writer’s journey. Now, let's get right to Tom's thoughts.

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I think many of the pros and cons of writing in any genre come down to who will read the genre you’re exploring. And getting people to read your genre becomes even trickier when you’re not sure which genre to place your book in. So much of writing is about expressing and telling a story you love, to the world. In doing that you’re putting your everything into it because you feel such an  affinity with the characters and with the story you’re crafting. There’s a gamble though: will the story you’re writing and the genre it’s in be what people are avidly searching for as their next read?

When I started writing The Path of Chaos (the first book in this series which The Path of Redemption concludes) I had dystopia as the genre I was slotting in to. I had Philip K Dick as my anchor influence and that was a massive pro for me. Alternate history (like The Man in the High Castle) was my influence, along with the dystopia of Hunger Games and films like The Book of Eli.

Writing in the shadows of those was massive pro for me because I knew there was a desire out there to read more of that genre. The con though, was that these desires go in waves and other genres take centre stage (Romantasy) which makes what you’re writing feel dated. It’s hard to write a genre that’s current because by the time you’re published it’s like you missed the boat.

But I do think every genre has a consistent pro, because people’s reading habits change like the seasons and every genre has its moment. I love the dystopian genre because it asks the reader to go on the journey of asking, what if? That’s a wonderful thing to explore. In The Path of Redemption the reader is asked to imagine a world where the USA was never formed or colonised. The reader is asked to imagine a Britain without a monarchy. The alternate history/dystopian genre is a great way to flex your imagination muscles on different realities and that is one of my favourite pros about it.

“The dystopian genre asks the reader to imagine—what if? That’s a wonderful thing to explore.”

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📝 Book Details

The Path of Redemption
By Tom Haward
Series: The Path of series #3
Published by Cinnabar Moth Publishing LLC on 5 August 2025
Genres: Alternate History
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback
Pages: 292

With Grand Protector Faust missing and Caesar dead, Senator Frigus is trying to hold the fraying threads of the Empire together by keeping this information secret. The Empire is already fragile, and if the truth spills onto the streets of Rome and beyond, the Empire could crumble.

Faust is prisoner of the giant Bjorn Askå and his cellmate is the rebel leader, Boatman King. Abducted by Askå, they're now part of his grand plan to rule the entire world, with the Empire his next target. Can Faust and Boatman forge an alliance or are their own ambitions stronger than any desire for a truce?

A continent away, Bella, Maverick and the other rebels have escaped to the RIA where they lick their wounds from the disaster of Faust and Askå's attack on their underground headquarters. They believe they have covered their tracks and hope the 35, leaders of the RIA, will equip them to take the fight to Rome again, this time with the advantage of surprise.

Olivia King, though, she is tired of the fight. Traumatised from being tortured at the hands of Maximus Nero and conflicted about her husband's relentless desire to crush Rome, she is unsure whether she has the energy to keep fighting those who have caused her so much pain.

With the world and its people in turmoil, one thing is for certain: chaos remains in a world needing redemption.

 

You might like to read my review of Path of Chaos, Book One of the series, and my spotlight on Book Two, Path of Revenge.

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📚 Where to Find The Path of Redemption

Available on Amazon:

🛒 PAPERBACK   |   HARDCOVER

Path of Redemption by Tom Haward

If the above links don’t direct you to your country’s Amazon page, please feel free to contact me—I’m happy to provide the correct link.

Using my Amazon affiliate links doesn’t change the price you pay. Amazon shares a small commission with me, which helps keep this blog running—thank you!

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Do you prefer to shop locally?
🛍️ You can also purchase The Path of Redemption from your favorite indie bookstore online.

Bookshop.org is an excellent option that supports indie authors—and book bloggers like me—while avoiding the big-box route.

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📖 Excerpt from The Path of Redemption

Southwark London 2030

Marcus flipped his eyepiece up and walked away from the vantage point he’d found for spying on what Maximus was doing. There were other crosses lining London Bridge, but in the cold January night, the bodies nailed to those crosses were quiet. If any were still alive, they were conserving energy, swapping between trying to breathe and trying to push themselves up on their nailed feet so their lungs were able to intake some life-saving oxygen. The orange glow of street lights showed the odd misty puff of breath feebly forming and then dispersing, like death swatting away the attempt at clinging on to life.

Indeed, the early morning, just before the arrival of dawn, was quiet. Quiet didn’t mean calm and he was feeling the pulse of adrenaline rushing through him. All the soldiers around him were because if they were guarding the son of Caesar then there was a good chance rebels would be appearing. It wasn’t guaranteed, but Maximus wanted to make a show of crucifying someone and he believed twenty-five soldiers as his protection was a necessary element to that.

When Marcus and his comrades were called up to be ready to go immediately, a few soldiers pulled out their phones and texted their loved ones saying they were going on a dangerous shift and to be prepared. Marcus scoffed at their fear and told them so. The response was that Marcus was new to this city and he should prepare himself for encountering Boatman King or The Beast, because that encounter would likely be his last on this earth.

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🎁 Giveaway!

One lucky reader will win a $10 Amazon or Barnes & Noble Gift Card, courtesy of author Tom Haward!

Use the Rafflecopter below to enter. The more entries you complete, the better your chances of winning. Good luck!

📅 Tour runs August 4–15, 2025

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If the widget doesn’t display above, you can also click here to enter the giveaway directly.

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