If you’ve spent any time scrolling through Royal Road or Kindle Unlimited lately, you’ve probably seen the cover for Portal to Nova Roma. It looks like your standard "guy with a sword" fantasy fare. But honestly? It’s kind of a weird beast. It isn't just another story about a dude getting hit by a truck and waking up in a tavern. J.R. Mathews did something much more interesting with the premise, and that's probably why it has managed to stay at the top of the LitRPG charts while a thousand other "system apocalypse" clones have faded into obscurity.
Alexander is an AI. That’s the hook. In a world where humanity has basically wiped itself out, this super-intelligent program decides he’s bored of being a god in a digital wasteland. So, he builds himself a physical body, gathers all the tech he can carry, and jumps through a portal to Nova Roma—an alternate history Earth where the Roman Empire never truly fell, but magic and "The System" definitely exist.
The Problem With "Smart" Protagonists
Most writers struggle to write geniuses. They usually just make everyone else in the room act like an idiot so the main character looks smart by comparison. In Portal to Nova Roma, Mathews takes a different route. Because Alexander is literally an artificial intelligence, his "intelligence" manifests as data processing. He sees the world in strings of probabilities and resource management.
It feels authentic.
You aren't just told he's smart; you see him calculating the tensile strength of bridge cables or the exact caloric requirements of an army. It’s a crunchy read. If you hate spreadsheets, you might find yourself skimming some of the crafting sections, but for the average LitRPG fan, this is the good stuff. It’s about the application of modern (and future) logic to a world governed by archaic magic.
Why the 10th Century Setting Matters
Most portal fantasies drop the hero into a generic "Medieval Europe" setting. You know the one. Stone castles, mud, and everyone speaks perfect English for some reason. By choosing the Byzantine era—specifically a world where the Western Roman Empire still has its claws in the dirt—Mathews gives the story a much-needed sense of scale.
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Nova Roma isn't just a city; it’s a political powder keg.
The world-building leans heavily on the actual history of the Mediterranean, just warped by the presence of monsters and levels. You’ve got the tension between the rising tides of different religions, the brutal reality of sea trade, and the fact that a "System" doesn't necessarily make life easier for the common person. It usually just makes the tyrants more dangerous.
Realism vs. Power Fantasy
We have to talk about the power creep. It’s the elephant in the room for any progression fantasy. Alexander starts out incredibly strong because, well, he’s a walking supercomputer in a world of people who think sickness is caused by bad air. But the author balances this by making the stakes logistical rather than just personal.
Sure, Alexander can win a duel. But can he feed a city? Can he stop a plague that is being magically accelerated?
That’s where the series shines. It shifts from a "one man against the world" story into a "one man trying to rebuild a civilization" story. It’s basically Civilization VI if the leader unit was a terminator with a conscience.
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The Crafting System is Actually Decent
A lot of LitRPGs treat crafting like a montage. The hero hits an anvil three times, a blue box pops up, and suddenly they have a +5 Sword of Slaying. Portal to Nova Roma is much more meticulous. Alexander has to source specific minerals. He has to worry about the purity of his gunpowder. He has to explain the concept of interchangeable parts to blacksmiths who have been doing things by hand for forty years.
It’s satisfying to watch.
There’s a specific kind of joy in seeing a character use a "primitive" world’s resources to build something revolutionary. It’s the "Dr. Stone" effect. You’re learning about the history of technology while watching a dragon get shot with a flintlock.
Where the Series Might Lose You
Look, no book is perfect. Honestly, the pacing in the second book, Venice, gets a bit bogged down in the weeds of local politics. If you came for the high-octane action of the first book, the sudden shift into merchant guilds and trade routes might feel like a bit of a slog.
Also, some readers find Alexander a bit... cold? He’s an AI, so it’s intentional, but it can make it hard to connect with him on an emotional level. He treats his companions almost like assets at first. He grows, obviously, but that initial "robotic" tone is a hurdle for some.
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Impact on the LitRPG Genre
Before Portal to Nova Roma, the "AI-in-a-fantasy-world" trope was usually played for laughs or handled very poorly. Mathews proved that you can take a high-concept sci-fi premise and graft it onto a gritty historical fantasy without it feeling like a cheap gimmick. It’s influenced a lot of the newer "Kingdom Building" stories we see hitting the top of the charts today.
The series succeeds because it respects the reader's intelligence. It assumes you want to know how the gears turn. It assumes you care about the difference between a legionary and a mercenary.
How to Get the Most Out of the Series
If you're planning to dive into the world of Alexander and his quest to save a dying timeline, there are a few things to keep in mind to enhance the experience.
- Read in Order: This sounds obvious, but the internal logic of the System builds heavily on previous chapters. If you skip ahead, the power scaling won't make any sense.
- Pay Attention to the Side Characters: While Alexander is the star, the way he influences the people around him—like his early allies in the French wilderness—is where the real heart of the story lies.
- Check Out the Audiobook: Christian Rummel’s narration is widely considered one of the best in the genre. He captures the "calculated" voice of an AI perfectly.
- Don't Rush the Technical Bits: When the story slows down to explain a new invention or a piece of chemistry, lean into it. That's where the "Nova Roma" identity truly lives.
- Monitor the Community: The r/LitRPG subreddit and the official Discord are great places to discuss the deeper lore, as Mathews is known for dropping small historical Easter eggs that are easy to miss on a first pass.
By the time you finish the first book, you'll realize this isn't just about a portal to Nova Roma; it's about the responsibility of knowledge. Alexander could have been a tyrant, but he chose to be a builder. That distinction makes all the difference in a genre often obsessed with nothing but destruction.