A parallel can be drawn between this book and the General series. I enjoyed it too. Belisarius, a Roman general, is approached by a friend and an acquaintance with a “magic” crystal that provides visions. The rest of the book is dealing with those visions of the future and working to insure that they don’t come to past.

In many ways the book is the typical, sword swirling, swashbuckling (what is a swash anyway?) action adventure. Being a simple sort, I actually enjoy that genre periodically. I have no recollection of the world being changed by the “Conan” novels, yet I still enjoyed them. (Unless you consider the guvinator in CA as a side affect of the “Conan” popularity.) There are pauses in the action for some forethought and character development. Drake always insures his female protagonists are not victims, even in cultures where they were basically devalued. The hard nosed interaction between the privileged few is entertaining. The banter occasionally eliciting a full blown guffaw is a measure of my enjoyment, in spite of startling my baseball mesmerized bride.

I enjoyed the book, I recommend it. I am going to start the second in the series as soon as I finished writing this review.

ZB9

Read Online: http://webscriptions.net/10.1125/Baen...

A good start to an excellent series. I've heard others complain that this is too close to the Raj Whitehall series, but that is mostly because of the reliance on Byzantine history. The tone is much different, the characters are better drawn. If you like historical fantasies, or alternate histories with a military bent, this is a good series to get hooked on. ( )