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Rhavas was a good, holy, and pious man-and the cousin of the Avtokrator. He would probably have become ecumenical patriarch of the Empire in the capital, Videssos the city . . . if his world had not suddenly and tragically fallen apart when the Empire of Videssos erupted into civil war and the Khamorth barbarians swarm over the borders. As the home he loved was brutally sacked, Rhavas had to flee for his life, then make his way through lands swarming with fierce nomads and with soldiers show more loyal both to his cousin and to the rebel. He may never see Videssos the city again, let alone preside in its High Temple. He has always followed Phos, the god of light and goodness, Videssos' god, and despised evil rival Skotos. Those who fall off the Bridge of the Separator during judgment in the afterlife tumble down to Skotes' ice forevermore. But when evil seems to have swallowed the whole world, what is a cleric who reverences logic as well as goodness supposed to believe? It's a harder question than Rhavas wishes it were . . . particularly when he discovers that his wishes-or curses-now can kill. Has evil Skotos chosen Rhavas as his agent? And can Rhavas resist the temptation to strike anyone down who gets in his way? show lessTags
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This is a bit of a surprising departure for the Videssos books. Unlike previous books that dealt with either the lost Roman legion, or the various Avtokrators and successors, this one deals with a priest of Phos, and his strange adventures. As usual, Turtledove has done his best at creating a believable realistic world. The plot of this one is a little strange though.
Arising from his Videssos canon Mr. Turtledove has written a backstory for the Prelate of Skotos, Rhavas of Skopentzana. Competent but not exciting.
Unless you are so engrossed in Videssos that you have to know all the thoughts rumbling in Turtledove's mind as to why things are what they are in the books he wrote previously. Don't read this book.
As said in other reviews, it is backstory.
Grim backstory.
For the dark side. But who cares? Are we not supposed to be connected to our stories. Don't we want some conclusion that leaves us with peace. Here we have something that fills in a gap that did not need it.
Turtledove is a historian first and maybe something nagged at him to write it, but it makes Videssos seem less than it was before this book.
As said in other reviews, it is backstory.
Grim backstory.
For the dark side. But who cares? Are we not supposed to be connected to our stories. Don't we want some conclusion that leaves us with peace. Here we have something that fills in a gap that did not need it.
Turtledove is a historian first and maybe something nagged at him to write it, but it makes Videssos seem less than it was before this book.
This is a prequel to the Videssos novels (the Krispos series and the Misplaced Legion series) by Turtledove.
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279+ Works 43,110 Members
Harry Turtledove was born in Los Angeles, California on June 14, 1949. He received a Ph.D. in Byzantine history from UCLA in 1977. From the late 1970's to the early 1980's, he worked as a technical writer for the Los Angeles County Office of Education. He left in 1991 to become full-time writer. His first two novels, Wereblood and Werenight, were show more published in 1979 under the pseudonym Eric G. Iverson because his editor did not think people would believe that Turtledove was his real name. He used this name until 1985 when he published Herbig-Haro and And So to Bed under his real name. He has received numerous awards including the Homer Award for Short Story for Designated Hitter in 1990, the John Esthen Cook Award for Southern Fiction for Guns of the Southand in 1993, and the Hugo Award for Novella for Down in the Bottomlands in 1994. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Bridge of the Separator
- Original publication date
- 2005
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- Members
- 98
- Popularity
- 324,847
- Reviews
- 5
- Rating
- (2.97)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 2
- ASINs
- 1
