If you are a fan of Alternate Universe (AU), then you will surely like this one. It is first in the series of 6 books. The series deals with the fight between ‘The New Gods’ and ‘The Great Ones’ in the far far future spilled into the far far past (era of Roman empire). The New Gods are using Malwa empire of India to weed out any genetic pollution that gave raise to ‘The Great Ones’. And ‘The Great Ones’ have sent an aide calling upon the help of one of the greatest generals of all the time – Belisarius. The beauty of the series is that the weapons, though from concepts in future, are made indigenous with the materials available in that era.
The first book introduces the reader to almost all the players of this series. This book justifies making Belisarius the protagonist of the story. From the battle field of Mindous to the heartland of India – the story tells us why Belisarius is considered one of the greatest generals. The second aspect of the story that will catch immediate attention is how each character has his or her part in the whole strategy planned out by Belisarius. From the prince of Auxum to the Majarashtra rebel leader Raghunath Rao – everyone shines brightly. Though Belisarius is the protagonist, his allies are not cannon fodder. Each is a legend in his (her) own right, be it Valentinian, Sittas, Maurice, Antonina from Rome or Eon, Wahsi from Auxum or Raghunath Rao, Kungas from India. The third aspect is the humour prevailing throughout the series. Most of the time the humour comes from the veterans’ thoughts about their general’s schemes. It has got the classic touch of Eric Flint.
So all-in-all its a good read. For me it was one sitting read. I came across this while searching for AU fictions. You can get it free of cost from this link
http://www.baen.com/library/0671878654/0671878654.htm
So go ahead, read it and give your comments. Thats it for now.
