The entertaining and gripping tale of Belisarius, a fifth-century general of the (Eastern) Roman Empire under the emperor Justinian. And yet, it's not really historical fiction, as there's a science-fiction twist that significantly changes things. Technically, saying more about the twist would be a spoiler; however, it's mentioned right on the front cover (at least of the paperback edition I have), so it's not exactly going to be a surprise for most readers. Still, try not to read the outside of the book first; I think not knowing would be more fun.

I didn't realize when I started it that it was the first of a series. Sometimes I'm annoyed by the discovery, because I wasn't planning to make a trilogy's worth (or in this case, five book's worth) of investment. But this book made me happy, because the authors didn't try to wrap this huge story up in one volume, and I have every reason to expect I'll enjoy the remaining ones just as much. ( )

I had rather hoped I would hate this book. Seriously. Many years ago, when I first purchased my Kindle, I downloaded dozens of books from the Baen free library. That included the first four books in this series. Those books, along with many other free/cheap books that I downloaded around that time period, have resulted in an overwhelmingly large list of books that I’m still trying to work my way through. So I thought, if I didn’t like this book, then I could delete the other three books and make a nice little dent in my list of unread books. Of course, I could have just deleted them anyway. Nobody is forcing me to read them. But it seems like, since I have them, I should at least make the attempt. Who knows? I might really like them.

As it turned out, I really liked this book! I didn’t expect to. I enjoy science fiction, but I’ve never read anything that would be classified as military science fiction and I’m not normally interested in military-types of stories. Furthermore, as I read, I found that the military aspect was quite pronounced whereas the science fiction element was barely there at all. The science fiction element has a major underlying influence, and it wouldn’t be the same story without it, but it’s not front-and-center in the story and so at times I almost forgot about it.

But I really enjoyed the story and, most of all, the characters. Their dialogue was funny -- often laugh-out-loud funny. I cared about the characters, and was always eager to find out what would happen next. I even enjoyed the military parts, because it wasn’t just death and mayhem. There were tactics and strategies and interesting character interactions. Maybe I like military stories after all.

I sometimes felt like things were a little over-the-top. There was a lot of black-and-white in the story and not many shades of gray. Brilliant, amazing heroes of great skill. Horrible, vile villains who couldn’t see past their own evil desires and whose evil desires brought about their ultimate downfall. It also seemed like everything Belisarius did worked out exactly as he planned. Of course, he was a brilliant, amazing general of great skill. And he had brilliant, amazing allies of great skill. And he had some additional advantages as well. But I kept expecting some missteps or setbacks. The lack thereof was unrealistic enough to sometimes pull me out of the story. These are the main reasons this book didn’t get a five-star rating from me. However, despite that, I always found myself rooting for everything to go well for the heroes.

The story may be a little lacking in realism and grit and despair, but it was a very fun story and it made for a good change of pace. I’m glad I gave it a try and didn’t just delete it with the assumption that I wouldn’t like it. It looks like I won’t be deleting those other three books, either! ( )

Read the free Baen elibrary give away version. Not half bad, entertaining. Could do with a lttle editing, reduce the amount of superfluous wordage—tends to ramble a little, or perhaps merely reflects my own lack of interest in the details versus my interest in the overall conflict. Worth a read, doubt if I will ever reread. ( )

Belisauris is an alternate history/military science fiction series based on an actual Bryzatine Roman General. The series is not as rich in detail as the Ring of Fire series but has some of the same elements based a 'what if' introduction of modern concepts into the military/political/social events of a specific period. In this case, the key event is the introduction of two agents from the future: a crystal baed intelligence and a cyborg style possession by a computer based A.I. Belisauris is contacted and recruited by the AIDE, the crystal intelligence while the Link takes possession of humans member of Indian continent race/culture. At the heart is philosophical difference in a culture which honors ability over racial purity/eugenics aristocracy. On the military side, a key element is the introduction of gun powder about 700 years before the historical development and how this plays a factor in the change and evolution of military stragegy and tactics.

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.