The SoapVox

Well, the sixth and last book of the “Belisarius Saga” is out…and it’s a worthy ending to one of the best what-if SF series written in the last few decades.

The series starts with “An Oblique Approach”, in which we get to meet the main characters of the story:

• Belisarius: Our hero :) Based on the general that, in our history, conquered the old Roman Empire for his Emperor, trying to bring the Bizantinian Empire back to the old glory of the Roman Empire. This time, he’s the one chosen to save the future of humanity.
• Aide: The envoy from the future. A “jewel” sent from the far far far future back to Belisarius’ time to warn him of the mingling of the New Gods into the affairs of humanity, trying to change the stream of time so the end result will be different from what comes from our historical line. Aide is a thinking being, part of a race created by the humans that exist in the far far far future.
• Justinian: The Emperor of the Bizantinian Empire (also known as the Eastern Roman Empire), probably one of the 3 smartest Emperors in Rome’s history, he’s also considered one of the most disliked Emperors in Rome’s history, due to his personality. In our historical line, Justinian sends the Bizantinian Empire into bankrupcy when he sends Belisarius to re-conquer the old Western Roman Empire, trying to re-kindle the old glory days of the Roman Empire.
• Theodora: The Empress of the Bizantinian Empire. Probably one of the most shrewed politicians in the history of the Roman Empire (and that is a hell of a list to compete against! :) she started her life as a “dancer/actress”, aka hooker, when she met Justinian, then just a plain villager. Her former life made her a very distrusting person, specially towards males, but she loves Justinian and stands by him through and through.
• Antonina: Belisarius wife and, historically, one of the few (some historians say only) friends of Theodora, probably due to the fact that she also was a “dancer/actress” before meeting Belisarius and becoming his wife. Where Belisarius is logical and thoughtful, Antonina is emotional and intuitive, coming to decisions from the gut and not from thinking through them.
• Sittas: Roman general, close friend of Belisarius. Boisterous, lound mouthed and lazy, but also faithful and loyal, he becomes part of the “conspiracy” led by Belisarius to save the Roman Empire.
• Michael of Macedonia: Stylite monk, considered almost a living saint in his lifetime. Strong willed, full of faith in Christ, he is the first mortal to meet Aide.
• Anthony Cassian, Bishop of Aleppo: Belisarius friend and, in a way, spiritual guide. One of the early supporters of Belisarius’ work at trying to save the Empire.
• Maurice, Valentinian and Anastasius: Part of Belisarius’ bucellarii, the elite cavalry unit sworn to him. Maurice trained Belisarius from his beginings in the Army, and became his military right hand. Valentinian and Anastasius are considered the deadliest of all his bucellarii and usually end up stuck with the job of personal body guards for their general..and are funnyly unhappy about it :)
• Eon Bisi Dakuen: The young prince of the Axum Empire of Ethiopia. Strong as Hercules, with a heart larger than his strenght, he becomes one of the guiding lights of the struggle against the Malwa Empire.
• Link: The ultimate bad guy/girl/it :) I can’t say much about Link without giving away some of the plot…and I hate doing that lol!

The books in this series are, in order:

1. An Oblique Approach
2. In the Heart of Darkness
3. Destiny’s Shield
4. Fortune’s Stroke
5. The Tide of Victory
6. The Dance of Time

Those links go either to a teaser (first few chapters of the book) or to the whole book in electronic form, depending on if it’s been published on the Free Library (which is one of the things I love about Baen).

If you like what-if SF or if you like history or if you like good SF, this series will make you happy…go ahead, read it :)

technorati tags: Books, Science Fiction

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!!