Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Destiny'S Shield (Hardcover) by Flint & drake ISBN: 0-671-57817-0 Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: 01 July, 1999 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $23.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.57 (14 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Don't wait for the paperback
Comment: I came across a novel on the Baen web page called, "1632" by an author unknown to me, Eric Flint. I read the first 21 chapters on the web page and knew that this was going to be one of the top authors in science fiction. ("1632" is like "Island in the Sea of Time" if it had been was written by Leo Frankowski.) I looked up what other books Eric Flint might have written and found this series, written with David Drake. I quickly read the first two books in the series, then had to buy the hardback of "Destiny's Shield." This is the third book in the series which began with, "An Oblique Approach." I missed reading "An Oblique Approach" when it first appeared at the book stores because I assumed it was just another pseudo historical science fiction novel. It IS set during height of the Eastern Roman Empire, in an alternate universe, but this is a GREAT pseudo historical science fiction novel. There is a certain similarity to "The General" series which David Drake also coauthored, but this is better. With "Destiny's Shield," the series just gets more interesting. I'm hooked, and now I have to wait for the next novel in the series.
Rating: 4
Summary: Another fine book in a great series
Comment: The long expected Malwa invasion of Persia has finally struck and the Persians turn to their ancient enemies, the Byzantine Romans, for help. The ex-Emperor Justinian convinces Theodora to send Constantinople's greatest general--perhaps the greatest general in the history of the world--Belesarius to help. With only ten thousand soldiers, Belisarius will have to work a miracle to survive, let alone defeat the hordes of Malwa arriving from India. Fortunately, Belisarius has been planning a miracle for some time now. The stakes are high. The Malwa are led by Link--an intelligent artifact sent from the future with the goal of eliminating any notion of talent or freedom from the planet.
Belisarius defeats a raiding Malwa cavalry force as he approaches ancient Babylon where the Persian Emperor is beseiged. In the meantime, his Indian ally, Shakuntala, has begun her own campaign against the Malwa occupation of most of India. Belisarius's wife, Antonia is sent to Alexandria to reassert Roman Imperial authority (as was often the case in historical Byzantine Egypt, religious disputes threaten Roman rule) and to create an arsenal for her husband and Shakuntala--and the nucleus for a new front against the huge Malwa armies.
Authors Eric Flint and David Drake again combine in this third novel in the Belisarius series. Flint and Drake deliver a powerful mix of military fantasy (what would Belisarius have done if he had access to effective gunpowder-based weapons), pure tactics, and touches of real historical research.
Even with the greatest general of history, the defeat of a super-intelligent artifact seems a little too easy and occasional modern themes creep in (would holy men like Michael really have been quite so broad-minded about the various Christian faiths at war with one another, and would Anthonia really have so actively worked to protect the Jews of Alexandria?) but that is largely quibbling. DESTINY'S SHIELD makes for a compelling and page-turning (or scroll-bar clicking) read.
Rating: 4
Summary: 3rd book in the Belisariad
Comment: This is really a novel of alternate history, with a few alien SF or before-their-time inventions added to create plot situations for eastern Romans in A.D 531. It's a light page-turner, with something exciting, clever, or anachronistic in every chapter to make it fun. It is written in three parallel streams-General Belisarius allied with Persians to defend Babylon against an overwhelming alien-led Malwa invasion, his wife Antonina attempting to recover Egypt as the foundry of empire, and a rebel empress subverting the Malwa powerbase in the Ghats of India. There's a good balance between plot, lead characters, and military affairs here.
A number of basic cusswords are tipped in for flavor, but battle is fairly bloodless as military fiction goes, with a wry sense of (military) humor throughout. I'm afraid the authors give no organized backstory (what has happened in the previous two books) so this is not the place to discover how history was diverted from its "true" course into this alternate world. And of course there's no closure to the story. The characters have not learned something new but are simply farther along their courses to their destinys in later volumes. Most everyone seems to be a competent, tough, moral, and resourceful soldier to admire. Killers they may be, but you feel they are OUR killers. For Belisarius in particular everything always falls out right. Indeed, it had better if the overwhelming numbers and gunpowder weapons of the Malwa are to be overcome.
 |
Title: Fortune's Stroke by Eric Flint, David Drake ISBN: 0671319981 Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: 26 June, 2001 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
 |
Title: The Tide of Victory by Eric Flint ISBN: 0743435656 Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
 |
Title: In the Heart of Darkness by Eric Flint, David Drake ISBN: 0671878859 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 01 August, 1998 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
 |
Title: An Oblique Approach by Eric Flint, David Drake ISBN: 0671878654 Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: 01 July, 1998 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
 |
Title: 1634 : The Galileo Affair by Andrew Dennis, Eric Flint ISBN: 0743488156 Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: 01 April, 2004 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
