Wednesday 26 September 2012

Belasarius Saga by David Drake and Eric Flint

I read all six books of this alternative history saga from start to finish. It is set in the time of the Emperor Justinian but his plans to re-conquer the Western Roman empire are scuppered a super intelligent machine
is sent back in time to alter the course of history for malevolent ends. Happily a friendly AI is also sent back to stop this happening and it enlists the help of the great General Belasarius to do so. As the saga unfolds a massive war develops with Roman, Persian and Ethiopian armies fighting an evil Inidan empire controlled by the machine.  By the end of the series we have Roman and Persian armies armies fighting machine guns. It is all a tremendously silly but if are prepared to put aside incredulity it makes for an entertaining read.