Customer Reviews

Dark Lord (Harlan,Thomas. Oath of Empire,Bk. 4.)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Constantanople has fallen and the armies of Persia stand ready to conquer the western Empire as well. In Rome, chaos has taken control. The Emperor Galen tries to rally his troops while his spies conspire among themselves, his wife gets petty and paranoid, his brother Maxim whines for new magical toys, and the ancient and now undead Julius Caesar tries to decide whether his maste would be better served by allowing Galen to remain in control, or to toss him out.

The Persian armies, together with Greek troops who rebelled against deceitful Constantinople, and Arabs who continue to fight for their lost Mohammed, are buttressed by magic--and have their own undead forces to bear. When the Persians take a detour to Egypt (chasing the McGuffin of a magical viewer), Rome has time to prepare--but fails to use it. Meanwhile, Mohammed lies near death and receives enlightenment. The past mistakes he has made become clear to him as he lies beneath a fig tree.

Author Thomas Harlan has created a powerful and thoughtful alternate universe where Christianity never took hold and where Rome is strengthened by an ancient oath that holds the nation together--at a terrible cost of lost creativity. The Oath was the central issue in earlier volumes in the series, but by now, it has become secondary--just another source of power for the nearly omnipotent Maxim.

In the earlier volumes, a number of characters were interesting and multidimensional even when Maxim became obsessed with his magic to the detriment of those around him. By this volume, most are simplified down to two dimensions. Of the many characters, only Galen and Aurelian seem to have any nobility about them at all (Mohammed might, but he spends the book under a fig tree so this hardly counts). Maxim is critically lazy in allowing others to do his dirty work of seizing the empire (if this is what he wants) or criminally negligent in allowing Julius Caesar to plot against his brother if it isn't what he wants.

Harlan writes fast-paced action and THE DARK LORD is no exception. Fans of the series will want to read this conclusion to the series and see the new world that results from Maxim's assumption of power and his final confrontation with the Dark Lord. Perhaps some fans will join me in hoping that Mohammed and some of the others show up in a surprise book 5 and overthrow the nasty magic-driven world that is created at the end of THE DARK LORD.

I had eagerly awaited this last in the series since getting involved with the story awhile back. However the book failed to live up to the first three and I finished it feeling cheated. The ending alone was incredibly weak especially after all the earlier character building. I noticed the author never went any deeper in his study of the Roman military , till the very end there was no one but centurians and legionares in the Army, no decurians, optimos, tribunes, signifers, etc etc. Also it was repeatedly stressed in the earlier books that magic had little or no effect on the Roman forces, why did it become so successful in the last book? Anyway the story lost my interest about midway and then became work to finish. It does seem like there is a sequel setup but I for one will not waste money on it...

I have enjoyed the series to this point. The tension excitement and intelligence of plot had impressed me. The Dark Lord is a meandering disappointment. While it has some decent action, it is mired in political intrigue and charcterization that is inconsistent with the story. Suddenly Nicholas is a cold blooded killer? Maxian feels he has the time to marry Martina? What happened to his focus? It is amazing that Alexandria is on the edge of destruction and suddenly Rome is mired in base political intrigue. Anastasia's departure was an impressive moment in the series. Here, she is back and Thyatis is again at her bidding. What happened to all the supposed personal change. And WHAT ABOUT THE OATH? This series could be split in two and no reader would know the difference. EVERYTHING in Rome is as it was in the first book. What was the point of earlier rifts (Galen and Maxian, Anastasia and Thyatis, Anastasia and Maxian)? Thier characters have returned to their earlier form with narry an explanation. Helen goes from helping Martina to hating her. Why? To protect her son? Martina is a fool that only becomes threatening when threatened. Why is the clear to everyone except the all knowing Duchess and The Empress of the West? Why does Helen want to rule the East now as well? Didn't she spend last book complaining about how overworked Galen is? It reads like a middle novel in a longer series. Why all the set up and intrigue? So many interesting issues have fallen by the wayside. The fate of Damawand and Ahmet is supplanted by incessant whining from Martina and the now predictable (read boring) invincibility of Thyatis. Shirin's role was ever a weak one. Her presence in this book reads like a soap opera hack job. Dahak is the strongest character in the book, yet his motives and relationship with The Royal Boar are given only a cursory treatment. I like strong female characters, but it seems Harlan felt a balance wasn't enough; almost the whole book is told from the eyes of plotting, complaining women. Is that so terrible? It is when its also boring. Maybe Harlan is on the Robert Jordan Plan. Maybe Tor editors need to start doing thier job.

That author Harlan threw the character Dwyrin away at the end of the third book should have been a major warning sign. Here was a character that Harlan introduced as a youngster and made us care about. Dwyrin is then summarily killed at the close of the third book for no apparent reason other than Harlan didn't know how to fit him into the fourth book.

Further, as mentioned by a prior reviewer, a number of other characters who are nicely developed in the first three books are relegated to bit parts. It might have been better if they had been killed as well. Many are "living dead" in more than one sense.

There are also glaring logical gaps. Galen finds out about Gaius' plot to overthrow him. Does he tell Maxian (who controls Gaius utterly) or have Gais arrested ? No, he sends for the German legions, and then lets Gaius steal them away.

Another problem mentioned in other reviews is the oath not stopping magic. Harlan says "The Oath is weak in Egypt." Why would that be exactly ? Wasn't it created by an Egyptian sorceror ?

Other reviewers have mentioned the loose ends and speculated that this is really just the fourth book of a five book series. The near complete uninvolvement of Mohammed in any action could only be excused on that basis, as well as the undetermined fate of Thyatis. But even if it is a fourth book out of five, I have a major problem.

Harlan, in the fourth book, has fallen into what I call the "Song of Ice and Fire" syndrome. To draw his readers into the story, he uses his narrative skills to craft strong, likable characters and sets up mighty obstacles for them to overcome. However, the more likeable a character is, the more tragedy and failure beset the character. Further, if a character begins to acheive some success, then the personality and attitudes of that character shift so that the character becomes unlikeable.

The appeal is like that of a train wreck or burning building. You read on and on, with hope that good will eventually be rescued and someone will right the terrible wrongs. But except for very minor triumphs, things just get more and more bleak. The noble die or suffer horrible fates; evil triumphs again and again; the good who do have some meassure of success slide into evil.

It has occurred to me that I don't really need to read thousands of pages of fantasy to be depressed by the triumph of evil. I get enough of that from reading the newspaper.

I have been reading Thomas Harlan's Oath of Empire series with admiration and avidity, hardly able to wait for each new book to come out. This latest book, the conclusion, started out as well as the others, with a fast plot, intrigue, and interesting magic, as well as good alternate history. A few chapters from the end, however, I started to see some characters behaving differently from what I expected, and some outcomes disappointing. I expected more of a fight from the Dark Lord himself, and was disappointed in some of the deaths. Also, even though the cover says this is the conclusion, at the end there are a lot of characters still at loose ends; you don't know what has happened to them. I fully expect to see a second series in this alternate Rome judging by the end of this book, and I hope some of my questions about it are answered, as well as some of my disappointments mitigated.

2. If you want to read any of this series of books it is mandatory to start with the 1st and read them in order and probably with no breaks (like reading other authors' books) in between. Lots of threads...lots of characters... lots of differing action. I HATED that a couple of the most interesting and well-developed characters just fizzled out. There SHOULD be a 5th book. I expected a 5th book even though I could only find the 4 (which I made sure that I had before starting the series). When I finished this book...I felt " yeah, now what?". There were many likeable characters and several really unlikeable ones...that means that he wrote them well. But he didn't finish his job well. I really felt like I'd been left hanging out over a cliff. He did so much work writing this...and I put in so many (some enjoyable) hours reading this...I really was let down. I think even an "Epilogue" summing up some of the thread endings would have helped. It makes me not want to chance reading another of his series. Be sure that you have all the books before starting the first...and be assured that I think there are some good hours of reading...but there's a letdown coming at the end. The maps are very good although I could have used a couple more details than were given
in the African parts.

I've been waiting and waiting for my library to get this last book, and when it finally came, I was thrilled! The pace was fast, and the staging was great. I was not thrilled with the alterations made to Martina, but then, she was fairly minor, so no harm done. However, I do have one complaint. There are way too many loose ends! What happens with Mohammed now that he's back? Does Maxian keep his power? Is he truly a god (bit arrogant, there, he was). What happens between Vladimir and Betia? Is Thyatis really dead this time? Was Kore the K'Shapacara queen (assuming that Kore, another name for Hecate, was also the Queen of the Night)? Too many questions were left unanswered, and so I am pleading with Mr. Harlan to give us a fifth book and tie everything up! I admit, I like my books nice and neatly tied up, so a fifth book would be particularly welcome. All in all, though, a gorgeous read! Thank you, sir, for such a lovely series.

I've enjoyed the entire Oath of Empire series. It is pretty ambitious and keeping all the characters straight can be difficult at first, which put me off for a while. But I'm glad I dove in and then finished off the series in one long go.

Despite the complexity, I REALLY enjoyed the great ideas and especially the descriptions of battles and the constant surprises. Readers with any knowledge of history will enjoy the research that went into this, and I could easily envision the battle descriptions (of which there were many). Harlan's experience in gaming and especially his Lords of the Earth clearly had their influences too, which I appreciated, with the various secret organizations and powers waging invisible war.

The Dark Lord itself was a fitting end to the whole series and I'm rather sad it's over (or is it?). I'll be looking forward to Harlan's next books. They are not fast reads, but for me well worth the time because of all the great ideas they contain.

In 625 AD, Augustus Galen knows the Roman Empire that he rules is in deep trouble from the threat of Lord Dahak and the Persian Empire. The star of Constantinople fell three years earlier to Lord Dahak leaving the Eastern Roman Empire teetering on the brink of collapse. Dahak's use of forbidden sorcery like necromancy has led to a near invincible force of living and deceased soldiers.

With their forces led by General Shahr-Baraz, the Persians target Aegyptus as the next strategic place to destroy their rivals. Galen's younger brother Caesar Aurelian leads the Roman forces, but the morale is low, as the Persian militia seems invincible. Defeat here would cause havoc on food supplies for Rome and the knowledge that crossing the Mediterranean is probably the next focus of the Persians. A besieged Galen sees a glimmer of hope in his youngest brother, the strong sorcerer Caesar Maxian and with an alliance with the Queen of Palmya and Mohammed Al'Quraysh though both remember the treachery of the Eastern Roman Empire. The final battle of the war to end wars will determine who will rule earth for millenniums to come.

THE DARK LORD is the final novel in a strong alternate history series, the "Oath of Empire". The fourth tale provides closure to the key themes yet keeps the level of complexities at stratospheric levels rarely found in his sub-genre. However, readers, especially the adrenaline crowd will find that the intricate of the plot requires time to develop and maintain. Still, Thomas Harlan provides quite a coup with this triumphant conclusion to Rome, circa seventh century AD.

Harriet Klausner

My primary complaint about this book, as with the other books of this alternate history series by Mr. Thomas Harlan, lies in the poor writing and the unbelievability of the historical story line.

The military scenes were good. Perhaps this is due to Mr. Harlan's time spent as a PBM game monitor. In any case, this was the best part of the novel.

I never felt attached to any of the characters in this tale, they were shallow and one dimensional. I never felt an attraction to a hero, or revulsion toward a villian. Most damning, I never believed the relationships between characters reflected any real grasp of the historical period used as a backdrop for this alternate setting.

I cannot recommend this book. I will repeat, however, that the scenes depicting battle and all things military have some appeal, and that is why I gave the book two stars.