Customer Reviews

Lest Darkness Fall & To Bring the Light

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Lest Darkness Fall..." is arguably the novel that began the entire science fiction sub-genre of alternate history. Centering around a Ph.D. candidate studying in Rome in the late 1930s, early 1940s, it tackles the idea question of "What would you do if you had the chance to save the Roman Empire?"

Perched at the very edge of the twilight of the (Western) Roman civilization, it realistically tackles the political, scientific and cultural problems of the 5th and 6th centuries A.D. in southern Europe. De Camp was not only a famous science fiction author (a lesser-known contemporary of Isaac Asimov), but he was a published historian and classicist in his own right. This book showcases all three of those fields in one go - at the height of his writing talent.

The short story paired with this, "To Bring The Light" by David Drake, is less meant as a serious contender in terms of literary quality than an homage to de Camp's work. Dealing with the founding of the Roman civilization in much the way that "Lest Darkness Fall..." deals with it's death throes, it succeeds in showing the David Drake's admiration for de Camp's work.

Ultimately, though, I'd buy the book for "Lest Darkness Fall...": it's a surprisingly ignored but wonderful novel that paved the way for what has become an entire sub-field of science fiction. Whether you like alternate history or not, though, this book should not be missed.

Martin Padway, mild-mannered archaeologist, is visiting Rome when he is thrust backwards in time... all the way back to the sixth century A.D. The Roman Empire is fading fast... facing foes on all sides... with the thousand-year blight we now know as the Dark Ages fast approaching. Can a single man -- Padway --change history and prevent the fall of Rome? Nothing less than the 'Age of Enlightenment' hangs in the balance.

The literary descendent of 'A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court', de Camp lets Padway grapple with raw issues. I found these areas the story's most interesting sections: how to make a living, having arrived with only modern currency in hand... how to avoid the authorities, given their proclivity to brand any new technology 'witchcraft'... how to assemble allies, fend off enemies and stay healthy in an environment not conducive to outsiders.

Because it was written in 1939, there is a level of 'political incorrectness' that is entertainingly fresh. Italian women, Muslims, the French and others are insulted with broad brush-strokes. Nonetheless, it is historically informative, important from a literary standpoint and makes for interesting reading. Despite its age, it is a fluid, fast read. de Camp had a lot of interesting things to say... and said them well.

"Lest Darkness Fall" is considered a classic of science fiction, and justifiably so. If you enjoy "displaced in time" stories, or if the idea interests you, you can expect to like the book. The hero is a PhD-to-be who gets mysteriously plunged back to Rome in its declining years, and takes it on himself to use what he knows and avert the coming dark ages. It is funny in places, sad in a couple of places, and exciting all through. The other part of this book is a rather forgettable story by an excellent writer, David Drake. If you enjoy this book, look up "Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen" by Piper, or "Island in the Sea of Time" by S.M. Stirling

This book pairs L. Sprague de Camp's "Lest Darkness Fall" with David Drake's "To Bring The Light". Also included is an introduction by Harry Turtledove. "Lest Darkness Fall" is one of the earliest examples of Alternate History, and is by far the best of the two stories in this book. In 1952 it was ranked 11th on the Astounding/Analog All-Time Poll, and in 1956 it was ranked 20th on the same poll. It is a shame that this story has been largely been forgotten since then, since it is clearly well researched and a real pleasure to read.

It is the story of Martin Padway, a student of history who is in Rome working on his thesis. He is sent back in time, to the year 535 A.D., when a lightning bolt strikes him. After realizing his position, he decides to try to prevent the Dark Ages, and finds himself increasingly pulled into the politics of the time. It is a fairly short novel, and well worth reading.

"To Bring The Light" is clearly based on "Lest Darkness Fall". In this story the main character is Flavia Herosilla, a well educated woman living in Rome in the year 751 A.D., during the celebration of the city's 1,000th birthday. As with Martin Padway, she is sent back in time by a lightning strike. She is sent to the time of the founding of Rome. Unlike the first story, where Martin Padway tries to change history, Flavia tries to recreate the founding of Rome based on the legends that she knows.

"Lest Darkness Fall" is a classic that should be read by anyone interested in Alternate Histories. "To Bring The Light", though not as good, is still an interesting story, and makes a good companion to "Lest Darkness Fall".

Lest Darkness Fall is an engaging story that takes place in a period and location not usually the focus of alternate history: 6th century Italy. Knowing little about the real history of Italy during this period, I realize I missed some of de Camp's more nuanced references. And I am not a big fan of military history, which works its way into the last chapters of the book. But it was all great fun--and highly recommended.

It is a mark of the quality of this book that it has never been out of print since it was published several decades ago. This is the book that started the genre of alternative history. He throws his hero, Martin Padway, into dark ages Rome with only the contents of his pockets and his wits. Can a modern man make a comfortable life for himself in the ancient world?

It is a short read, but very well written. Le Camp builds us a time travel theory and a whole world in the past without needing to engage in in-depth world building. And for students of Byzantine history, it covers an interesting era when Justinian tried to reel the Ostrogothic run Italy back into the Eastern Roman Empire. Apart from the alternative elements the book is very historically correct.

As a bonus you get the David Drake novella "To bring the light" another alternative history about the founding of Rome.

A while back, being interested in time travel stories and alternate universe stuff, I found this small tome and decided to buy it. Best purchase I have made in a long time (like others I have read and re-read this one until the pages are dog-eared). Dr. Padway's character is thoughtful and intelligent (being so and writing him that way are two entirely different things showing off deCamp's brilliance at character development). This Conneticut Yankee (Padway), instead of lamenting his predicament (i.e. being catapulted to 500 a.d. at about the moment Rome falls for good), immediately goes about to see if he can change history (ah, parallel time line development), and finds out how tuff that can really be. Even making friends you can trust is a bit of a challange. The only thing I find wouldn't work today is that in deCamp's time they still taught Latin in the grade/high schools/colleges as required material so that Dr. Padway at least has some familiarity with the language in the Rome of otherwhen and allowing him to overcome that "very" nasty barrier with some ease. A highly recommended book.

Lest Darkness Fall was one of the first great alternate history books. Since the time travel isn't given a plausible explanation it was initially considered to be fantasy. However it's mostly too real to be fantasy. Since it was written in the 30's it was a little dated, but not too badly. Also it takes place in the age of Theodoric & Justinian which I thought was after the "fall" of the Western Roman Empire. Still, it's funny & interesting to a history lover like me.

In this classic of time-travel originally published as a short story, academic Martin Padway is jolted back into the waning days of the Roman Empire. He then sets out to prevent the fall of the Roman Empire by introducing various technological innovations and inventions, which culminate to catapult him to a position of high political and military power. Of course since Martin is an academic in a certain field, he manages to have enough classical Latin to muddle along until he learns the Latin of the times. he is also suspiciously adept at figuring out how to remake certain modern tools with the materials at hand, most notably a printing press. And when he needs to be, he becomes remarkably politically subtle and charismatic. Altogether, rather contrived, but fun.

Well written and entertaining, Lest Darkness Fall is well worth the cover price. Travelling to a period of time that most time travel novels ignore, the idea of a modern day man in Roman times is a wonderful twist on the "done to death" time traveller genre.

I think the only complaint I have about this book is that it is too short. Many of the novel ideas found in the story aren't explored to their potential.

After you read this book, check out, The Cross-Time Engineer by Leo Frankowski. This five part series got five star ratings for four of the five books at Amazon.com! (The fourth book got a 4.5!)

Frankowski's books take this type of time travel book to its logical conclusion and fully explore many of the wonderful ideas found in this book.