Customer Reviews

The Misplaced Legion

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Harry Turtledove has said that his life was shaped and molded by reading "Lest Darkness Fall" by L. Sprague De Camp. To my mind this first series by the master of alternate history is a time travel book based loosely upon that previous classic. Elements of one of Caesar's legions are transported forward in time to the Byzantine Empire. Only it's not the Byzantine Empire, it's the Videssos Empire in another universe where magic works. Aside from that, it's the Byzantine Empire written by a Byzantine historian. Aside from just surviving, the hero must prevent his new homeland from being overrun by barbarians "Lest Darkness Fall". For this reason I consider this the best time travel series to a fictitious universe ever written, as well as the best series about a Roman Legion. It is a must read for anyone interested in the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, or time travel.

One of the many things which make this series interesting is that the heroes are from Caesar's Rome. Rome is young energetic vibrant and, most of all, expanding at this time. They are transported to the Byzantine/Videssos Empire while it is in a period of decline. (If it were the real Byzantine Empire, it would be the final decline, but we can still hope for a revival of the Videssos Empire.) The decadence brought by a thousand years of Empire is sharply contrasted with the vibrant patriotism of our heroes who remain unknowing that this is the destiny of their empire too.

This isn't just a military book where the legion moves from battle to battle. This is a much more realistic and complete world where the hero is thrust into the middle of court politics, and has to fight to overcome the shear inertia of the Empire's slide towards collapse. The hero spends more time facing corruption, political intrigue, distrustful monarchs, intolerant monks, and tax collectors than he does facing mounted cavalry units.

I don't want to repeat the excellent review written by Robert, 12 MAR 99, about the warfare in this series. I would like to add though, that this is not a series about a general. This is not a David Drake/S.M. Sterling series about Belisarius. As Robert points out, the hero of this series stands in the middle of the battles, and seldom knows more of what's going on than immediately to his left and right. The battles themselves are mostly standup fights where two sides hack at each other. This is really much more realistic though. Most battles, especially in the Roman era, were fought this way. Even though nowadays it seems like every book we read is about Belisarius, brilliant generals with innovative battlefield ideas come along only once in a thousand years or so. Most battles are fought without them.

"The Misplaced Legion" (Videssos Cycle, Book 1) is followed by "An Emperor for the Legion" (The Videssos Cycle Book, 2), "The Legion of Videssos" (Videssos Cycle, Book 3), and "Swords of the Legion" (Videssos Cycle, Book 4). There are two prequel series about Videssos. The first is the Tale of Krispos series, beginning with "Krispos Rising." This is actually a two book story, which is excellent, and a third follow on novel which is very good. The other prequel, The Time of Troubles series, begins with "The Stolen Throne". This series is entertaining, but not really as good as the first two series.

Although there are ten books about Videssos, there can never be enough. And there are only four books about the Misplaced Legion. There needs to be a sequel series not another prequel. Perhaps "Legion of Videssos: Next Generation" where Marcus's son, born and raised in Videssos, can become Emperor, with Dad and his Legion helping out of course. This could lead to a new golden age for Videssos, and maybe even . . .

This is the first book in a four volume series that I rate as one of the most enjoyable in all fantasy literature. It is, as other reviewers have commented, basically a first century BC Roman legion thrown into the eleventh century Byzantine Empire (which means the Romans are essentially getting a look at the future of their own state), with a bit of magic added for good measure. Videssians are the Byzantines themselves; the Yezda are Seljuk Turks; the Makurani are Persians; the Arshaum are Mongols; the Halogai are Vikings; the Namdaleni are Normans, and so it goes throughout the books.

Turtledove's borrowings extend to place names as well, some of which are carried over without alteration from real place names of the Byzantine Empire. Even specific events are lifted from the pages of history. Two Roman legionaries, for example, Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus are taken, along with their rivalry and deeds, right out of Caesar's Commentaries. The Videssian Emperor, at one point before a battle, stumbles in front of his men, who gasp at the evil omen. Equal to the occasion, he grabs a fistful of sand in each hand and declares that he has a tight hold on his country. Students of history will recognize this as something William, Duke of Normandy was reported to have done when he arrived in England, just before the Battle of Hastings.

But don't let all this fool you into thinking the series is too unoriginal to bother with. These "borrowed" details merely serve to flesh out the story and the fictional world in which it's set. The story itself is quite original, and highly entertaining. What's more, the "fish out of water" motif of the misplaced Roman legionaries allows the author to focus on a great deal of detail of this world without all the exposition seeming tiresome and distracting, and this fine detail also helps to lend the fictional world a greater aspect of reality.

The real strength of this series, however, is its characters. It's a highly character driven story. Never before or since has Turtledove drawn such detailed, unique characters. They really come alive for the reader, each with a distinct, and usually likeable personality, but each with believable, human flaws that also make them convincing. More than anything else, it is the realistic characterization that makes this series worth reading. I picked it up back in '87 when it first hit the stands, and I've reread it countless times since then. It's one of the few series with which I can do that. And each time I finish it, it's with a real sense of regret that it's finished. Those of you who are about to read these books for the first time, how I envy you!

This book opens a wonderful 4-part series on the fate of some 1500 Roman soldiers and one Gallic warrior that are magically transported to another world. They become a mercenary force in the army of the Empire in which they find themselves, quickly becoming embroiled in the battles and political feuding. Mr. Turtledove is the master of alternate histories, and it shows in these books. One advantage of setting this series in an imaginary world, is the ability to mix-and-match military units and fighting styles that would be totally anachronistic on our world. We see "Norman knights", "Viking axemen", and "Mongols" fighting next to our mini-legion. This provides fascinating food for thought for any armchair generals. Sadly, it is food without any seasoning provided by the author. The tactics used in the battles are not well described. All the battles are decided with a ruse, with hardly any blood shed, or fought out in first-person perspective with little more tactical description than who's to the left of whom at the start. Mr. Turtledove has an incredible knowledge of our history and ancient literature, but I'm not so sure of his _military_ history knowledge. We don't seem to see any brilliant _maneuvers_, just straight up hack-and-slash with a little magic thrown in. The other advantage that Mr. Turtledove finds in his use of an imaginary setting is the ability to explore religion and those who follow it, without offending anyone. Don't misunderstand me, this is done with a light hand, and is not at all preachy, but you definitely see the difference between tolerance and extremism. The magic of this book and series, though, is in Mr. Turtledove's characters. While the many long and similar-sounding names of peripheral characters can sometimes get confusing, his main characters are developed with loving care. I found myself feeling their emotions with them, not too far into the series. All in all, this book and the series are excellent reads. I made the mistake of getting the 2d and 3d books in the series at the same time, making for two sleepless nights that week.

Turtledove's style changed sometime in the last 5-8 years or so, becoming much more repetitive in exposition while his characters became even more typecast than before and page counts went up - I have wondered if he is using dictation software to write his current books, as basic establishment comments are repeated dozens of times through them. I would say that by the mid 90's some serious formulaic and realism problems started showing up in his work - he has published 5+ books a year for years now, and the quality gap shows. This series predates this and is a fun book to read.

The general setting in this story is a few roman cohorts, along with a gaulish chieftain/warlord, are magically transported to a world that resembles an inverted map of the byzantine empire well over a thousand years later. In this new world, magic is real and ever-present, and one enemy faction is controlled by honest-to-god demon/devil worshippers. The remaining roman troops are conscripted as mercenaries, and the tribne, Scaurus, becomes embroiled in court politics despite his efforts to avoid them.

Readers of Turtledove's King of the North/Tales of the Fox series will recognize many character stereotypes here, particularly the boisterous fun womanizing gaul (cannot remember how to spell his name). That said, this starts a 4-book series which is well worth the time to read, despite being a bit cliche and in many ways not gritty enough for my taste. (having just read most of glen cook's published work in the last few months, 'gritty realistic fantasy' has become a new concept for me).

Turtledove went on to write 7 more novels in the Videssos enviroment beyond this series, none of which are particularly great and IMHO all are skippable. This series is the one to read.

Enjoyed reading Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" in English class? Thought that "Braveheart" was one of the greatest movies ever? Then you'll love all of Harry Turtledove's Videssos Cycle books.

Close to one thousand Roman legionaries and a Celtic chief are abruptly thrown into the empire of Videssos, where magic is as real as flesh and blood. Hired by the empire as mercenaries, these hardy foot-troops must start their lives over in an alien land win the trust and respect of Emperor Mavrikios Gavras.

Extremely well written, Turtledove creates a completely new universe based slightly on the Byzantine empire, complete with armored knights, sabre-wielding nomads, and the unforgettable Haloga guards, burly men who sing while they hack their enemies with battleaxes.

The characters are also very unique, yet familiar. The Celt reminds readers of Mel Gibson running around in a kilt in "Braveheart", decapitating and otherwise mauling enemy troops, while the Tribune has traces of Captain Kirk in his attitude. We must also include the Senior Centurion, whose attitude is like that of Dr. McCoy, while his logical thinking is Vulcan-like in nature.

If you're tired of those ancient history classes, take a study break and whip out Harry Turtledove's "Misplaced Legion"!

Although this is catagorized as a fantasy, this is more of an epic tale of ancient Rome and the Byzantine empire. Thanfully, Harry Turtledove stuck to his strength in one of his earliest works and that is his knowledge of history, in particular ancient Rome. I say this after having read several of his "fantasy" efforts, and although they are not that bad they are nowhere near as good as his alternate history novels which is what this comes closer to being.

The premise of this novel is that a Roman legion is transported to an alternate universe through the contact of two magical swords. In this alterante universe, which possesses a more than passing resemblence to the Byzantine empire, there is limited magic as well. What makes this novel work is Turtledove's incredibly passionate attention to detail which brings the Roman Legion to life and transports the reader to the Kingdom of Videssos. The only complaint I have with this novel was it was a bit difficult keeping track of all the characters as they were introduced. I belive that had Harry Turtledove written this novel later in his career it would have been quite a bit longer (ala the Darkness books.) but as a fledgling writer his editors probably wanted him to keep the page count down. With the greater development of the characters this would have been a five star book but is stll a very gritty and realistic tale with a true taste and feel of the Roman Empire to it

Stop me if you've heard this one before: A Roman Legion is fighting a band of Celts when somehow some magic spell is activated that transports the Legion (plus one Celt) to some strange new world. The Legion and Celt are forced to cooperate to stay alive and not knowing how to get back or even if it is possible, the Legion takes service in with the local empire as a mercenary band. They are, of course, some of the finest fighters that this Empire has seen and they know battle tactics that the world has never seen.

This is the premise of "The Misplaced Legion." There are, I understand, ties to the Byzantine Empire in how this novel is constructed. If one has knowledge of that era then perhaps this novel will resonate more, but coming into "The Misplaced Legion" without that knowledge of history I was able to appreciate Turtledove's craft just as well.

This new Empire of Videssos is one where magic works and is fairly common. Marcus Scaurus, the Legion Commander finds himself mixed up in the politics of Videssos simply by being a talented mercenary commander and being for a foreign world. He finds himself in opposition to an evil sorcerer and helps lead Videssos against this sorcerer.

Much of this novel deals with the Romans in a new world and their adjustments, but with the battles against the sorcerer and the Yezda (the people the sorcerer belongs to, and leads) the storyline is one that looks to stretch across multiple volumes. This was a very interesting beginning to the Videssos Cycle and while I had never read any of Turtledove's work before, this is a series i plan on investing time into.

-Joe Sherry

Probably the best fantasy series I've ever read (and I've read a few). The depth of the character's really draws you in, and the plot is very deep. I'd recommend this book (and the series) to anyone!

Another triumph by Harry Turtledove. I picked this up because I have read "Krispos Rising" and "The Stolen Throne". This one easily matches both of those books. The pace is quick, characters well detailed and the naration is solid without being overpowering. A good summer read, and I cannot wait to read the rest of the series

Turtledove won me over when I first read this series ten years ago. His attention to detail and character development continues to draw me to his other books. You get a feeling that he spent more time on this book than many others. I couldn't put it down. A must read for Turtledove fans.