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The Phoenix Circle

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448 A.D.: the frontiers of the Roman Empire are beset by Germans and Huns, while corruption and religious strife are eating away the strength of the Empire from within. Orestes, a young Roman from a noble family, learns the skills of diplomacy, intrigue,and espionage while serving as a secretary to

Attila the Hun.

Afterwards, Orestes is taken into the Phoenix Circle, a group of high-ranking Romans dedicated to the patriotic defence of traditional Roman values. This involves resisting the increasing influence of Germanic soldiers in the Empire's forces. In so doing, the Phoenix Circle unwittingly accelerates the destruction of what it sought to preserve: the German generals, seeing this rejection of their willingness to serve the Rome, decide to hijack the Empire instead and recast it into kingdoms for themselves.

Orestes' obsession helps to bring this about, endangering himself and his young son. Only the Christians, such as the bitter papal secretary Gelasius and the literally saintly former slave Severinus, see the collapse of the old Empire as a foundation on which to build the mediaeval Christian Europe of the future.

This novel is dominated by a sombre atmosphere of decline and despair,but it is often relieved by episodes of happiness and humour. It is an absorbing read, drawing you into the unstable world of the mid-fifth century, with vivid descriptions of places from Hungary to Gaul and from Rome to Egypt. One yearns to burst into the novel and shout at these people that their attitudes are preparing their own downfall.

"The Phoenix Circle" by Dr. Boris Raymond is an engrossing and insightful novel that examines the changes occurring in western civilization as the Roman Empire succumbs to barbarian encroachment and the growing power of Christianity and dominance of spiritual philosophy in social experience.

Dr. Raymond, a professor of history, sociology, and library science at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, shares his in-depth knowledge of the period artfully, providing a tactile context for each event and insight into the thoughts and ideas that motivated the key players during this period. His characters are well developed and he changes scenes deftly without confusing the reader or disrupting the overall continuity of his tale.

I particularly found his examination of the various conflicts within the early Christian church interesting. He shows us how the princes of the church struggled for supremacy almost like rival Roman generals vying for the scepter and how the church was impacted by changes in secular power when rulers or their consorts supported or opposed various theological positions. We feel the tension of a society whose people, like Attila's hapless secretary, must have felt like they were tied spread-eagled to four horses precariously controlled by duplicitous power brokers from both church and state.

Dr. Raymond's "The Phoenix Circle" reflects the growth of the author in his understanding of the genre of historical fiction since the release of his first book "The Twelfth Vulture of Romulus" and I recommend this work to Roman history enthusiasts and anyone with an interest in how events of late antiquity forged the society we have inherited.

Mary Harrsch, Editor

Roman Times

THE PHOENIX CIRCLE is a very well-thought-out novel of the last decades of the Western Roman Empire. Professor Raymond loves this time period and spent a great deal of time researching it. Then he created interesting characters and intrigues suited to the time. In addition to being growing human beings living gripping lives, his characters also illustrate the division between spiritual and power hunger that intensified as the Empire degenerated. In spite of the problems to be expected when an author is learning the craft of fiction writing, THE PHOENIX CIRCLE will reward its readers with its character development and broad vision.