Abrivard, marshal of Makuran, has been given an impossible task by his King: destroy the mighty Empire of Videssos. Even as he pondered how to obey, Videssos's legions are on the march, attacking Makuran first. Abrivard finds himself fighting a defensive war, putting his great battle skills to the task of driving the invaders from his home, the land of the Thousand Cities. But even as he struck back at the invader, he realized that force of arms alone would not carry the day, for Videssos's powerful sorcerers were the stuff of legend, and a strong sword arm could not stand against potent battle spell which could strike the mightiest warrior dead, from miles away...
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Harry Turtledove is the award-winning author of the alternate-history works The Man with the Iron Heart; The Guns of the South; How Few Remain (winner of the Sidewise Award for Best Novel); the Worldwar saga: In the Balance, Tilting the Balance, Upsetting the Balance, and Striking the Balance; the Colonization books: Second Contact, Down to Earth, and Aftershocks; the Great War epics: American Front, Walk in Hell, and Breakthroughs; the American Empire novels: Blood & Iron, The Center Cannot Hold, and Victorious Opposition; and the Settling Accounts series: Return Engagement, Drive to the East, The Grapple, and In at the Death. Turtledove is married to fellow novelist Laura Frankos. They have three daughters: Alison, Rachel, and Rebecca.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A repackaging of two older Videssos novels,
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This review is from: The Time of Troubles II (Bk. 2) (Hardcover)
With this book and The Time of Troubles I, the 4-book Time of Troubles novels are being republished. Volume II contains The Thousand Cities, which is told from the Marukaner General Abivard's point of view, and Videssos Besieged, which is told by his counterpart (and foe) the Videssian Emperor. Abivard has come up in the world since the first book in the series (see Time of Troubles I for The Stolen Throne). Now the General to King Sharbaraz, Abivard finds his problems have gotten more difficult. While he has successfully invaded all the Westlands of Videssos, he cannot find a way to cross the sea into the capital. Meanwhile the Videssan army is now striking back, using their navy to place troops wherever they wish. King Sharbaraz expects Abivard to win more and more battles while offering fewer resources and troops. And his wife Roshnani, while always offering able counsel, contines to urge big changes in Marukan society.Videssos Besieged is again told by now-Emperor Maniakes, who is losing support as the war continues to falter. Tax revenues are almost non-existant with the Marukan army occupying most of the West, and the Kubrati invading from the North. Now he's losing the support of the priests and the people for committing incest; he married his first cousin and he's quite happy about it. Turtledove shows us his background as a technical writer in spending far too long describing a magical spell in forging a document that's just a fantasy version of cut and paste using an actual (squeak!) mouse. Once again the books closely follow the history of the Byzantine Empire, with magic overlayed here and there. This is the same formula, history meets fantasy, used in the Darkness series (which retold World War II as a sword and sorcery epic) and the Peachtree trilogy (The US Civil War). Turtledove, as always, does it well. I can't give the book (the two novels) five stars because the characters are too similar to Turtledove's other heroes: logical-thinking straight-talking types married to women much like themselves. The characters observe repeatedly that war kills people, that women do battle in the birthing bed, and that people are people the world over. The books are enjoyable but don't make the leap to profound.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Videssos Fignts Back,
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This review is from: The Time of Troubles II (Bk. 2) (Hardcover)
The Time of Troubles II (2005) is the second omnibus edition of the Time of Troubles series, including The Thousand Cities and Videssos Besieged. In the previous volumes, Avtokrator Likinios of Videssos assisted Sharbaraz, the rightful heir, to regain the throne of the Marukaner Empire from an usurper. Later Likinios and all his family were executed by a rebellious general and then Sharbaraz tried to put a puppet on the Videssian throne.After years of misrule, Maniakes, son of Maniakes, led a revolt against the usurper and was crowned as the Avtokrator of the Videssian Empire. Then Maniakes had to fight against the Marukaner King of Kings that he had helped to restore to his throne. Unfortunately, the Videssian army was understrength and had lost its confidence after continuous losses against the Makurans. Avtokrator Maniakes concentrated on the Kubratoi, using the hammer and anvil technique against the nomads with great success. Then Maniakes started landing troops on the coast of the westlands to hit the Makuraner troops and flee back to the ships. The Videssian troops regained their confidence during these operations. In The Thousand Cities (1997), Abivard is still within Across staring at Videssos the City and cursing the domon patrols in the strait. He is determinely trying to make the priests of Phos preach the heretical doctrines of the Vaspurakaners, but he believes the religious policies of Sharbaraz King of Kings will cause more trouble than otherwise. In Vaspurakan, the Makurans are having even more trouble trying to get the local priests to teach the doctrines of the Makuraner religion. Soon Abivard receives word that Vaspurakaners are revolting. Vshnasp marzban is dead at the hand of the Vaspurakaners and his successor-- Mikhran marzban -- needs assistance to put down the revolt. Abivard gathers up all the troops in Across and rides off to Vaspurakan. He doesn't try to take the Vaspurakaner fortresses on the way, but does fight forces deployed against him. He also burns the fields outside any fortification that tries to oppose his march. Then he breaks the siege at Poskh, but now he has to stop the revolution. After discussing the events with Mikhran and various locals, Abivard travels to Shahapivan to speak to Hmayeak, the senior priest in the Vaspurkaner sect. Tatul -- the nakharar of Shahapivan -- refuses to let holy Hmayeak come to Abivard's tent, so Abivard asks to be admitted into the city. Tatul is dumbfounded at the request, but goes to consult Hmayeak. Although Abivard is allowed within the city, he is not permitted within the shrine itself lest he defile it with his bloody presence. He talks to Hmayeak outside the doors and agrees that the Vaspurakaners can continue to worship Phos. Now he only has to convince Sharbaraz King of Kings. In this story, Maniakes lands his troops in Lyssaion on the southern coast of the westlands. Then he takes his troops to the northwest to attack the Thousand Cities. Abivard is sent to the land between the rivers to stop Maniakes. Yet he only has the cavalry escort that accompanied him to Mashiz and the sole troops in the area are the local city guards. As Abivard moves through the Thousand Cities, he musters the local militias, but initially finds only dregs and incompetents. Moreover, they are armed only with knives and clubs. Eventually, he reaches Harpar, just east of the Tib, where the local troops are half competent and armed with bows. Abivard gathers more troops and trains them as they march. When he finally reaches the vicinity of the Videssian army, his troops are numerous and fairly competent. Still, they are only infantry facing Videssian cavalry. Abivard starts harassing the Videssians with a night attack. When Maniakes moves off the next morning, Abivard follows him, but the Videssian cavalry can move faster than his infantry. So Abivard puts his soldiers on rafts and sails after the Videssians. In Videssos Besieged (1998), Avtokrator Maniakes learns that Kubratoi nomads are observing his troops within Videssos the City. He briefly wonders why, but then gathers his soldiers and sails away to Lyssaiion. From there, he leads his troops into the land between the rivers. Abivard waits for news of the third invasion of the Videssians into the Thousand Cities. As soon as he is learns of the Videssian presence, Abivard takes the field army through the westlands toward Across. Of course, he leaves the infantry behind to delay Maniakes. Maniakes finds only infantry, with just a few cavalry, facing him in the land between the rivers. He puts out scouts even further than usual looking for Abivard, then settles down to attacking the mud brick walls of the cities and advancing toward Mashiz. Sometimes he wonders what is holding up the boiler boys, but he mostly concentrates on his ultimate goal. The infantry finally catches up with the Videssians at the Tib, but Maniakes defeats them and bridges the river. Mashiz is now only a few days away. Then a courier reaches him with news of the investment of Videssos by the Kubratoi and the presence of the Makurans in Across. Maniakes immediately realizes the threat, abandons the advance on Mashiz, and turns his army back to the coast. In this story, Maniakes loads his troops back on the ships and sails back to Videssos the City. A great storm sinks some of his ships north of the Key and the Kubratoi treeboats attack the survivors. However, the Videssian domons handily drive off the crude nomad boats with only slight losses. Now Maniakes has his troopers manning the walls of the city and the Makuraner troops are still across the strait. With the assistant of a little timely magic, he learns that the Makurans are expecting the nomads to ferry their troops across the Cattle Crossing in their treeboats. Unfortunately, he doesn't know what signal will be used to signal the gathering of the nomad boats at Across. The Kubratoi try to take the city by storm, but the walls are too high and too well defended. Then the nomads bombard the walls with catapults, but the walls are too thick and shrug off the minor damage. Then the nomads work the siege towers into position and cross the planks over the moat. The Videssians retaliate with arrows, bolts, spears and firepots, burning several of the towers. Yet some Kubratoi gain the walls for a time. Highly recommended for Turtledove fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of classical warfare, political intrigue, and brave soldiers. -Arthur W. Jordin
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