The Tyrant (The Raj Whitehall Series, Book 8) [Mass Market Paperback]

Eric Flint (Author), David Drake (Author), James P. Baen (Editor), James Baen (Author)

Book Description

Series: Raj Whitehall | Publication Date: September 1, 2003

"[Drake and Flint] instruct as well as entertain in this latest volume in the popular [General] series. . . . narrative excitement . . . [the authors'] thorough knowledge of the underlying causes and conditions that shaped Rome's destiny lends authority."

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Veteran Drake (Mistress of the Catacombs) and relative newcomer Flint (1632) manage to instruct as well as entertain in this latest volume in their popular... series. Human space has fallen into anarchy and barbarism after the collapse of the Galactic Federation. On the planet Bellview, an artifact of the past a sentient battle computer called Center selects a young officer, Raj Whitehall, to be the father of the future in a revived Federation. After accomplishing their mission on Bellview, Raj and Center have their personalities downloaded into thousands of probes and sent into space. On the planet Hafardine, one of these probes merges with scholar Adrian Gellert, who holds a position roughly equivalent to a Greek in the authors' retelling of the Roman Civil War. Center and Raj's sociopolitical insights prove to be of critical importance to Gellert's father-in-law, the Justicar Verice Demansk, in his attempts to save Vanbert from itself. Most of the narrative excitement derives from the introduction of gunpowder and steam technologies to ancient warfare, while thorough knowledge of the underlying causes and conditions that shaped Rome's destiny lends authority. There's a sense of inevitability to the success of the progressive forces, and more than a little deus ex machina in the device of the omniscient cybernetic advisers. Because the opposition is uniformly incompetent and cupidinous, the story reads at times as if it were a didactic Soviet science-fiction novel, but most military SF fans won't mind. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

The Confederacy of Vanbert, once the world's mightiest realm, has fallen to decay and internal corruption. Justiciar Verice Demansk, one of its rulers, embarks on a bold course of action to rectify the condition of the land that he loves even if his actions mark him as a traitor and transform him into a tyrant. The authors of the "Belisarius" series (The Tide of Victory, etc.) join forces to continue a second series (formerly coauthored by Drake and S.M. Sterling) depicting the fall of a society much like the Roman Empire. Set in an alternate universe with connections to the world of the Belisarius series, this exercise in historical and military sf should appeal to fans of alternate history. Recommended, along with other titles in the series (e.g., The Forge, The Chosen), for most sf collections.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Baen (September 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743471504
• ISBN-13: 978-0743471503
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,106,876 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A series gone awry, April 5, 2002

By 

JSuros (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tyrant (The Raj Whitehall Series, Book 8) (Hardcover)

In this eighth book in David Drake's universe of shattered human worlds struggling to regain civilization, something has gone off track. The series has been following the formula of repeating historical battles in the far future, on exotic worlds inhabited by the struggling remnants of humanity. All the previous books were full of battles and sheer grit, with strongly drawn characters smacking the heck out of each other. The details of weaponry and battles were told in an engaging, almost educational , style and the politics were almost always more vicious and dangerous than the scenes of open warfare.
Then, in "The Reformer", the Gellert brothers were introduced. Both characters were men of action but in totally different ways, both from each other and from the "Roman" types of the earlier books. The series promised to introduce the reader to the clash of Roman with Greek cultures, as the previous books had dealt with Roman vs Arab. This is pretty exotic stuff in an age long past the days of "classical" education. The reformer was ridiculously short but layed the groundwork for another worthy series.
So what happened? I can't help wondering if Mr. Flint based this book on Mr. Drake's outline, a blured memory of Mr. Stirling's penchant for Amazon warrior women, and gallons of cheap scotch. The politics are trivial, the literary illusions are so obscure as to distract, the exposition drags on and on, the few battles have none of the energy typical of the series, and the men are idiots.
Worst of all, Adrian Gellert is transformed from an intelligent man with an amazing gift into a henpecked bit player who marries into the Kennedys.
The afterword makes some of the changes understandable. I hope the new direction of the series appeals to some demographic, somewhere, because the series is no longer good "military science fiction".
Longtime fans of the series should wait and check this one out of the library. I'm donating my copy tomarrow.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Just not that good, October 1, 2003

By 

J. Okerlund "J.Paul Okerlund" (Jamestown, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Tyrant (The Raj Whitehall Series, Book 8) (Hardcover)

I love the premis for this series, and I really like the authors, but this particular book just wasn't very good. The storyline shifted away from the main character so much that he couldn't even be considered the main character any longer. The "Raj/Center" characters, which are the basis for everything in this series hardly even make an appearance. The story was very predictable as were the little events that were used to fill pages.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Tyrant, a solid read.........., September 12, 2003

By 

Michael Avery (Capitola, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Tyrant (The Raj Whitehall Series, Book 8) (Mass Market Paperback)

Ok, I waited for the paperback on this one, but would not have been unhappy if I had bought it hardcover. David Drake had Eric Flint rather than S.M. Stirling as co-author, and it represents an interesting departure from the tone of the rest of the series. While it had it's fair share of blody battles, they were not the primary foccus. Rather the book followed the politics and fealings of the the main character and his family as they try to aviod the fall of Rome and skip the dark ages.
This plot basis is fully in line with the idea of Center trying to create an industrial base to rebuild the old federation that created it, so I was not thrown by it's placement in the series. It also had some nicely done historical events thrown in that fit neatly into the story.
I have to agree with other reviewers that there is never any doubt of the outcome of any of the events, so it is hard to be as engrossed in the battles as one usually would be, but I could not put the book down, so I have to recomend it. I don't think fans of 1633 will be disapointed in the charecter and plot development, and there is enough action to keep the 1632 crowd involved.
This is a great business travel book to pick up at the gift shop, start on the plane, and use to wind down in the evening. It may keep you up reading later than planned, but that's what a good read does.