The Dark Lord (Oath of Empire, Book 4) (Hardcover)

by Thomas Harlan (Author) "Grimacing, the Queen turned away from a casement window, sleek dark hair framing her elegant neck and shoulders..." (more)
Key Phrases: voice from the clear air, iron drakes, grain hauler, Gaius Julius, Gains Julius, Gams Julius (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
In the fourth volume of his Oath of Empire series, Harlan (Shadow of Ararat) brings his exquisitely detailed, multifaceted saga of an alternative seventh-century Roman Empire to a satisfying close. Familiarity with the three previous installments, however, is essential to understanding the motivations of some characters, Mohammed in particular. While the author relegates some important individuals from the earlier books to bit roles in this movie-like chronicle, he develops others more fully, though with somewhat confusing attributes and rationales. Galen, emperor of Rome, continues to hold the fate of the Empire in the balance, alternately aided and frustrated by his sorcerer brother, Maxian. The resurrected Gaius Julius (Caesar) and the Duchess Anastasia intrigue against one another and the brothers, playing out the traditional Roman grasp for power. All oppose the evil Persian sorcerer, Dahak, lord of the seven serpents, who can count as his allies the King of Kings, the Palmyran queens and the raised dead. The conflict comes to a head first in Alexandria, where Aurelian, the middle brother, faces especially bloody fighting, dust and suffering. On Aurelian's death, the action moves to Sicilia, where Maxian, now emperor, finally understands the true nature of his enemy. Rip-roaring battle scenes offset the sometimes slow pace necessary to keep all the complexities of the story on track. This is opulent historical fantasy on a grand scale.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
The conclusion of Harlan's massive alternate-history fantasy The Oath of Empire isn't quite as successful as its predecessors, The Shadow of Ararat (1999), The Gate of Fire (2000), and The Storm of Heaven (2001). It is wordier than its story can support, and more populous, scene-shifting, and eventful than readers who start the tetralogy with it will be able to process. For veteran series readers, however, the abundant detail just fleshes out the narrative, making the book an outstanding feat of world building, at the very least. Certainly the last stage of the fight against the evil sorcerer Dahak is not without interest. Dahak's minions, the Persians, have captured Constantinople and now are marching on Egypt. If they capture the breadbasket of the empire, Rome is doomed. The aspiring caesar, Maxian, and the ghostly caesar, Gaius Julius, must wield their capabilities, powers, and assorted allies to prevent catastrophe. When it is all over, Maxian isn't promised a trouble-free reign, but Harlan has earned his welcome to the ranks of historical fantasists. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (July 19, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312865600
• ISBN-13: 978-0312865603
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,168,512 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Weak close to powerful series, August 23, 2002

By	booksforabuck "BooksForABuck.com" (Dallas) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Constantanople has fallen and the armies of Persia stand ready to conquer the western Empire as well. In Rome, chaos has taken control. The Emperor Galen tries to rally his troops while his spies conspire among themselves, his wife gets petty and paranoid, his brother Maxim whines for new magical toys, and the ancient and now undead Julius Caesar tries to decide whether his maste would be better served by allowing Galen to remain in control, or to toss him out.

The Persian armies, together with Greek troops who rebelled against deceitful Constantinople, and Arabs who continue to fight for their lost Mohammed, are buttressed by magic--and have their own undead forces to bear. When the Persians take a detour to Egypt (chasing the McGuffin of a magical viewer), Rome has time to prepare--but fails to use it. Meanwhile, Mohammed lies near death and receives enlightenment. The past mistakes he has made become clear to him as he lies beneath a fig tree.

Author Thomas Harlan has created a powerful and thoughtful alternate universe where Christianity never took hold and where Rome is strengthened by an ancient oath that holds the nation together--at a terrible cost of lost creativity. The Oath was the central issue in earlier volumes in the series, but by now, it has become secondary--just another source of power for the nearly omnipotent Maxim.

In the earlier volumes, a number of characters were interesting and multidimensional even when Maxim became obsessed with his magic to the detriment of those around him. By this volume, most are simplified down to two dimensions. Of the many characters, only Galen and Aurelian seem to have any nobility about them at all (Mohammed might, but he spends the book under a fig tree so this hardly counts). Maxim is critically lazy in allowing others to do his dirty work of seizing the empire (if this is what he wants) or criminally negligent in allowing Julius Caesar to plot against his brother if it isn't what he wants.

Harlan writes fast-paced action and THE DARK LORD is no exception. Fans of the series will want to read this conclusion to the series and see the new world that results from Maxim's assumption of power and his final confrontation with the Dark Lord. Perhaps some fans will join me in hoping that Mohammed and some of the others show up in a surprise book 5 and overthrow the nasty magic-driven world that is created at the end of THE DARK LORD.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Stupid ending spoils good series, August 17, 2004

By	R. E. Geiger "madduke64" (Morris, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Dark Lord (Oath Of Empire) (Mass Market Paperback)

That author Harlan threw the character Dwyrin away at the end of the third book should have been a major warning sign. Here was a character that Harlan introduced as a youngster and made us care about. Dwyrin is then summarily killed at the close of the third book for no apparent reason other than Harlan didn't know how to fit him into the fourth book.

Further, as mentioned by a prior reviewer, a number of other characters who are nicely developed in the first three books are relegated to bit parts. It might have been better if they had been killed as well. Many are "living dead" in more than one sense.

There are also glaring logical gaps. Galen finds out about Gaius' plot to overthrow him. Does he tell Maxian (who controls Gaius utterly) or have Gais arrested ? No, he sends for the German legions, and then lets Gaius steal them away.

Another problem mentioned in other reviews is the oath not stopping magic. Harlan says "The Oath is weak in Egypt." Why would that be exactly ? Wasn't it created by an Egyptian sorceror ?

Other reviewers have mentioned the loose ends and speculated that this is really just the fourth book of a five book series. The near complete uninvolvement of Mohammed in any action could only be excused on that basis, as well as the undetermined fate of Thyatis. But even if it is a fourth book out of five, I have a major problem.

Harlan, in the fourth book, has fallen into what I call the "Song of Ice and Fire" syndrome. To draw his readers into the story, he uses his narrative skills to craft strong, likable characters and sets up mighty obstacles for them to overcome. However, the more likeable a character is, the more tragedy and failure beset the character. Further, if a character begins to acheive some success, then the personality and attitudes of that character shift so that the character becomes unlikeable.

The appeal is like that of a train wreck or burning building. You read on and on, with hope that good will eventually be rescued and someone will right the terrible wrongs. But except for very minor triumphs, things just get more and more bleak. The noble die or suffer horrible fates; evil triumphs again and again; the good who do have some meassure of success slide into evil.

It has occurred to me that I don't really need to read thousands of pages of fantasy to be depressed by the triumph of evil. I get enough of that from reading the newspaper.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointment, April 28, 2003

By	C. A. Temm (Salem, AL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I had eagerly awaited this last in the series since getting involved with the story awhile back. However the book failed to live up to the first three and I finished it feeling cheated. The ending alone was incredibly weak especially after all the earlier character building. I noticed the author never went any deeper in his study of the Roman military , till the very end there was no one but centurians and legionares in the Army, no decurians, optimos, tribunes, signifers, etc etc. Also it was repeatedly stressed in the earlier books that magic had little or no effect on the Roman forces, why did it become so successful in the last book? Anyway the story lost my interest about midway and then became work to finish. It does seem like there is a sequel setup but I for one will not waste money on it...