FORTUNE’S STROKE

Another entry in the authors' established military-historical fantasy series (Destiny's Shield, 1999) set in the Roman Empire of the sixth century. Bad guys fighting a time-war in the remote future have dispatched to this epoch an entity called Link, whose mission is to rewrite the past by obliterating the Roman Empire and its allies. Commanded by its greatest general, Belisarius, the empire in turn is assisted by a good-guy emissary called Aide. Rome has forged an alliance with its old foe, Persia, against Link's chosen tools, the warrior Malwa of India. Impressive, historically, less persuasive in the execution; still, the premise is certainly different and should appeal beyond the usual fan base.