An Oblique Approach

Belisarius Saga, Book 1

By: Eric Flint, David Drake

Narrated by: Pete Bradbury

In Northern India, the Malwa have created an empire of unexampled evil. Guided or possessed by an intelligence from beyond time, with new weapons, old treachery, and an implacable will to power, the Malwa will sweep over the whole Earth. Only three things stand between the Malwa and their plan of eternal domination: the empire of Rome in the East, Byzantium; a crystal with vision; and a man named Belisarius, the greatest commander Earth has ever known....

©1998 David Drake and Eric Flint (P)2019 Recorded Books

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The first book in a legendary series. I laughed! I cried! I peed my pants!

An excellent tale read by an excellent narrator.

This is my first attempt at anything written by Flint or Drake, but I’ve already purchased the next in the series! And Pete Bradbury, too, is new to me , and excels at his craft, bringing this great tale to life. Well done in all ways!

My favorite series of all time!

Nothing! This is my favorite series after Harry Potter. David Drake is a Master writer and his greatest work is the Belisarius series.

Great book from a fantastic writer, well performed

If you have never read anything by Eric Flint, that's your loss. Go now and make it good!
This book starts a sextology -- no relation to the forbidden s-word -- i.e. a series of 6 books -- telling a great what-if pseudo-history tale.
What-if... Persia and Rome didn't fight endlessly?
What-if... Belisarius didn't conquer European barbarians nor ended in exile?
What-if... Rome and Axum became allies and fought India together?
What-if... they also had developed gunpowder?

Add to this mix a cast of incredible characters - some serious, some funny, some disgusting, none of them boring or stupidly written.

The performance is quite adequate, not incredible but not bungled, all the voices are distinguishable. My only issue is with pronunciation of some names.

An AMAZING series

There are very few series that have impacted me the way this one has. I don’t ever read anything twice because there are so many books out there to read the first time. But I am making an exception with the series.

If you like history and intrigue and great battles in sweeping stories with well developed, personalities, strong relationships, and most of all the triumphs redemption…of good over evil, then read this book. Read this series. But do it slowly. You will only get one chance to read it for the first time. That will be a profound experience. I envy you.