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jonathanpalfrey's review against another edition
2.0
These stories are readable, and amiable enough, but I found them rather disappointing. Much of the time, I had the vague feeling that I was reading stories for children.
Perhaps the main problem is that they're so implausible. First, in almost every story someone invents something important, such as gunpowder, printing, or distillation. And our hero is right there discovering it before it becomes common knowledge—or even inventing it himself. Second, things work in the stories that probably wouldn't work in reality. They're unconvincing.
Characterization is more or less adequate, but patchy. Background is rather lightly sketched in, considering that Turtledove is supposed to be an expert on Byzantium.
The later stories in the book are a bit better than the earlier ones.
Turtledove is commonly described as "the master of alternate history", but I haven't seen anything from him that justifies that title, and this book certainly doesn't.
Perhaps the main problem is that they're so implausible. First, in almost every story someone invents something important, such as gunpowder, printing, or distillation. And our hero is right there discovering it before it becomes common knowledge—or even inventing it himself. Second, things work in the stories that probably wouldn't work in reality. They're unconvincing.
Characterization is more or less adequate, but patchy. Background is rather lightly sketched in, considering that Turtledove is supposed to be an expert on Byzantium.
The later stories in the book are a bit better than the earlier ones.
Turtledove is commonly described as "the master of alternate history", but I haven't seen anything from him that justifies that title, and this book certainly doesn't.
scheu's review against another edition
3.0
Interconnected stories of an alternate Byzantine empire - entertaining but formulaic, which is what I've come to expect from Turtledove after reading scores of his books.
bagelman's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
alistairr's review against another edition
4.0
[a:Harry Turtledove|29479|Harry Turtledove|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1333453762p2/29479.jpg] conjures an intriguing world where the Roman Empire reclaimed much of the west, Justinian's reconquests being more successful and permanent, and uneasily borders an intact Zoroastrian Persian Empire due to the absence of Islam, after Muhammed converted to Christianity, eventually becoming the Saint of Changes.
The book is a compilation of six stories throughout the life of the eponymous 'Agent of Byzantium' Basil Argyros as he encounters a number of threats to the Empire: Raiding nomads, Smallpox, Franko-Saxon border skirmishes, rogue pamphleteer's and an upswell of iconoclasm.
I found both the setting and the stories to be both entertaining and a well thought out exploration of the premise.
The book is a compilation of six stories throughout the life of the eponymous 'Agent of Byzantium' Basil Argyros as he encounters a number of threats to the Empire: Raiding nomads, Smallpox, Franko-Saxon border skirmishes, rogue pamphleteer's and an upswell of iconoclasm.
I found both the setting and the stories to be both entertaining and a well thought out exploration of the premise.
rosseroo's review against another edition
4.0
A great collection of seven stories set in an early fourteenth-century version of Earth where Islam is absent. The Byzantine Empire retained its eastern holdings and swallowed up most of western Europe as well. Their main rival is the Persian Empire which also never fell in Turtledove's well thought-out alternate world. The stories span 15 years in the life of Basil, a soldier and eventual "agent" (read spy) for the Byzantine Empire. Great fun!
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