Rating: Summary: Belisarius goes to India Review: I have been closely following this series since I ran across it about a year or so ago. This is a continuation of great writing. The battle scenes don't leave much to the imagination and the people are alive.
Rating: Summary: This series is great! Review: I like the whole series alot. It is very fun to read. I gave The Tide of Victory five stars because it deserves it. If you enjoy history than you would enjoy the whole series.
Rating: Summary: Is the end in sight? I hope so. Review: I loved this series from first to last but all good things must come to an end. The authors have now got groups of characters in too many far flung locations. As they each depart for parts known, the thought comes to each that they may never meet again...sob, sob...yuck, yuck. This is getting stale. I'm also afraid that the some of the scenes in Maratha, the Sind, the coast of India, the Red Sea, Malwa, the Hind Kush, and on and on are more sound bites than plot lines. To add interest (and pathos) to the plot, without adding new characters, the authors have decided to kill off a few folk (I won't say which ones). Two deaths were due to the chances of war...unfortunate but the series would be totally unbelievable if none or very few of the good guys died...bad guys can always drop like flies. The other death was due to causes that I do not believe were consistant with the character's development ...and that is a flaw. Finally, I'm getting the impression that someone's contribution to this volume went a little gadget crazy this time. Too many pages were spent describing the new gadget and traveling with it so it can effect large destruction of Malwa property. I appreciate that this was to some degree the raison d'etre for this series but there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Frankly, I did not like this book as well as the others. It's still a 4 but I hope that the series ends with the next volune. I think that the authors and these characters and this situation are running out of steam.
Rating: Summary: Another excellent installment in a superb series Review: I'm a big fan of Drake and Flint individually (well, except for Flint's "The Philosophical Strangler," which doesn't [stink] but doesn't really satisfy either). But they're even better as a team. This book has the difficult job of moving the story along to a fairly foregone conclusion (er, I don't think Belisarius is going to lose in the end -- sorry if I'm giving that away) but it does so very well. Worth the hardcover price, if you're into this series already. If not, read the other volumes and *then* buy the hardcover.
Rating: Summary: When? Review: I've been reading and re-reading this series. I WANT the next one! There was a "Coming Soon" on the inside cover of my paperback for the next (last?) book in this series, but that was years ago! I want to know what happens in this interesting alternate history. I really thumb my nose at those who are put off by historical inaccuracies - those are in the veil of illusion, anyway. What counts is the soul of the series.
Rating: Summary: When? Review: I've been reading and re-reading this series. I WANT the next one! There was a "Coming Soon" on the inside cover of my paperback for the next (last?) book in this series, but that was years ago! I want to know what happens in this interesting alternate history. I really thumb my nose at those who are put off by historical inaccuracies - those are in the veil of illusion, anyway. What counts is the soul of the series.
Rating: Summary: When? Review: I've been reading and re-reading this series. I WANT the next one! There was a "Coming Soon" on the inside cover of my paperback for the next (last?) book in this series, but that was years ago! I want to know what happens in this interesting alternate history. I really thumb my nose at those who are put off by historical inaccuracies - those are in the veil of illusion, anyway. What counts is the soul of the series.
Rating: Summary: Where's Belisaurus? Review: OK, admittedly this is a fascinating series, but in this volume the storyline gets a bit silly. By all means buy this book, if you have read the others. However, in my opinion it is the weakest so far. Not enough Belisaurus, too much Antonia. I am sure all the threads will come together in the next installment but they are loose in this one and this volume has become a paean to political correctness. The next one needs more Belisaurus, more strategy and tactics regarding the final conquest of the Malwa and some more insight into the difficulties of moving a culture into the future by the insertion of weapons and tactics
Rating: Summary: And it goes on and on and on... Review: Ok Overall the alterantive history series is good, very good actually. In general I recommend it. But... As each new volume is released the characters begin to act more like comedians and less like actual people. It appears that the authors are trying to milk as much $$$ out of it as possible The intra character quips which were charming in the first series are wearing really thin. The plot is pretty much done, we know whats going to happen, and who will do it, no mystery here. I really cant believe this volume doesnt finish it up. It would have been a great 3 book series! You can easily pull out the hokey banter (10%) the repeated quips (10%) the repetitive story lines (10%) and the history lessons for those who havent read the previous volumes (20%) Of course you can filter and distill the 6 books (1 still unpublished) into 3 so that your left with a darn good story. But filtering out 40%-50% is burdensome. It gets so bad at times that I start skipping pages! Im tired of hearing how big one characters breasts are, or how "only the soul matters in the end" or how one character looks like a weasel, and being told over and over again about past episodes that occured in earlier volumes etc. etc. etc ad nauseum...Sheesh... This series could have been a classic, but it's degrading itself with every new volume. I still recommend the series, but thats more in the way of how bad most other works are, and how good this one "Could have been"
Rating: Summary: Excellent! Review: The characters almost step off the pages. I really enjoyed the book and can't wait till the next in the series.
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