The Thousand Cities

Rating:
Summary: Times of Troubles or is it May you live in interesting times
Review: Harry Turtledove does brilliantly what very few can do well. He takes history and says what if...

In Time of Troubles, Turtledove takes the Oriental-like Empire Makuran and leads you through the struggles of Abivard, Marshal of the Makuran Army, to uphold his ruler's, the King of King Sharbaraz, orders.

Reintroducing Abivard (the hero of the first book in the series) is a lesson in change. Life has gone very well for Abivard, but you can tell how much he has changed and matured in his years of war with Videssos. But not just Abivard has changed... his entire empire has changed. Having regained the upper hand against Videssos, all Makuran characters seem to exude a confidence in their superior ability.

Turtledove brilliantly shows what can happen to an army and a nation when their confidence is shaken and what happens when they gain that confidence.

As all of his Vidissian stories are, Turtledove one again sets the tale in the lifetime of Avshar.

I, for one, would like to see him take up a tale several years after The Videssos Cycle and start a new tale, post-Avshar.