Where a Roman Legion Finds Themselves in a Strange World

The Misplaced Legion by Harry Turtledove
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A solid portal fantasy (I think it'd be classified that way) with lots of excellent research and knowledge behind it. Four stars.

It's better than "pretty okay," which is what a 3-star book is, but it's a slightly optimistic 4 coming from me. I'm rooting for the book and series, TBH. It's not as exciting through the middle section as I would like, though it's still interesting, and it doesn't have a true ending, which I would much prefer, and those things make it a little less fun for me. It's not precisely a cliffhanger (IMO, I mean, though I admit I quibble) because the book ends at a natural break in the story, a chapter end anyway, where there's a slight pause in the action, but the next book in the series will find our heroes in a tough spot and have to start on the following day for sure. They have their backs up against a cliff, let's say, though they aren't hanging from it...

See, I quibble.

But I like the characters and the premise and the setting and I suspect the second novel will be able to get going with less throat-clearing and world-building. I hope.

The premise is that a whole Roman legion finds itself in a new world (after magic accidentally happens) and they have to learn how to survive there. It is a world that looks a lot like a later Byzantine empire does in our world, with nations that resemble Normans and Vikings and Greeks, though there's lots of magic and other elements unique to that place. The Romans are special here because they have a system of discipline that isn't matched in Videssos, though the author doesn't play that up too too much. In fact, the biggest disappointment in the novel is waiting for the Romans to be awesome, to make a big difference, and though they have a few small successes in that line, they don't kick ass the way I hoped. I think, I imagine, I expect we'll see that in different ways in the sequels.

I like Harry Turtledove and think he's very creative and skillful, so I'm hoping he comes through in the rest of the books. Swords crossed.

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