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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Almost Everything that Ever Happened

A History of Knowledge: Past, Present, and Future by Charles Van Doren
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There's a lot to enjoy in this book. It is very readable with a suitably broad scope, and it is filled with things I didn't know or only half-knew or looked at a different way before, especially with reference to ancient times. I'll admit, that's what I was looking for most, and so that was the part I enjoyed most.

The discussion of modern times has some interesting twists--the author refers to WWI and WWII as a single war with a pause in the middle, and I found that perspective and the discussion that went with it useful. The closer we get to modern times, the more it looks like topics in cultural history rather than an overview of the progress of knowledge, and looking back over it I think that's really what the author was going for. The description after the title and subtitle would probably be more accurate and could be reworked into a title: "The pivotal events, people, and achievements of world history." I get it that he had to settle for just the pivotal moments. It is, after all, a single volume, not an encyclopedia; he had to choose what he included.

The last section, about the future, written about 1990, is interesting because of what has come true and what hasn't. He was overly optimistic about the future of communism in China (at least so far as we can see 28 years after) but his discussion of AI sounds like it could have been written this year. He has other hits and misses, looked at with the benefit of hindsight, but it may be that the next few decades will prove him right on a few more things.

Although I was entertained and engaged in some sections, especially the first half, I did not find the entire book compelling. (Is that on me? Maybe.) Nevertheless, I give high marks for erudition and clarity, finding it comprehensible throughout, and recommend it for other non-expert history enthusiasts.

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