The third book of a of a series of four. the two empires of the Videssan world are locked in what will prove very likely to be their final struggle. Those who recognize this effort as a treatment of the Byzantine/Sassanid Struggle just prior to the eruption of Islam have very strong suspicions that this is so. The characters are not very strongly drawn, and the book is not very engaging, with quite badly done battle scenes. Excuse me while I take off a half star just for that. I am looking for te final volume....but not very eagerly. ( )

For fans of Videssos and the world that Turtledove created with his Legion series, this will be an interesting book. I'm not sure how much others will enjoy it. I kept expecting the tide to turn in this book and for the situation to change significantly, mostly because all of his other books favor Videssos. I enjoyed it, but it isn't my favorite book in the series. There are times where the politics and the endless army movements drag the book to a standstill. ( )