At
the end of An
Emperor for the Legion, the second novel in Harry Turtledove's
Videssos Cycle, Marcus Scaurus has been forced to say goodbye to some of
his friends. The Legion of Videssos, depicts the aftermath of that
leave-taking, dividing its time between Marcus's adventures against the
rebels who have plagued the Emperor of Videssos since the disastrous
Battle of Maragha and the adventures of the Greek Gorgidas and the Celt
Viridovix among the nomads on the Pardrayan Plains. Splitting his
characters allows Turtledove to explore more of his historically based
fantasy world.
Marcus
Scaurus and his legion have been sent back to the west to fight the now
rebellious Namdaleni Drax, who had decided, as so many others since
Maragha, that Videssos' time was past and he could either seize the throne
or carve out his own kingdom. The battle sequences and Marcus's
interactions seem familiar from the battles and relationships depicted in
Marcus's earlier forays into the Videssian westlands. To set these apart
from the earlier novels, Marcus finds himself having a conflict within his
own family since his wife’s brother, Soteric, is among the rebels.
Meanwhile,
left reeling after the loss of his lover, Quintus Glabrio, and his own
feelings of inadequacy as he saw how far beyond him Videssian healers who
could use magic were, Gorgidas elected to join a Videssian envoy to make
an alliance with the Arshaum, a nomadic race. At the last minute,
Viridovix decided to join Gorgidas as the journey would take him far away
from Videssos, the city, and Komitta Rhangavve, the Emperor's mistress
with whom Viridovix had been sporting. The civilization on the steppes is
very different from that previously seen in Videssos, either the city or
the countryside. The conflicts between the
Arshaum and the Khamorth, and their
way of waging war offer a new insight into the variety of cultures that
Turtledove has adapted for his characeters.
The
overall theme of The Legion of
Videssos is one of loneliness. Surrounded
by the bustle of Videssos the City, Marcus finds himself sequestered among
the scrolls representing the payments and collections made by the Empire,
not even aware of what day it is. Not only is Marcus separated from his
legions, his friends, his family, his native country, and the Emperor, but
so too are Gorgidas and Viridovix separated from everything familiar to
them as they ride with the Arshaum across the Pardrayan Steppes.
In
some ways, The Legion of Videssos is
a linking novel, moving Marcus and his Romans from their successes in the
previous novels to a fall from grace and disruption
necessary to set up a triumph in the final volume.
And Turtledove has prepared the legion to enter their final volume,
Swords of the Legion, with many
goals, from regaining the Emperor’s trust to seeing old friends,
defeating Avshar, whose presence in this volume is mostly off-stage,
pulling the strings behind the conflict on the Pardrayan Steppes, and
potentially even returning to Rome.
Nevertheless, Turtledove’s decision to follow Gorgidas and Viridovix,
adds a new dimension to the story and added depth to his world of Videssos.
