At the end of Harry
Turtledove’s The
Legion of Videssos, Marcus Scaurus is in a good, although
dangerous, place. He has been
brought back to Videssos the city by Emperor Thorisin and separated from
his Roman troops. Through
magic, his loyalty to the throne has been demonstrated, but he has since
established an intimate relationship with the Emperor’s niece and heir,
Alypia Gavras. Of his close
friends, Gaius Philippus is in charge of the distant legion and Viridovix
and Gorgidas have left Videssos for the uncivilized plains of Pardraya.
Swords
of the Legion tells the story of
Marcus’s attempted climb back to favor after the events of The
Legion of Videssos and his relationship to Alypia is revealed.
At the same time, Viridovix and Gorgidas provide a further look at
the clashing cultures of the plains and the dangers Yezd poses as the
Western Empire continues its attacks against both Videssos and the nomads.
While Yezd was previously a mysterious, unseen kingdom, in Swords
of the Legion, the history of Yezd and the relationship between its
ruler, Wulghash, and the sorcerer Avshar, is spelled out in greater detail
than previously.
Turtledove includes many twists
and turns in his plots as he follows his disparate characters on their
solo adventures. Taking place
several years after the events described in The
Misplaced Legion, the first book in the series, his characters,
particularly the headstrong Celt Viridovix, show their growth as the
civilization of Videssos and the constant war that followed the death of
Mavrikios take their toll on the Europeans who found their way to this
magical world. The expansion
of his characters is mirrored by the expansion of the world as Gorgidas
discovers this world’s answer to the Sacred Band of Thebes, Viridovix
discovers the meaning of loss, and Marcus, who has been a leader of men,
suddenly finds himself stuck in a caravan as a lowly guard, unable to
forge his own path.
The driving force of this novel,
perhaps even moreso than the previous volumes in the series, is Avshar,
the apparently immortal wizard, whose antipathy towards the Empire and
Marcus led to the war in The
Misplaced Legion. Avshar
appears, seemingly effortlessly, in the Yezda capital of Makuran, on the
Pardrayan Steppes leading a band of outlaw nomads, and at the head of the
army in Videssos. He is
depicted as being all powerful, making the eventual showdown between him
and Turtledove’s heroes that much more interesting.
After the linking
nature of The Legion of Videssos,
Swords of the Legion provides a
strong ending to the Videssos Cycle, Turtledove’s first series of novels
under his own name. Turtledove
wraps up his story of Marcus Scaurus and the lost Roman legion while
leaving plenty of room for future stories.
Turtledove has also created a rich past, which is what he wound up
exploring in two additional series and s stand-alone novel, the groundwork
for which was all established in the series which ends in Swords
of the Legion.
