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An Age of Darkness and Light: A Novel of Belisarius
A reign that was meant to last forever is running out of time.
Italy lies in ruins. Famine stalks the countryside. Plague empties the cities faster than any army could. And from the wreckage of Witiges' fall a new Gothic king has risen, hungrier and crueler than the last. Totila knows what the Empire stole from his people. He has come to take it back.
City by city, harvest by harvest, the reconquest comes apart. Rome trembles behind walls held by too few. Ravenna grows fat on intrigue. The Senate scatters. Italians who once cheered the imperial legions as liberators turn their faces to the Goth, whispering that any king is better than an emperor far away.
In Constantinople, Justinian watches and will not move. His treasury is empty. His Empress is failing. And the only general he can send is the one general he cannot trust.
So Belisarius sails west once more. With too few men. With no gold. With the weight of every Italian winter already in his bones.
Beside him goes Varus the Herulian. Tribune. Oath-keeper. A man who has buried more friends than he has years left to live. He goes because Belisarius is going. He goes because no one else will.
Together they will fight for Italy, for what remains of Rome, for a vision of empire that may already be a memory. Against a Gothic king who fights like a man with nothing to lose. Against an emperor who would rather lose Italy than risk a victorious commander coming home.
Against a darkness gathering at the edges of the world, older and patient and watching.
In An Age of Darkness and Light, the seventh volume of THE LAST OF THE ROMANS, William Havelock returns to a reconquest unraveling and a friendship being asked to bear more than any friendship should. Loyalty held past breaking. The cost of an oath kept too long. And the slow, terrible reckoning of men who built an empire and must now watch it bleed.
The Empire will not be what it was.
The men who fight for it know that better than anyone.
Italy lies in ruins. Famine stalks the countryside. Plague empties the cities faster than any army could. And from the wreckage of Witiges' fall a new Gothic king has risen, hungrier and crueler than the last. Totila knows what the Empire stole from his people. He has come to take it back.
City by city, harvest by harvest, the reconquest comes apart. Rome trembles behind walls held by too few. Ravenna grows fat on intrigue. The Senate scatters. Italians who once cheered the imperial legions as liberators turn their faces to the Goth, whispering that any king is better than an emperor far away.
In Constantinople, Justinian watches and will not move. His treasury is empty. His Empress is failing. And the only general he can send is the one general he cannot trust.
So Belisarius sails west once more. With too few men. With no gold. With the weight of every Italian winter already in his bones.
Beside him goes Varus the Herulian. Tribune. Oath-keeper. A man who has buried more friends than he has years left to live. He goes because Belisarius is going. He goes because no one else will.
Together they will fight for Italy, for what remains of Rome, for a vision of empire that may already be a memory. Against a Gothic king who fights like a man with nothing to lose. Against an emperor who would rather lose Italy than risk a victorious commander coming home.
Against a darkness gathering at the edges of the world, older and patient and watching.
In An Age of Darkness and Light, the seventh volume of THE LAST OF THE ROMANS, William Havelock returns to a reconquest unraveling and a friendship being asked to bear more than any friendship should. Loyalty held past breaking. The cost of an oath kept too long. And the slow, terrible reckoning of men who built an empire and must now watch it bleed.
The Empire will not be what it was.
The men who fight for it know that better than anyone.
957 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 18, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 9, 2026
I enjoy the blend of fact and fiction that the author has created here. Clearly, he's done his research and Varus's world feels alive and rich, whether in the burnt fields of Italy or the gritty opulence of Constantinople. I especially like his battle scenes and characterization of ancient combat. I do feel that this book feels like a dragging interlude between the last book and the next, which promises to be the finale. Perhaps this is intentional, given the grinding period of attrition that characterized the latter stages of the Gothic War. Also, how many times can Indulf show up and just barely get away? It feels more frustrating than suspense-building with how often this happens. Overall, I'm looking forward to the conclusion of this series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 7, 2026
Another outstanding work in an outstanding series.
July 9, 2026
Excellent, as always. Excited for the final book!
July 9, 2026
outstanding
This is a great work of historical fiction. I enjoy Byzantine history. It kept me riveted while reading it. Excellent.
This is a great work of historical fiction. I enjoy Byzantine history. It kept me riveted while reading it. Excellent.
August 28, 2026
Hard to put down
Every volume thus far has been excellent. And even though there are minor variations from actual history, the books paint a realistic picture of that era.
Every volume thus far has been excellent. And even though there are minor variations from actual history, the books paint a realistic picture of that era.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews