The Emperor's Men 6: Emperor

Kaiserkrieger #6

by Dirk van den Boom, Timo Kümmel (Illustrator)

Betrayal, epidemic, defeat – the list of problems for the crew of the Saarbrücken is endless. Now everything comes down to the question of who will ultimately prevail in this conflict. All powers are in position, have played their cards, and are confident that they will win. In the end, opponents like friends of the time wanderers know that only one person will be left who rightly can call himself Emperor. But until then, it’s still a long and very bloody way, which will bring some surprise and cost many lives.

Genres: Alternate History, Time Travel

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 21, 2013

About the author

Dirk Andreas van den Boom is a German political scientist, science fiction writer and translator. He Professor Political Sciences at the University of Münster, Germany since 2012.

He published both reference books in the field of political science and SF books.

Reviews

[Bc27 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable conclusion

Thoroughly enjoyed these six books which have now ended with the time travelers taking the Roman Empire in new directions. Assuming we have not read the last of the adventures, I love these blending of time books but do wish the women were more fully formed characters, it is as if women are not allowed to inhabit these worlds in any varied roles, healers? Interpreters? Inventors? ,oh well, Marching on..

[Daniel Shellenbarger · Rating 4 out of 5]

With this volume, the story of the time-displaced crew of the German cruiser Saarbrucken, mysteriously relocated from just before World War 1 to ancient Rome, comes to a close, though the series continues (apparently with the crew of a submarine in mesoamerica, from the cover art of the next book). All in all, this is a decent alt-history lost-in-time story, and the amount of research the author put into the setting is quite impressive. It's a bit more dour in tone than the Destroyermen books, with a dash of "A Connecticut Yankee" in its plot (yeah, don't believe the movies, that book gets GRIM), though not TOO dour. The poor translation is definitely the bigger bar to readers as there are several times where the translator uses unfortunate near-homonyms that REALLY do not make sense in the context, not to mention the more mundane article and verb-tense confusion. I also felt like the ending was a bit rushed. However, having said all that, my take is, if you like Forstchen's Lost Regiment, Flint's 1632, or Anderson's Destroyermen and want more in the same vein, this is a very enjoyable read even with its blemishes. I haven't decided yet if I'll continue with the series, but it's definitely on my radar.

[Nigel Brand · Rating 4 out of 5]

More imaginative entertainment

The Emperor's Men continues into its 6th volume as a genuine pleasure. The development of the main characters is engaging and the resolution comes as a shock but not a surprise. One of the great virtues of democracy is the line of succession, which is always a problem fot tyrants, whehther they be clothed in Imperial purple or modern business suits.

Mr van den Boom seems to be going down the path of John Schettler, who is well into his 30th book and become an Amazon phenomena.

There are occasional translation issues: the main part of a ship is called the hull, not the fuselage, a term rserved for aircraft. I would strongly recommend some of the recent roman novels written in recent years as background.

I reckon that these books would make a terrific miniseries. They're short, they have a strong narrative and some interesting and diverse characters.

The Epilogue contains some fascinating teasers for new directions for the stories could go : at the very least a new age of exploration by increasingky longer ranger and more ribust ships is in the wind.

[Carlos Gonzalez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to admit that the ending took me by surprise. I fully expected the division of the empire between east and west which was the logic thing to do. The huge final battle should not have happened. What was not a surprise was who became emperor at the end, it has been foreshadowed since volume 3.

[James Backus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice ending of one chapter

Alternative History base on a Military force from WWI is placed on a Cruiser and mysteriously arrives in Roman Times. This is the sixth book in the series. I am looking forward to the next in the series.

[Patrick B. Curtis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another winner in the continuing saga of the Emperor's Men!

I have been hooked on the series since the first, but this is probaly my favorite so far! A great read!