The Tyrant

The General #8

by Eric Flint, David Drake, James P. Baen (Editor)

On the planet Hafardine, civilization must rediscover progress or collapse. Adrian, guided by disembodied electronic mentors from space, has brought gunpowder and steam power to the Kingdom of the Isles to break the stranglehold of the Empire. But he will have to avoid being killed by the suspicious King he serves, by the barbarians he must recruit, and even by his insanely vengeful brother.

[Drake and Flint] instruct as well as entertain in this latest volume in the popular [General] series. . . . narrative excitement . . . [the authors'] thorough knowledge of the underlying causes and conditions that shaped Rome's destiny lends authority.

At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (DRM Rights Management).

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Ebooks, War, Military Science Fiction, Adventure

512 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Eric Flint was a New York Times bestselling American author, editor, and e-publisher. The majority of his main works were alternate history science fiction, but he also wrote humorous fantasy adventures.

Reviews

[Andreas · Rating 4 out of 5]

The human galactic federation is in ruins, and the worlds have devolved to various levels of barbarism. On the planet Bellevue, which is at about the early nineteenth century in development, a young officer named Raj Whitehall and his friend venture into the catacombs under the capital. There, they find an ancient battlecomputer named Center. With Center’s help, Raj must unite the planet and enable humanity to retake the stars. The story is at least somewhat based on that of the Byzatine general Belisarius.

The first seven novels are written by Drake and Stirling. The last one by Drake and Flint. David Drake writes very detailed outlines, while his collaborators write the actual text.

The first five novels are a set and deal with the conquest/unification of Bellevue. They are nowadays published in two volumes, known as Warlord and Conqueror:

* The Forge
* The Hammer
* The Anvil
* The Steel
* The Sword

After finishing the conquest of Bellevue, the personalities of Center and Raj are imbued in computers that are sent to other worlds with launched asteroids. Basically this scenario has infinite permutations as human worlds at various levels of development can be written about. The first of these follow-up novels is:

* The Chosen

It is a great singleton set on a world with early twentieth century technology. Finally there is the two volume story consisting of:

* The Reformer
* The Tyrant

Here, we take a serious step “back in time”, as the planet Hafardine is at about Roman Empire level in it’s technology. The Tyrant is rather different in style from the others due to being penned by Flint. However, his trademark dry humor meshes well with the overall thrust of the series.

This is great military SciFi, with excellent battlescenes and great characters, not to mention a dose of dry humor. Very highly recommended.

http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=145

[David Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

The thought crosses my mind that the magic computer pushing the ersatz Rome in the direction of democracy and away from monarchic empire is virtually superfluous. It's really only there for science fiction cred. Ah well, it's better than the unstoppable super-android from Armageddon Reef, and it is nice to see Rome being saved from the fall of the Republic instead of the Fall of the Empire.

[Eric Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining read

I enjoyed reading this book, but I have to say it was a little too complex for me to follow in detail. Development of technology is right up my alley, but the messy details of political plots, wrangling, obfuscation and bloody-mindedness just confused me. But I did enjoy the representation of the females!

[Matthew Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

If there is one thing the General series has taught me, it is that I can read fictionalised histories of the Roman world over and over & still be entertained.

[John Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite series. Alternative history of conquest.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet story and quick read. Loved all the poetry woven throughout.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

From Publishers Weekly

Veteran Drake (Mistress of the Catacombs) and relative newcomer Flint (1632) manage to instruct as well as entertain in this latest volume in their popular... series. Human space has fallen into anarchy and barbarism after the collapse of the Galactic Federation. On the planet Bellview, an artifact of the past a sentient battle computer called Center selects a young officer, Raj Whitehall, to be the father of the future in a revived Federation. After accomplishing their mission on Bellview, Raj and Center have their personalities downloaded into thousands of probes and sent into space. On the planet Hafardine, one of these probes merges with scholar Adrian Gellert, who holds a position roughly equivalent to a Greek in the authors' retelling of the Roman Civil War. Center and Raj's sociopolitical insights prove to be of critical importance to Gellert's father-in-law, the Justicar Verice Demansk, in his attempts to save Vanbert from itself. Most of the narrative excitement derives from the introduction of gunpowder and steam technologies to ancient warfare, while thorough knowledge of the underlying causes and conditions that shaped Rome's destiny lends authority. There's a sense of inevitability to the success of the progressive forces, and more than a little deus ex machina in the device of the omniscient cybernetic advisers. Because the opposition is uniformly incompetent and cupidinous, the story reads at times as if it were a didactic Soviet science-fiction novel, but most military SF fans won't mind.

From Library Journal

The Confederacy of Vanbert, once the world's mightiest realm, has fallen to decay and internal corruption. Justiciar Verice Demansk, one of its rulers, embarks on a bold course of action to rectify the condition of the land that he loves even if his actions mark him as a traitor and transform him into a tyrant. The authors of the "Belisarius" series (The Tide of Victory, etc.) join forces to continue a second series (formerly coauthored by Drake and S.M. Sterling) depicting the fall of a society much like the Roman Empire. Set in an alternate universe with connections to the world of the Belisarius series, this exercise in historical and military sf should appeal to fans of alternate history. Recommended, along with other titles in the series (e.g., The Forge, The Chosen), for most sf collections.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

[Walter · Rating 2 out of 5]

What is it about the covers of the Drake/Flint books? After the absolutely stupid and misleading cover of the latest installment of the Bellisarius-series the people at Baen Books have done it again: putting a Xena-style (lightly clad) female warrior on front. So what about the content?
Eric Flint has achieved an almost complete break with the storyline of "The Reformer", but has it improved the book? But compared with S.M. Stirling's handling of the same scenario Eric Flint's novel just bombs!
The theme developed in The General-series by Drake/Stirling was the salvation of the remaining civilization on an isolated world by a computer and its chosen man.
In the original series this was on a world with a situation like the Mediterranean in 500AD, so the main hero was the Byzantine general Belliasrius a.k.a. Raj Whitehall. In the first follow-on novel "The Chosen" it was a new world with an early 20th century setting and in the second it was first century BC Rome. The computer's chosen man was a (Greek) philosopher and his mission the prevention of imperial decline.
Apparently Eric Flint had other ideas about what kind of story he wanted to tell: his main character is now a Roman who wants to seize absolute power to destroy the existing corrupt order. The "Reformer" from the latest book is just one of his instruments (with the voices of the computer and Whitehall in his brain), like all other members of his family.
The real problem with the book is that it apparently wants to achieve so much - explain Rome's decline and offer an alternative like jump-starting to the middle ages and industrial revolution at the same time - but looses sight of a readable story. Sometimes it seems as if the characters are reduced to their sex life ... . So it may well be that the artist creating the cover was not so far of ...
It is a sad ending for a great series. I must admit that after "1632" I had some high expectations of this novel. Well I guess after it I'll skip the hardcover and wait for the pocket edition of "1633".

[Nathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really did not enjoy this book. For one, it drifted far from the military theme of the preceding books and delved deeply into socio-political arguments. Not that such could not be interesting under some other circumstance, but really, this doesn't belong in the Raj Whitehall series. Perhaps because of its lack of real military action though, this book is intensely boring. Eric Flint, whose writing I enjoyed so much in 1632 and 1633, was almost exactly the wrong person to choose to write this book. Adrian Geller, protagonist of the last book and the chosen representative of Center and Raj, is almost entirely absent from this book. Flint may have found the character of Demansk (the tyrant of the title) more interesting than Geller, but I certainly didn't.

The tone of this book may be appropriate for one of Flint's books, but it was just wrong for this series. So incredibly wrong! The whole reason I read this series was to see a bunch of "what if" scenarios where Center goes about using a human agent to affect change on a massive scale by introducing disruptive strategies and technologies. While Geller introduced steam engines and guns, he wasn't the agent of political or social change, so his role becomes almost pointless after his first inventions. In other words, this entire story could have happened without him, or with him as some nameless inventor who is forgotten.

Also, Esmond's change of character from heroic warrior to savage hatemonger is just ridiculous. It completely did not flow from the first book.

All in all, a very unsatisfactory finale to what was otherwise a great series.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was one of the best books of the entire series. And the difference in author line-up seemed to be very evident.

The change of focus from almost always being on Raj's/Center's agent to others in the given world was a nice change.

Gave the feeling that others in the world could succeed without having "magical" help (though having them as a friend sure doesn't hurt).

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good addition to the series, and Flint's writing of the 2nd half of this 2-book story is far better than the Stirling writing of the first book, The Reformer. Now, I love Stirling. But this book is Less hurried, better developed, more satisfying. If you liked book 7, I think you'll really like book 8. I did. I'm ready to read other books by Eric Flint.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sequel to The Reformer, and as other reviews have stated, tends to be more political than military. Drake, Stirling, and Flint are among my favorite authors; too bad the three could not have collaborated on both books.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great story by Erik Flint & David Drake.

I really enjoyed the main character and how he developed over the course of the story.

I was saddened to watch what happened to his brother over the course of the story.

Overall great character development and a great story!

[Terry Milnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good. I enjoyed how it drew me in and the characters helped cement their reasons for doing what they did.

[Derek · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. David Drake said he wanted to set a Raj Whitehall story in a fall-of-the-Roman-Republic scenario, but a story set in the late Roman Republic would have been more interesting. 

[Bruce · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good airplane book. The absurdities that defy logic will divert one from the joys of travel.

[Gail Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good story

[Jerry Merica-jones]

This is an excellent series that has some social commentary.

[Lynn Calvin]

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