The Dark Lord: The Oath of the Empire (Oath of Empire) [Mass Market Paperback]

Constantanople has fallen and the armies of Persia stand ready to conquer the western Empire as well. In Rome, chaos has taken control. The Emperor Galen tries to rally his troops while his spies conspire among themselves, his wife gets petty and paranoid, his brother Maxim whines for new magical toys, and the ancient and now undead Julius Caesar tries to decide whether his maste would be better served by allowing Galen to remain in control, or to toss him out.

The Persian armies, together with Greek troops who rebelled against deceitful Constantinople, and Arabs who continue to fight for their lost Mohammed, are buttressed by magic--and have their own undead forces to bear. When the Persians take a detour to Egypt (chasing the McGuffin of a magical viewer), Rome has time to prepare--but fails to use it. Meanwhile, Mohammed lies near death and receives enlightenment. The past mistakes he has made become clear to him as he lies beneath a fig tree.

Author Thomas Harlan has created a powerful and thoughtful alternate universe where Christianity never took hold and where Rome is strengthened by an ancient oath that holds the nation together--at a terrible cost of lost creativity. The Oath was the central issue in earlier volumes in the series, but by now, it has become secondary--just another source of power for the nearly omnipotent Maxim.

In the earlier volumes, a number of characters were interesting and multidimensional even when Maxim became obsessed with his magic to the detriment of those around him. By this volume, most are simplified down to two dimensions. Of the many characters, only Galen and Aurelian seem to have any nobility about them at all (Mohammed might, but he spends the book under a fig tree so this hardly counts). Maxim is critically lazy in allowing others to do his dirty work of seizing the empire (if this is what he wants) or criminally negligent in allowing Julius Caesar to plot against his brother if it isn't what he wants.

Harlan writes fast-paced action and THE DARK LORD is no exception. Fans of the series will want to read this conclusion to the series and see the new world that results from Maxim's assumption of power and his final confrontation with the Dark Lord. Perhaps some fans will join me in hoping that Mohammed and some of the others show up in a surprise book 5 and overthrow the nasty magic-driven world that is created at the end of THE DARK LORD.

I had eagerly awaited this last in the series since getting involved with the story awhile back. However the book failed to live up to the first three and I finished it feeling cheated. The ending alone was incredibly weak especially after all the earlier character building. I noticed the author never went any deeper in his study of the Roman military , till the very end there was no one but centurians and legionares in the Army, no decurians, optimos, tribunes, signifers, etc etc. Also it was repeatedly stressed in the earlier books that magic had little or no effect on the Roman forces, why did it become so successful in the last book? Anyway the story lost my interest about midway and then became work to finish. It does seem like there is a sequel setup but I for one will not waste money on it...

I have enjoyed the series to this point. The tension excitement and intelligence of plot had impressed me. The Dark Lord is a meandering disappointment. While it has some decent action, it is mired in political intrigue and charcterization that is inconsistent with the story. Suddenly Nicholas is a cold blooded killer? Maxian feels he has the time to marry Martina? What happened to his focus? It is amazing that Alexandria is on the edge of destruction and suddenly Rome is mired in base political intrigue. Anastasia's departure was an impressive moment in the series. Here, she is back and Thyatis is again at her bidding. What happened to all the supposed personal change. And WHAT ABOUT THE OATH? This series could be split in two and no reader would know the difference. EVERYTHING in Rome is as it was in the first book. What was the point of earlier rifts (Galen and Maxian, Anastasia and Thyatis, Anastasia and Maxian)? Thier characters have returned to their earlier form with narry an explanation. Helen goes from helping Martina to hating her. Why? To protect her son? Martina is a fool that only becomes threatening when threatened. Why is the clear to everyone except the all knowing Duchess and The Empress of the West? Why does Helen want to rule the East now as well? Didn't she spend last book complaining about how overworked Galen is? It reads like a middle novel in a longer series. Why all the set up and intrigue? So many interesting issues have fallen by the wayside. The fate of Damawand and Ahmet is supplanted by incessant whining from Martina and the now predictable (read boring) invincibility of Thyatis. Shirin's role was ever a weak one. Her presence in this book reads like a soap opera hack job. Dahak is the strongest character in the book, yet his motives and relationship with The Royal Boar are given only a cursory treatment. I like strong female characters, but it seems Harlan felt a balance wasn't enough; almost the whole book is told from the eyes of plotting, complaining women. Is that so terrible? It is when its also boring. Maybe Harlan is on the Robert Jordan Plan. Maybe Tor editors need to start doing thier job.