Fortune's Stroke (Belisarius)
Getting to follow big, bad Byzantine Belisarius around the alt-history  battlefield--courtesy of Eric Flint and David Drake--comes in a close second to  having your own personal unit of cataphracts. (Although, of course, those  cataphractswouldbe nice to have in traffic.) Following on the heels ofDestiny's Shield, the  fourth installment in this popular series follows the superhuman general as he  harries Malwa troops in the mountains leading into Mesopotamia. He's still got  the across-time assistance of the crystal Aide to help him deal with the threat,  augmenting his senses and keeping him briefed on the tactics of everyone from  Wellington to Turenne. But Link, the Supreme Commander of the Universe, still  calls the shots for the evil empire, and Belisarius has to double-time to keep  up (especially facing such shrewd field commanders as Damodara).Fortune's Strokedownshifts the series a notch in terms of sheer  Belisarius-meted carnage, because Damodara's Ye-tai barbarians and Rajput  cavalry aren't the only show in town. Flint and Drake spend a good deal of time  with other characters in the series in other locales, like Kungas and Irene in  south India and Antonina in Axum (for a start). But this investment will surely  pay off as the series continues, as Belisarius and his cohort close in on the  Malwa for good. (And if you're new to the battle, start withAn Oblique Approach, the first  title in the series.)--Paul Hughes--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.