The Last Dying light is an excellent read. Through Havelock's disciplined hand, Varus and other major historical characters take on an exciting flesh-and-blood reality deserving of our interest and study. Lessor characters, whether historical or fictional, serve to move the exciting storyline forward. As a result, you feel yourself breathing the dust of the battles, and tearing up in the face of Varus' travails. You identify with his fears and his dreams, you share his despair and hopes. This is historical fiction at its best; and not just for its compelling characters, but for its efforts at righting a grievous oversight in the story of Western history. For too long, many of us have skipped past the important record left by the thousand-year reign of the Eastern Roman Empire, happy to consign the Romans to the darkness of dead empires with the fall of Rome in the year 476 CE. Havelock will have done a great service if he can help right this wrong. I give The Last Dying Light an enthusiastic 5 stars. Bruce H.

Great effort spent by the author to include factual detail, right down to soldiers’ equipment, weather, and geography… good historical fiction should inform and entertain, and this does both in great fashion

I thoroughly enjoyed this book from cover to cover. The author has a great sense of timing as he introduces many different characters while keeping a central focus on the development of Varus. As a scholar of this period, I was at first not pleased with his artistic license related to the fictional campaign against the Avars and their imaginary fighting techniques, but it did fit the overall goal of introducing and developing key themes and leading personalities. I am looking forward to subsequent volumes as the story goes forward.

Beautifully written tale of a young slave, freed by Emperor Justin who rises in the ranks of the army under Belisarius. Great characters and a riveting read. All about holding onto humanity in the middle of war with a wealth of characters from every background in the late Roman empire. Highly recommended. Has romance to it and a sense of humor as well.

Good read keep me interested. The heroes' were well defined and the backstory was appealing. Great story line. Can't wait to red the next book.

Good book covering a little known part of history. It felt very realistic and grounded in its scope I enjoyed it

The Last Dying Light was given such an amount of detail to human emotion that it will have you feeling the relief, the heartache, the rage and the humor. I felt as if I was a character in the story. It gripped me enough to want to complete the other books.

The overly long battle sequences could be cut by 75 percent. I just skimmed over them to get to the meat.

I am writing this having just completed the 6th book in the series - I hadn’t reviewed earlier because I wasn’t sure Mr Havelock could sustain the storyline for such a BIG story - I was wrong and he has.

This story is huge and shrouded in twists and turns that only could be part of an empire steeped in history with all its quirks and failings. The way it is written is testament, both, to the history of the subject as well as the immense talent of the author.

So this story is about the Roman Empire and the people who made great and despised. The characters are so well built that you have to love and loathe them in equal parts and the story - wow -what a story.

A warning if you will - this story can tire you and reading this is not as simple as pick up , read and put down - no - this read is epic so be warned - it will get you in and won’t let you go. Bring on No 7.

Really enjoyed this book and looking forward to more action and adventures with Varus and the rest of his people.

This book by William Havelock is the first in a proposed series and is set in and around The Black Sea,The Crimea and Constantinople in the early 6th. Century AD.

The Roman Empire is collapsing. Over the last 100 years England has fallen to the Angles,Saxons and Jutes,France to the Visigoths,Franks and Vandals,Italy to the Goths,Spain and Portugal to Vandals and Visigoths and Morocco,Algeria,Tunisia and Libya, to the Vandals.

At the start of the 6th. Century AD The Eastern Empire is clinging onto its crumbling territories-Turkey,parts of the Middle East,Macedonia, Thrace,and Greece.The Danube Frontier from Basel to the Black Sea is under constant threat from Huns,Goths Gepids and Ostragoths. Their territories to the north of the Black Sea including Crimea are awash with Huns and Avers.To the East and South, the Persians are ready to pounce.Their Capital,Constantinople is rife with corruption,Palace plots, intrigues and betrayals are the norm,bloody riots in the streets are a regular occurance.

In this end of times atmosphere the then Emperor,Justin and his nephew and heir,Justinian and Justinian's formidable wife Theodora gamble on one last throw of the dice.They decide to fight back and the man tasked with saving the Empire is Flavius Belisarius- a remarkable man and a military giant.

The novel is narrated by Varus an ex imperial slave now a soldier who fights along side Belisarius as they try to achieve the "impossible"while watching their backs against treachery and betrayal.

This first book tells the early part of their story.It is tightly plotted, has interesting characters,excellent background detail,compelling,well described battles and just the right blend of historical fact and fictional colour to produce an excellent read.I cannot wait for the next installment.

Well written and retains one’s interest till the end. Those into the Roman Empire era should enjoy reading this book.

The story is an entertaining adventure of a freed slave who joins the Byzantine army (and Belisarius) to fight one of the empire's belligerent neighbors. It mixes characters from emperor Justin down to a soldier's servant. Although the formula is not original, it is a good one and makes for an enjoyable read. This book is the first in what should be a series as it follows the impressive career of Belisarius, one of the greatest military leaders of all time.