Eric Flint and David Drake · 1998 · global

Eric Flint and David Drake's alternate-history saga, in which a war between far-future factions reaches back into the sixth century. The Byzantine general Belisarius, warned by a crystal from the future, sets out to thwart the Malwa Empire of India, which means a secret journey into the heart of his enemy, an alliance forged from Axum to Persia, and a war fought from the rivers of Mesopotamia to the Malwa homeland on the Indus. The route spans the sixth-century world.

1. 1
   Constantinople

   In Constantinople, the great general Belisarius is granted by the crystal Aide a vision of a future in which the Malwa of India conquer the world, and he resolves to stop it.

2. 2
   Adulis

   By way of the Red Sea he reaches the port of Adulis and the kingdom of Axum, the first ally won for the coming war.

3. 3
   India

   Under cover of a diplomatic mission, Belisarius travels into the Malwa heartland itself, learning the strengths and the gunpowder weapons of his enemy before fighting his way out.

4. 4
   Charax

   At Charax, the great port at the head of the Persian Gulf, the sea road from India gives way to the river road up the Euphrates.

5. 5
   Babylon

   When the Malwa pour west into Persia, Belisarius and his new Persian allies meet the invasion in Mesopotamia and break the great siege at Babylon.

6. 6
   The Indus

   Carrying the war at last into the enemy's own country, he marches with rifles and rockets and steamboats into the Malwa heartland on the Indus, toward the reckoning that will decide the future.