"In northern India the Malwa have created an empire of unexampled evil. Guided or possessed by an intelligence from beyond time, with new weapons, old treachery, and an implacable will to power, the Malwa will sweep over the whole Earth. Only three things stand between the Malwa and their plan of eternal domination: the empire of Rome in the East, Byzantium; a crystal with vision; and a man named Belisarius, the greatest commander Earth has ever know..."
The premise of this sci-fi, alternate history series is that a war between two competing societies in the far future spills over to 6th century Earth. On one side, we have The New Gods, who abhor how humanity has changed itself, adapting to a myriad of new worlds and environments. Striving to change the future and keep mankind "pure" they send a cyborg named Link back in time to advise and control the Malwa Empire of India, to attempt to conquer the world, stamping out meritorious accomplishment as a means to privilege and instead favor planned eugenics and hereditary birth.
On the other side of the equation, a crystalline entity named Center, originating in humanity's far future, contacts the Byzantine general Belisarius and shows him the vision of the dark future with Malwa conquering the Byzantine Empire and the world.
And so begins a long and bloody battle for freedom and humanity's future, centering not only on outright warfare, but also technological advancement (stirrups, gunpowder, cannon, grenades, rockets, steam engines, etc.), espionage, and political intrigue and maneuvering.
I really like this series and how it manages to shift viewpoints between several main characters, giving us a wider and more in depth view of events. My one complaint is that it all seemed to end quite abruptly. I wouldn't have minded a final book, dedicated to solely tying up lose ends and giving us a more advanced view of what this new world would eventually turn into.
