Looking for a good read? Here is a recommendation. I have an unusual approach to reviewing books. I review books I feel merit a review. Each review is an opportunity to recommend a book. If I do not think a book is worth reading, I find another book to review. You do not have to agree with everything every author has written (I do not), but the fiction I review is entertaining (and often thought-provoking) and the non-fiction contain ideas worth reading.
Book Review
Forestalling an Ancient Cold War
Reviewed by Mark Lardas
June 29, 2025
“The Winds of Fate,” by S. M. Stirling, Baen Books, 2025, 368 pages, $30.00 (Hardcover), $9.99 (e-book)
In “To Turn the Tide” Arthur Vandenberg and four graduate students took a one-way trip from the near-future to third-century Rome, on the Danube frontier a few years before the Marcomanni War began. They left their present as a nuclear warhead exploded, limiting complaints about being shanghaied.
“The Winds of Fate,” a science fiction novel by S. M. Stirling, picks up where “To Turn the Tide” left off. Artorius (as he is now styled) and his clients (as his graduate students are treated by Romans) have a string of accomplishments.
They helped Rome defeat the Marcomanni, decisively, in two years. The frontier is now well past the Danube. Rome is absorbing Germania as a Roman province. They stopped the Plague of Galen. They introduced revolutions in medicine, agriculture and technology making life easier for the average Roman citizen.
They have the ear and the confidence of Rome’s Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, with the wealth and influence that implies. Artorius hopes he can now return to his estate, continue improving the world, and enjoy raising his family.
“Happily ever after” yields a dull sequel. Artorius and team discover a new crisis. They are not the only time-travelers sent back from the 21st Century. Communist China, which instigated the nuclear war destroying Arthur Vandenberg’s world, also sent a team. Their intention mirrors Artorius’s goal of making Rome the dominant power in Eurasia and Africa. It is to put China that role, one emulating the policies of modern Communist China.
Their machine is a duplicate of the one used by Artorius and team. China apparently stole the technology from the inventor. They brought the same number of people and same mass of goods to the same time. They also nuked Vienna to prevent any challenging rivals.
They failed (by a second or less) to destroy the Rome-bound team. Once one team learns of the other, the result is a cage match between the two sets of time-travelers. Two teams walk in, only one walks out. The continent has to be united under one empire. With two empires, both sides will develop nuclear weapons and destroy the world again.
Artorius, his team, and Marcus Aurelius realize this. So does Colonel Lui, commanding the Chinese team. The result is a race to control the center of the continent. “The Winds of Fate” offers a fast-paced adventure in the expected traditions of alternate history and military SF.
Mark Lardas, an engineer, freelance writer, historian, and model-maker, lives in League City. His website is marklardas.com.
https://www.amazon.com/Winds-Fate-Make-Darkness-Light/dp/1668072726