One storytelling device used by my favorite authors is having old men on their deathbeds recounting the adventures of their youth to their chroniclers. I suppose we might call them flashbacks. Bernard Cornwell has old Uhtred Uhtredson doing it in The Saxon Stories. Seamus O’Griffin has the aged Ronan MacAlasdair revealing the gory details of his life as a young warrior in the Outremer and First Scottish War of Independence in the Galloglass Series.

Richard Blake has been doing much the same with Aleric in this Death of Rome Saga (although Aleric’s accounts of youthful adventure are written by his own hand), but in The Sword of Damascus the 98 year old Alaric skips over the years long past to write of a more recent adventure that he enjoyed as a 96 year old man. How often do you see that?

Elderly Alaric does pretty well too. When some big, strapping Northmen take this spindly-legged little Mahatma Gandhi look-alike out in a dinghy to murder for suspected sorcery, he surprises one with a pen knife in the eye and rocks the boat enough to knock the other into the Mediterranean – poor guy didn’t know how to swim.

Telling his story from the Old Man’s Point of View also makes it possible for him to give a broader historic vista than he did in previous volumes. Instead of relating his feats as a 20-something special operator in the shadow war before the major military clashes, Alaric looks back on the big picture. We learn that Heraclius defeats the Persians in a lengthy and desperate war only to be overcome by the Saracens soon afterwards. Alaric also tells us how his 83-year old self saved what remained of the empire (and Constantinople itself) from complete subjugation with Greek Fire – in fact he comments on the Arab histories of his exploits during that battle..

With THE SWORD OF DAMASCUS Blake gives us an excellent mystery and espionage novel with many an intricate subplot. At the end of every chapter the readier is often asking whodunit or why did he do that or how is he going to deal with that. And the reader will be satisfied at the end.

As always Blake brings the period to life through immersive and atmospheric description. He paints a vivid picture of Friday morning executions in 7th Century Damascus as a major source of entertainment to those lucky enough not to be one of the major attractions. When his young protege from Britain got sick watching the spectacle Alaric admonished him,

‘You might wish to bear in mind,’ I said, ‘that to see a man flayed, after he’s been made to watch all his children roasted alive, can sometimes be too much even for the hardened spectator at these events.’

Of course if the public executions were not to Edward’s liking, there were the erotic dancers in the plazas as well:

A blonde girl stood naked on a raised platform. Arms and legs wide outstretched, face upturned with eyes closed, she jerked and twitched in time to the music of drums and wailing flutes that came from below.

She even had a snake in her show. I bet you’re wondering what role it played. Well read the book and find out.

I really enjoyed this go around with elderly Alaric. THE SWORD OF DAMASCUS is a great combination of history, politics and conspiracy. I recommend it not just to fans of historical fiction but also to action-adventure, mystery and suspense readers as well.

Review posted on Goodreads on the 2nd December 2019

Tags: Historical Fiction, history, islam, MidEast, review