Clash of Eagles (Alan Smale)

Clash of Eagles
The Clash of Eagles trilogy, Book 1
Alan Smale
Del Rey
Fiction, Historical Fiction/Sci-Fi

DESCRIPTION: In the second millenium of Rome's glorious rule, an emperor desperate for more wealth to fund ongoing border wars sends an expedition across the western seas to the land of Nova Hesperia. Leading this force is a great honor for Praetor Gaius Marcellinus, a man who - unlike many of his rank - worked his way up from the lowest recruit without leaning on family wealth or favors. This is a savage land, full of despicable and cowardly people... and, thus far, frustratingly empty of the gold his Imperator charged him with plundering. It's easy to dismiss the natives as little better than the other barbaric tribes Rome has conquered and either absorbed or utterly eradicated in its expansion, but the people are no fools, and his underestimation of them leads to disaster when his legions fall to attacks from - of all things - flying wings raining liquid fire upon them from the air.
The only survivor of his entire fighting force, Marcellinus expects to be enslaved, murdered, or tortured. Instead, the people of the great mound city of Cahokia keep him alive. Their war chief has determined that the Roman praetor may well be useful in their ongoing wars with the Iroqua nation - more specifically, Roman weapons and armor and tactics, which he is expected to instruct the local warriors in using. Marcellinus finds himself torn. On the one hand, he has a duty to Rome and the Imperator. On the other, the Iroqua proved themselves enemies of the Romans too in their march, plus he might avert another disastrous confrontation with future Roman forces if he manages to teach Cahokia some of his language and ways. His hand is soon forced by raiders, and the fact that - unless he plans to walk countless miles alone through hostile wilderness back to the landing camp on the Mare Chesapika - he has no choice but to throw his fate in with the mound-builders. Besides, he cannot help but be fascinated by their flying wing technology... not to mention the woman who leads the Hawk clan of winged warriors.

REVIEW: I needed a new audiobook to while away the hours at work, and this one was available on Overdrive when I looked, plus it was long enough to last me a few workdays, so I decided to give it a try. Smale's alternate history is oddly considered "fantasy" in some classifications, but there is no actual magic (beliefs in various gods and shamans notwithstanding, none are shown to be anything but just beliefs), and it extrapolates American cultures developing flying wings and a form of Greek fire for warfare, a "what if?" exploration of technology which reads more like science fiction to me, so that's how I classed it.
Moving past that, this book posits a Rome that never fell sending an exploratory fleet to North America in what would be the 13th century C.E., when the mound-builders along the Mississippi (or Mizipi) were still a thriving culture, a different take on alternate history than many overworked scenarios. Praetor Marcellinus is a man of his world, secure in the knowledge of Roman superiority, though he begins to realize earlier than his companions - who are generally more interested in jockeying amongst themselves for power and taking as much credit as possible for the presumptive success of the expedition - that the natives are not so stupid or backwards as they may initially appear; coming through a forest, he realizes that the land has been artificially cultivated for ease of hunting and growing preferred food sources. Still, he could not possibly anticipate the complete and utter rout awaiting him outside Cahokia, when the "hawks" and "thunderbirds" make quick work of one of the most well-drilled fighting forces the world has ever known. But Marcellinus, for all that he is a proud Roman, is also pragmatic enough to recognize when circumstances have changed, and adapt his mission accordingly. He still harbors some hopes of "civilizing" the locals, but comes to see them as more than just future subjects of Rome or potential enemies, and in doing so finds his worldview shifting in ways that make him quite a different person than he was when he first set foot on Nova Hesperia. Likewise, his presence - both the presence of Rome in general and himself in particular among the mound-builders - sends shockwaves of change up and down the river valley. The new tactics he introduces, the new tools he devises, even the new culture he represents all are transformative. This has more than a whiff of "white savior" stories, with the wise white man coming among the natives to help them when they can't seem to help themselves... but, ultimately, the American natives are not simpletons in need of saving, and Marcellinus's efforts (skirting spoilers) backfire spectacularly in the third act, just as he's convinced that he's succeeding in his efforts to bring Cahokia more in line with Roman thinking and methods.
While the whole work is heavier on military and tactics (and rather male-heavy in the cast and overall tone, even though native women are recognized as equals in war and power among most tribes) than I generally care for, on the whole this isn't a bad book, and does a decent job creating a sense of the land and the cultures as Marcellinus experiences them. (How close these are to the truth, or at least as much of the truth as can be deduced, I am too archaeologically and anthropologically ignorant to know, but for the purposes of the book it felt fairly immersive.) I might even be convinced to read (or listen) onward in the trilogy.

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