The Eternal City

by David Drake

Collecting tales of Roman glory and decadence written by science fiction authors, this melding of past and future themes includes stories by Poul Anderson, Gordon R. Dickson, David Drake, and Robert E. Howard

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction

280 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

David Drake is an American author of science fiction and fantasy literature. A Vietnam War veteran who has worked as a lawyer, he is now one of the major authors of the military science fiction genre.

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice collection of short stories that have the Roman Empire as the linchpin. That stated, some involve time travel (to and from Rome), battles with Roman legions in Europe and other planets, aliens and more. While quite eclectic overall, Drake amassed some big names here, such as Cherryh, Gordon Dickson, Robert Howard and John Brunner among others, with the stories dating from the 1930s up to the publication date of 1990. Drake's "The Ranks of Bronze" and Howard's "Kings of the Night" were standouts, but really no clunkers here. Well worth reading if you find a copy. 3 stars!!

[Julian Meynell · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a collection of science fiction and fantasy short stories with some connection to ancient Rome. As you might expect, they vary in quality quite a bit. Easily the best is The Prince by C.J. Cherryh. This is about several famous Romans amongst others in Hell. It's a lively and idiosyncratic story with a feel for the Roman mindset, even though it plays fast and loose. The story by Robert Howard is also good, although not much about Romans. Overall, however, most of the stories are a little dull and predictable. They are mostly forgettable. The concept of this collection is virtually made for me, but in the end it was a little disappointing.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting collection, written between 1930-1985, ranging from ok to very good. I bought it for the David Drake short "Ranks of Bronze", which had a nice twist. I also really enjoyed "Nightfall on the Dead Sea" (R.Faraday Nelson) and a very well written "Domitia" (Mrs. Richard S. Greenbough).

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining collection. Despite what the description for the book says, most of these stories have nothing to do with Roman legions being kidnapped by aliens for galactic wars. That's just one story, "Ranks of Bronze," by David Drake. All the stories do have some tie in with Rome though, and a lot of them are very good. There are two that are quite hilarious even, "Don't be a Goose," and "Survival Technique." There's also a story by Robert E. Howard as well.

[Shawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

As story collections go this was an interesting premise. A few of the stories were especially good (the last three by Poul Anderson, David Drake, and Robert Howard for example). There were some that were complete misses, however and a few that were nearly incomprehensible... they dragged the overall quality down by a lot.