I don’t read many alternative history novels and in fact I bought this one awhile back for my wife. What if novel always seem to go too far or not far enough and this novel falls into that mold of not doing enough. The book is a collection of short story that span 1520 years. Each chapter carries different characters and generational gaps from chapter to chapter. Some are connected loosely to the previous events but not so consistently that you get a detailed narrative of the empire but rather more of a shotgun approach to it’s history.

Overall it wasn’t a poor read as you could put it down and resume later without losing much. The dismal picture painted by Silverberg chapter after chapter is unexpected, as soemone writing a alternate history of the Roman Empire you would expect him to have it reach heights unseen in the modern era.