Bridge of the Separator

THE NEW NOVEL IN THE POPULAR VIDESSOS SERIES

Rhavas was a good, holy, and pious man—and the cousin of the Avtokrator. He would probably have become ecumenical patriarch of the Empire in the capital, Videssos the city . . . if his world had not suddenly and tragically fallen apart when the Empire of Videssos erupted into civil war and the Khamorth barbarians swarmed over the borders.

As the home he loved was brutally sacked, Rhavas had to flee for his life, and then make his way through lands swarming with fierce nomads and with soldiers loyal both to his cousin and to the rebel. He may never see Videssos the city again, let alone preside in its High Temple.

He has always followed Phos, the god of light and goodness, Videssos’ god, and despised evil rival Skotos. Those who fall off the Bridge of the Separator during judgment in the afterlife tumble down to Skotos’ ice forevermore. But when evil seems to have swallowed the whole world, what is a cleric who reverences logic as well as goodness supposed to believe?

It’s a harder question than Rhavas wishes it were.

FANTASY ADVENTURE BY A BEST-SELLING AWARD-WINNING MASTER

Cover art by Tom Kidd

Hardcover
Paperback

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

First printing, December 2005

Distributed by Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN-13: 978-1-4165-0918-9
ISBN-10: 1-4165-0918-6

Copyright 2005 by Harry Turtledove

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.

A Baen Books Original
Baen Publishing Enterprises
P.O. Box 1403
Riverdale, NY 10471
https://www.baen.com

Production by Windhaven Press
Auburn, NH

Electronic version by Baen Books
https://www.baen.com

BAEN BOOKS by HARRY TURTLEDOVE

The Time of Troubles I
The Time of Troubles II
Bridge of the Separator

The War Between the Provinces series:

Sentry Peak
Marching Through Peachtree
Advance and Retreat

The Fox novels:

Wisdom of the Fox
Tale of the Fox

3 x T
Thessalonica

Alternate Generals, editor

Alternate Generals II, editor
Alternate Generals III, editor
The Enchanter Completed, editor

Down in the Bottomlands (with L. Sprague de Camp)