The coalition stormed in from the west, war to be over in days, but no one was shocked, let alone awed. The coalition bogged down in its own lies. All wars are for scarce resources and geopolitical gain, especially wars based on fraud and deceit. In The Shadow of Xeno's Eye, Xeno, a Greek soldier in the Trojan war, discovers that Helen is only an emotional rallying cry.

A Greek power base on the Dardanelles, with access to the Black Sea, With the army in tatters after ten years of war, the Greeks, abandon the walled city, leaving an undermanned garrison until they return. The garrison eventually realizes they've been abandoned and will never return home. Xeno tries to assimilate into one of the local tribes, but is never fully accepted, even when he marries and has a family.

Xeno, is just a dogface soldier struggling with geopolitical realities beyond his control, his un-lyrical observations sharpened from living by his wits through a dark childhood.