More details here (print) (e-book)
Hodder & Stoughton, London
Paperback Edition: April 2013
448pp
ISBN: 9781444709704
612 AD. No longer the glorious cradle of all art and science, Athens is a ruined provincial city in one of the Byzantine Empire’s less vital provinces. Why, then, has the Emperor diverted Aelric’s ship home from Egypt to send him here? Why has he included Priscus in the warrant? Surely, they have more important business in Constantinople. Isn’t Aelric needed to save the Empire’s finances, and Priscus to lead its armies against the Persians? Or has the Emperor decided to blame them for the bloodbath they presided over in Egypt?
Or could it be that Aelric’s latest job just to manage a council of Eastern and Western Bishops more inclined to kick each other to death than agree to a wildly controversial position on the Nature of Christ?
Hard to say. Impossible to say. When did Heraclius ever explain his reasons—assuming he had any in the first place? The only certainty is that Aelric finds himself in a derelict palace of dark and endless corridors and of rooms that Martin, his cowardly secretary, assures him pulse with an ancient evil.
Add to this a headless corpse, drained of its blood, a bizarre cult of the self-emasculated, embezzlement, a city rabble on the edge of revolution—and the approach of an army rumoured to contain twenty million starving barbarians.
Is Aelric on a high level mission to save the Empire? Or has he been set up to fail? Or is the truth even worse than he can at first imagine?
This fifth novel in the series blends historical fiction with gothic horror. Not surprisingly, Aelric may find even the vile Priscus a welcome ally. Or perhaps he won’t….
“It would be hard to over-praise this extraordinary series, a near-perfect blend of historical detail and atmosphere with the plot of a conspiracy thriller, vivid characters, high philosophy and vulgar comedy.”
More details here (print) (e-book)
Hodder & Stoughton, London
Paperback Edition: August 2013
496pp
ISBN: 9781444709735
615 AD. A vengeful Persian tyrant prepares the final blow that will annihilate the Byzantine Empire.
Aelric of England—now the Lord Senator Alaric—is almost as powerful as the Emperor. Seemingly without opposition, he dominates the vast and morally bankrupt city of Constantinople. If, within his fortified palace, he revels in his books, his mood-altering substances, and the various delights of his serving girls and dancing boys, he alone is able to conceive and to push forward reforms that are the Empire’s only hope of survival, and perhaps of restoration to wealth and greatness.
But his domestic enemies are waiting for their moment to strike back. And the world’s most terrifying military machine is assembling in secret beyond the mountains of the eastern frontier.
What is the Horn of Babylon? Is it really accursed? Who is Antonia? What is Shahin, the bestial Persian admiral, doing on a ship within sight of the Imperial City? What exactly does Chosroes, the still more bestial Great King of Persia, want from Aelric? Is Rado a thuggish dancing boy or a military genius? Will Priscus, the vile and disgraced former Commander of the East, get his place in the history books? Must it be written in Aelric’s blood?
In this sixth novel in the series, can Aelric rise to his greatest challenge yet—and find a personal happiness that has so far eluded him?
Intrigue, sex, black comedy, spectacular crowd scenes and extreme violence—you will find it all here in luxuriant abundance.
“[Blake] knows how to deliver a fast-paced story and his grasp of the period is impressively detailed”
More details here (print) (e-book)
Maps
Copyright
Copyright Sean Gabb 2014
Smashwords Edition
ISBN: 9781310247996
(This book is also available in hard copy at all good booksellers)
(Please see the list of my other books at the end of this book)
Oh, and this is a book that requires a few maps.
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