The Good

- Brilliant choice of a historical figure for a series and good command of the source material
- Excellent recruitment of figures only briefly mentioned in the sources to become significant characters, most notably Theodore the Illustrious. Similarly, introducing Bonus early (who will become a major character in the siege of 626)
- Great idea to have difference and rivalry between the two brothers, Heraclius and Theodore

The Bad

- Some basic factual blunders that would have historians squirming, e.g. Heraclius would not have been riding around at the base of Mount Ararat as a child – which is around 400km into Persian territory. The closest city to Mount Ararat within Roman territory is Theodosopolis.
- Heraclius is continually referred to as very young, yet he was 35 when he became emperor, and 33 when the revolt was underway.
- Jarring scene of Heraclius the Elder drilling his son in the archery of steppe nomads, which would not have been useful for a Roman general
- Theodore, not Heraclius, is the older brother for no apparent reason. If this were the case, then Theodore would have been leading the revolt.
- Anachronistic language, e.g. molecules, update, carriage

The Ugly

- No sense of crescendo to the story – key moments have little build up, and not enough care given to ordering events for full impact. For example, Phocas is captured with little fanfare, leaving the story without a climax
- Some of the cinematic scenes from the sources have been altered to become distinctly worse – e.g. the meeting of Heraclius and Phocas, which is padded out with poor dialogue, robbing the scene of its intensity
- A few fascinating elements from the sources – which could have made crucial scenes – have been overlooked. E.g. Fabia’s epilepsy, Phocas assaulting Photius’s wife
- Some horrible typos, e.g. “Here! Here!” (not Hear! Hear!) and lots of mixed metaphors and clumsy or nonsensical imagery (e.g. ‘vibrating emerald’). A thorough edit is desperately needed.

Overall, this is unfortunately a 1 or 2 star book, but IÂ’ve been generous because IÂ’m a huge fan of this period of history and would love to see more novels set there. 3 stars for the attempt.
historical2 s Eileen Iciek486 4

This fine novel is the first in a series of novels about the Emperor Heraclius, one of the great tragic heroes of Byzantine history. The story covers the years prior to when he left Africa to overthrow the mad tyrant-emperor, Phokas. The Byzantine Empire had regained territory in Africa during the Emperor Justinian's reign which it still held when the story opens. The Exarch of Africa was Heraclius the Elder, the father of the future Emperor Heraclius, when letters arrive from Constantinople begging for his help in ridding the empire of Phokas.

Heraclius' story, which is barely beginning in this novel, was full of drama and pathos - great material for a novelist, and I'm glad to see it finally made it into one.

There were a few mistakes in the novel - throne instead of thrown (or was it vice versa?), and a couple of others. And, the author needed to get a little more familiar with Orthodox customs. However, overall it is a fascinating novel with a story that needed to be told. Melodie100

Great beginning

I realized I left out the most important part, so I came back to add it. This is a fun story that draws you in and keeps you interested. Also:
This is a great introduction to Heraclius. I've wanted to know more about the Byzantine empire without doing a scholarly study.
I'm disappointed the second book isn't available yet.
Compared to many KU books, there were few typos or poor word choices. Sekhar N Banerjee302 2

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