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Strategos: Rise of the Golden Heart (Strategos 2), by Gordon Doherty

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Stay strong, Haga, for the Golden Heart will rise in the west. At dawn, he will wear the guise of a lion hunter. At noon, he will march to the east as if to conquer the sun itself. At dusk, you will stand with him in the final battle, like an island in the storm . . .
1068 AD: the armies of the Seljuk Sultanate tear at Byzantium's borders, poised to strike the death blow that will bring all Anatolia under their yoke. Alp Arslan's armies grow stronger with every passing season, while the beleaguered Byzantine soldiers defend for their lives, the hope in their hearts guttering its last.
This war has been Apion's mistress for many years, casting a dark shadow across his soul. When the mysterious crone comes to him, she can offer him only a glimmer of light. But at the darkest of moments, the smallest chink of light can be blinding. It will sweep Apion into the heart of the empire, Constantinople, and then onto the arid plains of Syria. It will taunt him with trust, betrayal, intrigue, love and brutal conflict. But, above all, it will offer him hope.
- Sales Rank: #291787 in eBooks
- Published on: 2013-06-11
- Released on: 2013-06-11
- Format: Kindle eBook
About the Author
I'm a Scottish writer, addicted to reading and writing historical fiction. My love of history was piqued during spells living and working close to both Hadrian's Wall and the Antonine Wall, sites of rich history winding back through thousands of years. The later Roman Empire and Byzantium hold a particular fascination for me. I list many fine authors amongst my influences, including: Simon Scarrow, David Gemmell, Sam Barone, Conn Iggulden, Simon Turney, Bernard Cornwell, Ben Kane & Valerio Massimo Manfredi. I also enjoy reading and writing sci-fi and black comedy. My Legionary series is set in the Eastern Roman Empire circa 376 AD and follows the adventures of the border legions as the empire begins to waver under the relentless crush of barbarians from the east and the north. My Strategos trilogy is set around the build up to the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 AD and follows the dark and troubled life of a Byzantine general in a land riven with bloodshed and doubt. All of my novels are available from good online stores in paperback and eBook format. Happy reading! www.gordondoherty.co.uk
Most helpful customer reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful.
Strategos: Rise of the Golden Heart
By Paul Bennett
I have read three of Mr. Doherty's books and liked them a lot. Given that his track record is superb I expected nothing less than that same excellence from Strategos: Rise of the Golden Heart. If I was previously enthralled with his work, and not just a little jealous, I am even more so now.
It has been twelve years since the end of book 1 and Apion is now a Strategos and his reputation as The Haga grows after every battle or skirmish with his Seljuk enemies. His development as a strong, decisive leader of men is countered somewhat by the soul sickening events of his past. We find him not only having to cope with his turmoil on an emotional level but physically as well given that his most obdurate foe, once his best friend, has sworn vengeance and death to The Haga. Mr. Doherty plays this sub-plot beautifully and adds some unforeseen results...(no spoilers ).
Once again, the author has put together a story line with abundant twists, turns and surprises. One in particular had my mind screaming OMG or was it WTF when, no wait, no spoilers here boys and girls, suffice to know that the author has not lost his touch for mystery and intrigue. Neither has the author neglected to do his homework. The battles are first rate, the geography is well described and the everyday events of 11th century Byzantium are evidence of the research.
Relentless action, political intrigue, betrayal, bitter foes and steadfast friends - the list goes on and on and I'm pretty sure will carry over to book 3. Well done Mr. Doherty. I rate this book at 4.8.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
Better, but...
By JPS
The previous volume did not really work for me, for quite a number of reasons. Although I still had a couple of major problems, I found "Rise of the Golden Heart" significantly better than the first episode, or perhaps simply more to my taste.
The story takes place in 1067, some 12 years after the first volume. Apion, the hero, has become Strategos of Chaldia, replacing the old Cydones who has retired. The themata and its Strategos are still holding out - barely - against the attack of the Seljuks who are getting bolder and bolder in their attacks. Apion, and all other Strategos and Dukes are called to Constantinople after the death of Constantine X to choose a new Emperor who will shore up the frontiers and defend the Empire. This will be Romanos Diogenes, the victorious general (against the Petcheneges) who becomes Romanus IV and marries Eudoxia, the widow of his predecessor. The opposition of the Doukai clan, the relatives of the previous Emperor and of his infant sons makes the new Emperor's task perilous. Having failed to prevent his coronation, the Doukai will stop at nothing to dethrone the new emperor backed by Apion.
So, you can expect plenty of plotting and drama, and plenty of battles and fighting. Some are fiction, such as the assassination attempt against Romanus. Others do not seem to have happened quite as described by the author, such as the attack, storm and looting of Caesarea in Cappadocia, but all of them are quite griping.
Another interesting choice made by the author is to turn the historical Michael Psellos, the consummate bureaucrat and courtier who served four different Emperors and comes across as the ultimate political "survivor" into some kind of super-evil cruel and sadistic arch-villain. I was a bit surprised by this. It is a quite original piece of fiction and an interesting choice to make. While the importance of Psellos seems exaggerated in the novel, at least from what we know from the historical character, his role as adviser and client of the Doukai (he would later become the preceptor of the Doukai heir) makes this just about plausible. What is less plausible, however, is the portray that Gordon Doherty draws of John Doukas (the future Caesar) who is made into some kind of unscrupulous, over-ambitious, arrogant fool that Psellos manipulates. Rather than Psellos, John seems to have been the epitome of the consummate and power-hungry Byzantine noble seeking to promote the interests of his clan (and therefore his own) by fair means or foul. In other words, he was certainly no fool. IN fact, some fourteen years later, it is his quick reactions in sizing the taxes due to Constantinople and putting them at the disposal of the Komneni brothers (Isaac and Alexius, to whom John was related by then since Alexis had married Irene Doukai) which would allow Alexius to pay the troops with which he would size the throne.
Then there are a few gripes with the historical context. Contrary to what the author states in the book and shows on the maps, Melitene was not the last imperial city to the east, far from it. The Empire also included the whole of Cilicia (including Tarsus and Adana) and Antioch and Edessa. Antioch, capital of one of the most important frontier Duchies, would only fall to the Turks in 1085 and Edessa two years later. So I am afraid to say that the maps are wrong, regardless of whether the borders of the various themes are correct or not (and some of them definitely look strange).
More generally, my main gripe is the author's tendency to "overdo it" in terms of drama to the extent that the story becomes simply implausible at times. So, you get the -rather exaggerated - impression that the frontier themes, and the Empire in general, are on the brink of collapse. Every battle sees the Byzantine forces loose most of their effectives with only a handful of survivors making it to fight another day, including when they are victorious. I could not help wondering, since this had been already the case in the first volume, how on earth the theme of Charsianon (and all the others) could replace their losses, assuming they were so grievous.
At one point, and given the huge losses that the Byzantines in general, and Apion's thema in particular (about three-quarters), suffer during the expedition to Hierapolis; I could not help wondering if this was realistic. In the last battle in particular, a couple of thousand battered infantry and some three hundred heavy cavalry (out of an initial army of some seven thousand which was probably low to begin with for an army in the presence of the Emperor) win and slaughter a fresh army of some ten thousand Turks from Alep.
This, together with a tendency to portray characters in black and white ("arch-villains" or "goodies"), is something that the author may want to try to address in his future instalment, to the extent that it would significantly add to the story's credibility. For instance, the rivalry between the Diogenai and the Doukai was a struggle between two powerful noble clans and their supporters, and Romanus Diogenai, who appears, at times, as some kind of paragon of military virtue was probably no angel and more likely to have been just as ambitious and power-hungry as any of the Doukai, rather than being only driven by the good of the Empire...
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful.
Golden
By Spud
Strategos: Rise of the Golden Heart,
Gordon has pulled a blinder; this is an excellent historical based fiction.
It grabs you from page one then forces you to read on.
Apion, The Haga, is thrust from battles to the cut and thrust of Byzantine politics and back to the front line. Emperors come and go, but the Haga remains.
This period piece is packed with drama and intrigue, I found myself searching out the history on the net, the interest the author created was so high.
Goodread.
Jeremy Poole (Author)
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