Jack Hight

As the title is bland, so was this book. I expected more from this novel, with such an exciting subject. Part I introduces us to the various players: Greeks, including the Genoese mercenary, Longo, and the various Turks, including Mehmed, who becomes sultan, his family, and soldiers. We see the intrigue in both the Byzantine and Turkish courts. Part II was the two month period of the siege of Constantinople itself, including a plot of betrayal of the city by a would-be Patriarch to the Turks. Although the author calls himself a historian, I wonder how accurate his history was, since he got wrong so basic a fact as the 4th Crusade being in 1203, not 1204.

Longo and the tomboyish politically astute Princess Sofia, as well as Emperor Constantine XI were well-drawn. I disliked this author's conception of Mehmed. The style was pedestrian; I feel the author didn't do the subject justice.… (mer)