I wont go into detail about the story as i dont want to spoil the book, but i will say that I wouldn't normally read this kind of book but I fancied a change of genre and i can honastly say this surprised me. I enjoyed the story and i felt connected with the characters. Pleaseantly surprised and brilliantly written, a must read for sure. James Heneage does a brilliant job drawing you into the plot and this was a real page Turner.

I was intrigued to learn about a period of European history about which I know almost nothing, and started to read with great enthusiasm. However, my enthusiam quickly flagged: I found the complex politics hard to follow, and wasn't able to get a sense of the timeline of events to give me something to anchor the story to.

Although there were lots of dramatic events in the story - massacres, sieges, battles, bandits and betrayals it all felt curiously flat, written on one emotional level. I felt I should be engaging with the love story between Hara and Tzanis, but they didn't grab me as vivid, life-like characters.