Wolraad J Kirsten

Varangian Wolraad J Kirsten

BYZANTUM-the once crown jewel of the civilized world is now a mere hedonist's playground. Her most able general and statesman, Almuric Agricola, discovers this terminal decadence is engineered by a near-omnipotent shadow group having infiltrated the corridors of power and bent on the slaughter of the citizenry before seizing the Capitol. Almuric attempts to oust this indomitable evil, yet is branded a madman and exiled by a traitorous bureaucracy to a mountain fortress in the desert. Whispers reach the Capitol that Almuric is harboring a mysterious princess of tremendous interest to the clandestine group and that he also employed the services of an infamous Varangian guardsman-a giant Northman mercenary. Like moths to the flame their forces coalesce upon his desolate fortress. Almuric and his barbarian axe-man are waiting-and the desert shall be awash with blood to determine who gets to keep the jewel that is Byzantum.




Author's Note:


I would like to address the slight displeasure some readers have expressed that the ending of the novel, unlike the body of the book- which is grounded in a more realistic, often brutal and somewhat lyrical exploration of both heroism and deceit in the rise and fall of empires, SUDDENLY and inexplicably appears to veer off into the fantastical. This is absolutely not the case. The ending is very much grounded in documented occultic believes and practices enacted by the elites, ancient and modern, and so what is already made nebulous by secrecy and "hearsay" is further obfuscated by allegory and therefor only has the appearance fantasy. Rest assured that the series shall continue in the same spirit of medieval-realism.