One of my favorite authors. I blaze through his books in a couple of days. The books tend to have a religious bent so if that isn't your thing, stay away from this author.

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This is one of the best books I ever read.

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I really enjoyed this book. It's good historical fiction; its hero is an Irish monk who ends up a slave of the Vikings and then in the Holy Roman Emperor's court in Constantinople. There's enough action and misadventure and plot twists to keep the reader entertained, and it really reads quite quickly. I did wish that the book included an introduction to help put the story into historical context -- I had to do a little research to remind myself why Constantinople was the "new Rome" in pre-Crusades Middle Ages -- but that's why we have google, I guess.

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Byzantium is classic Stephen Lawhead. Historical fiction with a steady pace that is both direct and meandering. Just enough characters to be interesting but not so many as to be confusing. Accurate facts that do not insult the informed reader and engaging enough to open the imagination.
Byzantium is the story of a young Irish monk scribe, Aidan, 'selected' to participate in a pilgrimage to Byzantium, aka Constantinople. A straight forward mission steeped in simple faith becomes entwined with pirates, Vikings, emperors, Sarazens, spies, a princess and humanities greatest foibles of doubt, fear, pride, lust, greed to erode and challenge Aidan's Faith. [5/5]

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This book is an excellent read. It was surprisingly funnny at certain times and even had me in tears at other times. Stephen Lawhead is one of my favorite authors and I would recommend this book to anyone.

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I read the first two books of Lawhead's Celtic Crusade trilogy and was not overly impressed. The books were ok but not so good that I wanted to invest my time in the final book. I decided to read Byzantium and I am so glad I did. This stand alone historical novel is outstanding. I just didn't want it to end.

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