This was a gripping introduction to the declining Roman Empire and made me want to read more! It was too short, but its excellent writing drew me into this fascinating world. The Byzantine Empire, or more accurately, the Eastern Roman Empire, remained Christian well into the decades of the Ottoman Empire's emergence. During this phase, authorities suppressed many pagan institutions and Greek/Roman religions. With the advent of 1453, the Byzantines had suffered multiple civil wars, with jealous generals proclaiming their dynasties. This meant that Byzantine Power dwindled while the Ottoman Turks slowly crept in and started chipping away at Byzantine Power within Central Anatolia.

One thing from this story that I read is that choices are what led to the decline of the Byzantine Empire. That there is this secret under-belly, this secret organisation that haunts the crumbling pillars of the Roman Empire, means there is a way to the story than we know. To me, it means the Pagans must have survived. They must have used Christianity as a mask to disguise their true intentions. This type of conspiracy is something I expect to see in a Dan Brown Novel. This is my suspicion of where the story wants to go in the future.

I loved the characters, the writing and the illustration. It is very easy to read and is absolutely fantastic. I thoroughly recommend it!

While I applaud this unique approach of text versus visuals, I felt the character illustrations overemphasized shapes, hindering the narrative. I felt some simple focus would have been better. The history of Constantinople, however, is not only fascinating but an interesting part of history that many fantasy authors and sci-fi authors, as of recent, need to take inspiration from. The entire history of the Byzantine Empire is one of struggle and survival against the power of the Islamic Empires for a very long time. Ironically, those Christians who professed to protect the Holy Land betrayed it.