The Belt of Gold

Fülszöveg

Byzantium in the ninth century-a city, and an era, unparalleled in its opulence, complexity, and unfathomable mystery; in its dazzling architecture, its limitless variety of peoples, and its aura of seductive pleasure. It is the heartbeat of a great Empire--the place where the teeming Bosporus joins two continents, where the world's cultures come together, where life seems an endlessly diverse privilege. This is the Byzantium of Empress Irene ("Equal to the Apostles, Ruler of the World"), an extraordinary woman: powerful and ruthless - as beautiful as her city, and as complex and seductive. And this is the crucial moment at which Irene is locked in a desperate struggle with John Cerulis-a man of unfaltering determination to take, for himself, the mantle of supreme power that Irene now wears. Into this explosive situation blunders Hagan, a nobleman of the Barbarian Franks, journeying home from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Innocent of Eastern ways, accustomed to the cold and... Tovább

Fülszöveg

Byzantium in the ninth century-a city, and an era, unparalleled in its opulence, complexity, and unfathomable mystery; in its dazzling architecture, its limitless variety of peoples, and its aura of seductive pleasure. It is the heartbeat of a great Empire--the place where the teeming Bosporus joins two continents, where the world's cultures come together, where life seems an endlessly diverse privilege. This is the Byzantium of Empress Irene ("Equal to the Apostles, Ruler of the World"), an extraordinary woman: powerful and ruthless - as beautiful as her city, and as complex and seductive. And this is the crucial moment at which Irene is locked in a desperate struggle with John Cerulis-a man of unfaltering determination to take, for himself, the mantle of supreme power that Irene now wears. Into this explosive situation blunders Hagan, a nobleman of the Barbarian Franks, journeying home from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Innocent of Eastern ways, accustomed to the cold and darkness of the north, to the rough customs and insular lives of his people, he is overwhelmed by the gorgeous tumult of Byzantium, held spellbound by its beauty and riches, bewitched by its exotic life. And when he is accepted by the Empress- given employ in her household, and the blessing of her favor-we accompany him to the very center of this world. Through his dazzled eyes we see the glorious Imperial palace, the thrilling chariot races, the rituals and rites of the church, the bustling harbor, the seething neighborhoods. And, above all, we experience, with Hagan, the pervasive and hypnotic presence of the Empress herself. But when a rash of murders spreads through the city, taking as its victims somé of the Empress's highestranking officials as well as Hagan's lover, when rumors of treachery, deceit, plots, and counterplots make their way from the streets to the palace halls, Hagan begins to understand that there is something malign at the heart of Byzantium's brilliance, something vicious resonating from the contest of will and politics that rages between Irene and Cerulis. Now Hagan uncovers a very different Byzantium: one of purchased loyalty and sudden betrayal; where nothing has value but power. Now he sees (continucd on back flap)
(continued from front f lap) the sinister darkness beneath the luminescence, chaos underlying the illusion of order. And as the növel moves toward its powerful climax, as Hagan grows increasingly aware of the realities surrounding him, his own accidental involvement in the battle for power becomes crucial to its outcome. Once again, as in her previous novels, Cecelia Holland makes palpably real for us a distant time and place, enthralling us with their brilliantly realized re-creation, and teliing a story that compels us from first to last with its excitement, its vividness, and its drama. ¦ <S ; shS Cecelia Holland, whom The New Yorf{ Times has called a "literary phenomenon," published her first növel, The Firedrafe, in 1966, when she was still in college. Since then, she has written twelve highly praised novels with a wide rangé of historical settings-including The Earl, The Death of Attila, Great Maria, Two Ravens, and City of God. She lives in California. Vissza