The Porphyry Novels: Book Two
"An accomplished and intelligent feat of historical storytelling." J.A. Ironside, author of The King's Knight
1462.
The Republic of Venice.
Nine years on from surviving the fall of Constantinople, Anna Notaras now lives an empty life of luxury on the lagoon.
But the Ottoman empire has not ceased its relentless expansion and now Sultan Mehmed plans the conquest of Italy - and to stable his horses in St Peter's Basilica.
When the Venetian Senate ask Anna to help stop her old Turk enemies, she quickly agrees. The mission seems simple: join an embassy to Wallachia to cement an alliance. But there is nothing straight forward about the ruler Anna is to meet: Vlad Dracula.
Moreover, Anna's status among her fellow Byzantine refugees is built upon a lie, and not everyone among her travelling party has Anna's best interests at heart.
Worse still, Anna's embassy is not the only group heading for Dracula. A Turk army is closing in, intent on placing Vlad's brother on the Wallachian throne.
Caught in a bloody web of intrigue, Anna will need the same wit and courage that allowed her to survive Constantinople if she is to return from her mission alive.
Recommended for fans of Bernard Cornwell, Dorothy Dunnett and Michael Jecks.
Peter Sandham is the author of a series of historical novels set in the second half of the 15th century charting the fall of Constantinople and subsequent geopolitical turmoil through the eyes of Byzantine Greek, Venetian and Ottoman protagonists.
Praise for Peter Sandham:
"Plunges the reader into the Byzantine snake-pit that is politics in Constantinople during the months before and during the Turkish siege and conquest of the city. Scottish mercenary John Grant, wrestling with his nightmare memories of burning Joan of Arc at the stake, must balance love and war as the enemy army gathers and the daughter of the doomed city's most powerful citizen becomes dangerously infatuated with him... Gripping and powerful right from the first page, building to an enthralling climax, Porphyry and Ash, based on the biographical records of actual characters, has all the historical weight of Harry Sidebottom's Fire in the East combined with the narrative power of Graham Shelby's Knights of Dark Renown or Alfred Duggan's Count Bohemond." Peter Tonkin, author of Caesar's Spies
