A Place Called Armageddon [Paperback]

INTRODUCTION: C.C. Humphreys came to my attention with "Vlad: The Last Confession"; despite my deep misgivings about it being another stupid rehashing of the myth of Dracula, the novel was actually very well researched and offered maybe the best English language portrait of the real-life Vlad the Impaler and his lifelong fight against the Turks without glossing over his darker impulses, but without any Dracula nonsense either.

So when not that long ago, I found out about Mr. Humphreys' new offering "A Place Called Armageddon" about the siege of Constantinople in 1453, the novel became the number one expected non-sff of mine in 2011 and I bought it the first moment I could and read it asap. Ultra high expectations and what can I say: the author not only delivered but surpassed them and I will explain why next.

Before continuing, I would add two things: despite being a very well researched and reasonably accurate historical novel, "A Place Called Armageddon" is also brimming with the fantastic - there are prophecies, mystic books, alchemists and fortune tellers and while it is a stretch to call the novel speculative fiction, it should greatly appeal to sff lovers for those elements and the superb world building the authors manages in the book's almost 500 pages.

There a lot of nice touches in the novel that tie-in with "Vlad: The Last Confession" including recounting of some earlier events there and a prophecy about one of the main characters here that we know how it will be fulfilled in the earlier book. Of course the structure of the two books is very different since "A Place Called Armageddon" is about a moment in historical time, so it essentially takes place over some weeks with a prologue a year before and an epilogue years later, while "Vlad: The Last Confession" takes place over decades, so there is no particular order in which to read the two novels.

OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: "To the Greeks who love it, it is Constantinople. To the Turks who covet it, the Red Apple. Safe behind its magnificent walls, the city was once the heart of the vast Byzantine empire."

When looking at a novel like "A Place Called Armageddon" that is about a pivotal moment in world history, moment that has been studied intensively across time and has been fictionalized in many novels of which in English, Dark Angel by Mika Waltari remains my big favorite, there are several aspects to consider.

Paramount remains reasonable historical accuracy, meaning being accurate about all main events of the siege and getting right the atmosphere of the time since I have never understood why someone writing historical fiction alters major events and says: "well you know, it's fiction"; why bother writing about event "x" rather than write a fantasy/alt-history in which you can modify what happened to your own heart's content?

And here "A Place Called Armageddon" delivers in spades with an impressive recreation of the major moments of the siege; as one of many such examples, the naval battle between the four big Genoese vessels trying to break the blockade and the hundreds strong Ottoman fleet and the reactions of both the besiegers and Mehmed and his entourage, as the fight turned and twisted is done in such a manner that despite knowing very well how things ended, it still felt like reading it for the first time. And I could go on and on, from the firing of the huge siege gun, to the Galata crossing, to the various wall battles, everything is memorable and true to the numerous accounts we have of the siege.

The world building and the little details are pitch perfect: weapons, buildings, ships, armies, historical characters and their psychological makeup - the untried, moody and easily angered but brilliant young Sultan Mehmet whose determination to become Fatih aka "The Conqueror" and practical ideas keep the siege going despite the early reverses and the long history of failed sieges across almost 1000 years, the last major one being led by none other than his father, the late Sultan Murat a warrior of much higher repute than Mehmet at the time, Hamza Bey, the tanner's son from the middle of nowhere who became the Sultan's falconer and confidant and who knows that the siege will make or break Mehmet and his "new men" like himself so he does his utmost to "manage" the Sultan, intrigue with possible Byzantine turncoats and lead soldiers when it comes to crunch time, or the relatively new emperor Constantine who wears the same name as the founder of the city - a bad omen as the last (western) emperor of Rome was Romulus Augustulus after all - a notable soldier but untried as politician and leader of a state and whose continual defiance and determination in face of the steadily worsening odds is also unforgettable.

But "A Place Called Armageddon" is also a human story with four major fictional characters at its center. The twin Lascari brothers with vastly different personalities and destinies: Theon, the smart diplomat, confidant of Constantine and Gregoras, the formerly handsome and valiant soldier, exiled as a mutilated cut-nose traitor, now moonlighting as the Ragusan mercenary "Zoran" in the famous' Genoese condotierre Giovanni Giustiniani Longo's army and who wants nothing to do with his erstwhile native city.

And the women in their lives: Gregoras' former fiance and secret lover Sophia, now (un)happily married with Theon, mother of boy Thakos and girl Minerva who is turning to God for solace and hope amid despair and fortune teller Leilah, a former slave who tries to make her own way in a harsh man's world and whose prophecies inspire Mehmet among others, though of course there is a huge risk in fortune telling for the mighty.

In addition, there are two more important characters: Johannes Grant a Scotland alchemist who is badly wanted by the Sultan (dead) and by Longo and the Byzantines (alive) for his presumed knowledge of how to recreate the famous Greek Fire recipe and Achmed, a huge but gentle poor Anatolian peasant whose much loved daughter Abal's death at 5 mostly due to poverty, leads him to enroll in the "canon fodder" troops recruited for the siege and whose pov shows the siege from the rank and file Ottoman side.

Each of the characters is very distinctive and the interaction between them ranges from the expected to quite a few twists and turns. All these personal threads mix in various ways and produce a lot of emotional moments, sometimes in quite unexpected places. Despite the different and often opposite interests and goals, the author is very skilled at making us care for all his main characters, including the ones who would have been so easy to depict as "evil", like Theon Lascari or the Sultan Mehmet.

Of course by the same token, not everyone can succeed, so there is heartbreak galore, but there is joy too and the ending is just superb with an epilogue 7 years later, followed by one just three weeks after the end of the siege. This offers a chance at a great twist which actually surprised me though I have seen it before in a G.G. Kay novel.

Overall "A Place Called Armageddon" (A++) is a magnificent accomplishment, a novel that is both a recreation of a pivotal moment in history and a tale of interesting characters we get to care and root for.

Note: This review has been published first on Fantasy Book Critic and all links and references are found there

"We are coming, Greek." With those words Chris Humphreys begins an extravagant and delicious fictional chronicle of the people and events surrounding the siege and eventual fall of the fabled title city. Once the heart of the Byzantine Empire, the Red Apple--as it is known to the Turks--is ripe for plucking. With brilliant command of his craft, Humphreys weaves a tale of Emperors and mercenaries, Sultans and sinners, connivers, diplomats, seductresses, mystics and murderers into a powerful and compelling narrative where readers can almost smell the sweat and fear, cordite and courage, and duplicity and faithfulness as a huge army surrounds the walls that have withstood a millennium of assaults, and--outnumbered ten to one--prepares to defend itself one more time. "This is my city, Turk. Take it if you can." Lovers of historical fiction will be immersed and gratified with this book, I couldn't stop reading, and can't sing enough praise for this fabulous contribution to my bookshelf.

By 1453, the walled city of Constantinople is all that remains of the once magnificent Byzantine Empire. One hundred thousand Ottoman (Turkish) soldiers, led by Sultan Mehmet II, want to take Constantinople from the Byzantines. Possession of the city the Ottomans refer to as the Red Apple will serve as a sign of supremacy over the Christian infidels.
As the Byzantine Empire has crumbled, so have Constantinople's walls. Defending the city will not be easy for the small force of ten thousand led by the Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos. And, as history tells us, Mehmet triumphed.

While Mehmet and Constantine are central, the story of the siege is told through the lives and struggles of other characters. On the Byzantine (Greek) side, the primary characters are twin brothers Gregoras and Theon Lascaris. Gregoras, now a mercenary, has been disgraced, and returns to Constantinople from exile. Theon is in favour as a member of Constantine's court. The brothers are very different in a number of ways, and there are reasons for the distrust between them. On the Ottoman side, the key characters include Hamza Bey, an adviser to Mehmet, and Achmed, a peasant farmer who is part of the first group of men to attack the walls.

Another of the strengths of this novel is its descriptions of the battles (both on land and at sea), and of the people involved. The Scotsman John Grant (Johannes le Grant), is an engineer on the Byzantine side who is tasked with the rediscovery of Greek fire. The Ottomans have their huge siege cannon, with a formidable destructive capacity. And among the weapons, the blood and the dirt are people on both sides who are fighting for a variety of reasons. The alternating views which tell the story enable a more complete view of the conduct of the siege and its consequences. It isn't just a story about the fighting: there is political intrigue; family and romantic drama and (sometimes) some humour. There is an abundance of characters: Genoans and Venetians are also involved in the struggle and while it's hard at times to remember what part each person played each has a role in either the actual history or the dramatic development of the story.
Mr Humphreys also provides a bibliography which will be of interest to those wanting to learn more about the historical basis of the novel.

I enjoyed the way that Mr Humphreys brought the events of the siege to life: in keeping with the times, there are fortune tellers and prophecies, alchemy and superstition. Both sides have their heroes and villains; each has its elements of tragedy. And for some of our characters, the future held happiness.

`It was over. Constantinople had fallen.'

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

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