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Strategos: Born in the Borderlands Paperback – December 12, 2013

by Mr Gordon Doherty (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 882 ratings
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An orphan's tale. Born in a broken land, drawn into a savage war

When the falcon has flown, the mountain lion will charge from the east, and all Byzantium will quake. Only one man can save the empire . . . the Haga!

1046 AD. The Byzantine Empire teeters on full-blown war with the Seljuk Sultanate. In the borderlands of Eastern Anatolia, a land riven with bloodshed and doubt, young Apion's life is shattered in one swift and brutal Seljuk night raid. Only the benevolence of Mansur, a Seljuk farmer, offers him a second chance of happiness.

Yet a hunger for revenge burns in Apion's soul, and he is drawn down a dark path that leads him right into the heart of a conflict that will echo through the ages.

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Previous page
  1. Book 1 of 3
    Strategos
  2. Print length
    384 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publication date
    December 12, 2013
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 0.96 x 9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1493710990
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1493710997
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gordon is a Scottish writer, addicted to reading and writing historical fiction. His Legionary and Strategos novels have been an Amazon smash-hit, and have gone on to be translated and published in Russia, Italy and Greece.

Gordon's love of history was first kindled by the ruins of Hadrian's Wall and the Antonine Wall, and travelling around the ancient world has kept the fire burning brightly ever since. He finds the Late Roman Empire and Byzantine eras intriguing, particularly the metamorphosis from late antiquity into the 'dark ages' and the medieval period. Equally, the Bronze Age and Classical Greece are firm favourites of his.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (December 12, 2013)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1493710990
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1493710997
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.44 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.96 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 882 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Gordon Doherty

Gordon Doherty

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Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Gordon is a Scottish writer, addicted to reading and writing historical fiction. His novels have been Amazon smash-hits, and have gone on to be translated and published in Russia, Italy and Greece.

Gordon's love of history was first kindled by visits to the misty Roman ruins of Britain and the sun-baked antiquities of Turkey and Greece. His expeditions since have taken him all over the world and back and forth through time (metaphorically, at least), allowing him to write tales of the later Roman Empire, Byzantium, Classical Greece and even the distant Bronze Age.

For exciting news, extracts and exclusive content from Gordon:

Visit www.gordondoherty.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter @GordonDoherty

Follow his author page on www.facebook.com/gordon.doherty

Subscribe to his YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/c/GordonDohertyAuthor

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
882 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

James E. White, M.D.
5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Successful Book
Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2012
Verified Purchase
As a veteran historical fiction lover, a retired physician, I must sincerely congratulate Gordon Doherty upon this excellent, readable, exciting and extremely informative work, about a particular period in history not well explored by me, but fascinating nevertheless. The Byzantine Empire died such a long, lingering, death, that I have been disappointed by many previous books trying to capture the spirit of the era, and this particular region. Doherty combines elegant writing style with insightful character development, and an excellence of action portrayed throughout, allowing the reader to identify and sympathize (or detest, as the case may be) with every major character in the book. Furthermore, Gordon, your ability to place significance into action--both military and personal--is beyond the abilities of many, many writers with many more years of experience. I have given this book five stars, and if there were another, I would award it. I can recommend it most highly. You will not be disappointed, I give my word.
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Bob Jarvis
4.0 out of 5 stars Exciting military history in an interesting period.
Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2012
Verified Purchase
The author here is a natural born story-teller if this tale is a typical example; more importantly he has the command of English to present the story in a clean, concise, manner with an almost complete absence of bad grammar and typos. Got to love that in a Kindle book!
This story is set in the far Eastern reaches of the Byzantine Empire in the mid 11th. century with events taking place during the rising domination of the Seljuk Turks, juxtaposed against the corrupt, declining power of the Eastern Roman Empire. Mr. Doherty clearly knows his history and, whilst playing a little fast and loose with some minor points, sticks mainly to the known facts at the time. His desciptions of military tactics and accoutrements is first rate. I personally would have benefited from placement of the glossary of terms at the front of the book, rather than the back. There were a number of times I didn't know my tourmarche from my themata, or my kontarion from my rhiptarou, but it didn't spoil the enjoyment.
Battle action, indeed all the violent action, is vividly and bloodily described and the body count is high enough to satisfy the keenest of military history fans. The central character, Apion, converts from a weak, seriously crippled, boy/youth; the kind who had sand kicked in his face in the old Charles Atlas adverts, to a war hero in the image of Conan the Barbarian. A little fanciful in my humble opinion, but we certainly can't have a puny little chap with a limp as the central character in a war book, right?
Another couple of tiny beefs for me were Apion's contant images of a "dark door" in his mind's eye, at almost every stressful point (and this fellow gets lots of these moments). I thought this was mentioned a little too much. Also, it was just too amazing the frequency that Apion was on the ground, helpless to fend off the imminent death blow that was about to be dealt, only to be miraculously spared by any number of serendipitous happenstances.
But I nit-pick too much methinks! Mr. Docherty's first book, Legionary, was an enjoyable and exciting read, but I really feel this book is a quantum leap better; indeed, for a self-published book this is an exceptional work.
Highly recommended!
4 people found this helpful
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Brooks Vandivort
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Story by Gordon Doherty
Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2013
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Having read several books by Gordon Doherty previously I knew what to expect, but I must admit that I was particularly surprised at how much I enjoyed Strategos. Strategos delivers a very good story while touching on a time period that is often lost by those who write historical fiction. I've found that historical fiction writers usually fall into three types: The type that takes a history book and adds an intriguing fictional story to make it readable, the type that takes a historical figure and completely goes off the reservation with deeds of fantasy, or the type that takes a historical period and creates fictional characters that add a human element that a reader can latch on to. Mr. Doherty falls into the last category. If you are looking for a story that has dozens of dates, historical battles, historical characters, and precise timelines, than Gordon Doherty is not your author. If you are looking for an author that can tell a good story but at the same time increase your knowledge of a certain time period, than Mr. Doherty is your man.

Strategos gives the reader a look into the Eastern Roman Empire and the pieces that make up its military. The story is intriguing and kept my attention throughout. I look forward to reading the second book and continuing the adventure.
6 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Cal H.
5.0 out of 5 stars addictive!
Reviewed in Canada on October 22, 2020
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another great series from Gordon Doherty, draws you in with many twists & turns, once I'm hooked I'm a fast reader, only wish the books were longer, off to get book 2 for a very reasonable price! Many thanks from Canada!
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Carlos A. Delgado Perez
4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable and enterteining, if somewhat predictable.
Reviewed in Spain on July 29, 2016
Verified Purchase
Surprisingly well-written. Being an independent writer, I didn't expect this quality. It definitely has its flaws, but they are the same as bestselling historic fiction writers have: somewhat predictable, anachronisms, abuse of certain resources (such as the exaggerated suffering constant in the main character's life), etc. But overall an enjoyable and thoroughly entertaining book.
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Marcos
4.0 out of 5 stars Good book!
Reviewed in Brazil on July 21, 2014
Verified Purchase
Good oportunity to know the bizantin's life in the XI century. It will be better if included maps of the region
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CaptainK
5.0 out of 5 stars marvellous
Reviewed in Germany on April 1, 2015
Verified Purchase
Commendable writing, good plot (protagonist is quite different from your run of the mill historic novel hero), lots of suspense, unputdownable!!!
Try the Legionary series, too!
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A.J. Armitt
5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favourite reads this year.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 2, 2012
Verified Purchase
I have 'known' Gordon Doherty for a number of years now. We met on a writing site, and have kept in touch ever since. It is very difficult to review the work of someone you 'know', and for that reason I generally choose not to. When a book comes along however, that is worth mentioning, it is very difficult not to.

Here is my evaluation of Gordon's book:

1. Presentation - Gordon has a professional attitude to his work. Although this is a self-published title, you would never know. It has a professional cover, has been extremely well edited and proof-read. In addition to a table of contents, Gordon has taken the time to include a full Glossary of terms, an Authors note, Maps of the regions, and a flowchart showing the breakdown of the Byzantine Thema. 5 out of 5.

2. Plot - The storyline really is first class. A war is brewing in the East: a young boy who must overcome adversity to fulfill a fate not yet known to him: a love triangle: treachery and misplaced trust: Action: unexpected twists and turns in the storyline. 5 out of 5.

3. Characters - David Gemmell is one of my favourite writers. He created memorable characters for whom you felt a real empathy. Although Gordon is not yet a Gemmell, I believe he isn't that far away. In 'Strategos' he has created some wonderful characters, especially that of his protagonist Apion. I fully believed in his character arc as he developed from crippled teenager to military hero, and the motivating factors which drove him on. If I had any complaint here, it would be that I would have liked to have seen a little more of the story from the POV of some of the other characters, such as the evil Bracchus, but that is probably me harking back to my love of Gemmell. Great characters all the same 4 out of 5.

4. Dialogue - Gordon has a real knack for this. Too often, I see the different voices of characters merging into one. Not so in 'Strategos'; each character has their own distinctive voice, and this is especially apparent when the POV is from that of the Seljuks. 5 out of 5.

5. Writing style - I feel that descriptive prose is overdone in many a novel and often find myself nodding off mid-sentence. Descriptive prose, I believe, is one of Gordon's greatest strengths, he has the balance just right, and consequently his words literally flow of the page. Although this is a hefty read, I found myself not wanting to put it down. Gordon writes so well that you can almost feel that you are there fighting alongside Apion, experiencing the hardships that are placed in his way. Bravo Gordon! 5 out of 5.

All in all, one of the best reviews I have ever written. Hardly surprising then that 'Strategos - Born in the Borderlands' has been one of my favourite reads of the last year.

cheers

Tony
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