Bellarion [Paperback]

Rafael Sabatini (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 460 pages
• Publisher: House of Stratus Ltd (July 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 184232800X
• ISBN-13: 978-1842328002
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,741,968 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Sabatini's best, May 23, 2003

By 

janowacki (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bellarion (Paperback)

I agree with the other reviewer (ralo91) about what makes the title character so interesting, and I would add that this is one of the author's three or four best works. Bellarion begins as a scholar out of a monastery and in the world for the first time, ending up a nobleman and the leading mercenary in early fifteenth century Italy. All throughout, he prevails through strategy and cleverness instead of brawn or force of arms. As one character observes, Bellarion never aims where he looks.

The glory and honors he accumulates are the last thing on his mind, though. Every step he takes is to advance the cause of Princess Valeria of Montferrat--"sheer knight-errantry" as Sabatini calls it--made all the more interesting because Valeria wants to believe that Bellarion isn't the venal opportunist she perceives him to be, but for the longest time she can't get beyond appearances.

Highly recommended, especially if you enjoyed Captain Blood, Scaramouche, or The Sea-Hawk.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bellarion the Fortunate, April 23, 2003

By 

Celeborn "Celeborn" (Ansley, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bellarion (Paperback)

Wnen I was a girl, I read all of Sabatini's novels, and this was my favorite. Sometimes Jane Austen's Fitzwilliam Darcy was my ideal man, and other times Bellarion was. I just reread Bellarion more than fifty years later, and I still love him. He was fortunate, always escaping by the skin of his teeth, but also misunderstood. So brave, so self-effacing, so brilliant. Of course, it turns out all right. But on the way, one worries so about that strange but loveable boy who sets out to walk to school in Padua in the fifteenth century and ends up in all kinds of fixes, meanwhile becoming the leading condottiere in Italy. The most fascinating part about him is his inventive and slippery mind. A really good read.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Love This Book!, November 5, 2006

By 

Danielle C. Brown - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bellarion (Paperback)

This is a great book! It has a great hero, who thinks circles around his enemys: Bellarion is the brilliant boy raised in a monastary, who is always the chivalrous gentlemen, protects ladies and always does what is right. The whole book keeps you guessing at the plot, and is very well written. I have read several other books by this other and so far this is my favorite. It is my present favorite book right now, up there with "The Chronicles of Narnia" and "Freckles". This is not a quick read;it is a story you will want to savor. I highly recommend this book!