Customer Reviews

The Tale of Krispos: Krispos Rising Krispos of Videssos Krispos the Emperor

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In reading this entertaining book I kept having a feeling of deja vu. While enjoyable, the book's story seemed really familiar. Well, Byzantine history fans, guess what. The book is a thinly disguised novelization of the rise and, I admit to a lesser extent, the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Basil I "The Macedonian". The story of Krispos' (Basil I) early life, both in his village and as a captive beyond the Empire's frontiers, along with his early adventures in Videssos (Constantinople), is essentially true history. This even extends to very specific details -- the abbot discovering his possibilities, the wrestling match, his job a groom to the Avtokrator's (Autokrator is a Byzantine title) uncle Petronas (Bardas) and attendant to Anthimos III (Michael III). Of course, the Byzantine Empire did not have magic, but that just makes this series of books fun. Enjoy!

The entire Videssos/Makuran series of books are very entertaining. i just wish Mr. Turtledove would write more!

Now this is 1000+ pages at 9.99$ ,a good price for three hard to get books. As a fan of roman and byzantine history I enjoyed this alternate earth history and own some of the Videssos cycle in paperback.

A couple days ago, I finished "The Tale of Krispos" by Harry Turtledove. It consists of a trilogy of books (Krispos Rising, Krispos of Videssos, Krispos the Emperor) published as one book. Basically, it is a fictional account of the rise and reign of the Byzantine Emperor, Basil the Macedonian. It's set in an "alternative universe" in which the map is flipped and some magic is possible, which can be annoying. Nevertheless, it's a fun piece of historical fiction which tries to show what it might have been like to live in the Byzantine Empire. If you like historical fiction or alternative history, you will probably enjoy this book.

great has all 3 books in this, but person sent it had bent back cover putting it package

This is a 3-book compilation which is nice. The original 3 books are as follows: Krispos Rising, Krispos of Videssos, and Krispos the Emperor. This is a somewhat typical fantasy tale of a young boy who becomes a good swordsman, who, after many trials and tribulations becomes the next emperor. Well written, I would give this book 7 stars if Amazon had a 10-star rating system instead of a 5-star system, but since I can't, I give it 3 and 1/2 stars, rounding down to 3.

Have not recieved this item yet. Very disappointed in lack of speedy service from this vendor.