I felt the simple writing style meant the author intended this novel of the Fall of Constantinople for young people. This was a good treatment of the subject, moving between the two protagonists, Constantine and Mehmet, with motivations given to each--Constantine, to save his city at all costs, and Mehmet, to do something none of his predecessors had been able to do: conquer the city. The author stuck very closely to the real history, but for the addition of Constantine's fictional mistress and changing his good friend to something he wasn't, historically. I liked the section after the narrative where the author explained various aspects of this history. ( )

I received a free copy of this book from Library Thing in exchange for a review.

Initially, the book sucked me in and I finished the story in two days. Shipman does a great job taking what's often delivered as dry fact and turning it into action. But. I wish more facts made it into the story because this turned out to be more historical-fantasy than historical-fiction.

The story needs more editing to weed out the typos and repetitive passages. The characters need a little work, the historical figures are one-dimensional: Constantine is the overly romanticized hero and Mehmet is the stereotypical narcissistic villain. I wish we'd seen both the good and bad sides of each characters so that they'd feel like the real historical figures that they are. One character is entirely fictional; Zophia's supposed to represent the Greek spirit but she feels like an actress over-acting her role.

I would love to see the author take this story and flesh it out with more facts to support his speculations. The writing has potential - Shipman is able to convey ideas in a way that doesn't read dryly. I just wish this story had more meat on its bones. ( )

This was the first book I won on Library Thing in exchange for a review.
Having been to this part of the world and actually having spent 15 days in Turkey to include Edirne and Istanbul I was tickled to have won a chance to read this book.

First I must say that Mr. Shipman is a captivating storyteller. I was caught up in the events immediately. Knowing quite a bit about the religious and historical background beforehand, I found having the personal relationships, emotions and motivations of the key players intertwined with the facts to be integral to gaining a greater depth of understanding.

Although I knew from the beginning who would "win" and who would "lose", the details of the battle to breach and protect the walls showed such a tremendous dominance of will against the odds on both sides. Becoming more aware of issues under the surface: the insufficient manpower, lack of funds to reinforce walls and an absence of Christian unified support made the outcome seem inevitable. The love of the Greeks for Constantine and their undecided support of Giovanni made you hope against hope that they would hold fast.

The fight of the young Mehmet to free himself from the restrictions placed upon him by his "advisors" and his father's failure to develop him as a leader was brilliantly laid out. His struggle to be recognised permeated the entire Ottoman battle. Fighting against the memory of a father who never supported him and the principal advisor Halil he inherited from dear old dad burnished his character throughout the novel. Mehmet slowly grew into his own sense of self worth and in doing so earning the admiration of his people by biding his time and working his plans through via innovative strategies.

Pride and purpose drove Constantine to defend his Greek Orthodox faith (he gave in to the pressure to embrace the Latin doctrine) and above all "his" city a center of Christianity. It was very disappointing to learn that Zophia was fictional since all other characters were historical. Her symbology enveloped the feelings of the Greek peoples and helped to demonstrate the random treatment of the conquered that Mehmet doled out. The self centered reaction of the Christian entities involved served to fail them in the end. A good lesson in looking at the greater good for the entire religion, not the separate pieces.

I have personally visited the Hagia Sophia and seen the Christian icons side by side with the Muslim script. I have appreciated the secular nature of Turkey and the ability to enter Blue Mosque built solely as a tribute to Islam just across the square.

Mehmet seems to have been ahead of his time in terms of tolerance for other beliefs and had the foresight to see that he needed to import Greeks and Italians to help build up the city afterwards to regain its glory. And then he could later surpass its former glory with reforms of his own.
I appreciated the wrapping up of the main characters and city states at the end due to the clarity it provided, especially for some who may not have known much about this piece of monumental history. ( )

Since my first visit to Istanbul in 2004 I’ve been fascinated by its history, especially by its fall to Mehmet II in May 29th, 1453. For that reason I have read several books about the fall of Constantinople and about Mehmet II, a character that has always fascinated me.
Even though I know how the siege happened and how it ends I find intriguing the different takes by the different authors. I always find something new and interesting in the different stories. When I saw Constantinopolis by James D. Shipman available for review I couldn’t say no.

Mr. Shipman is a good storyteller; sadly I had problems with his portraits of Mehmet II and Constantine XI. Why? I think when you are telling a story about two different sides/individuals you should be as objective as possible and no take sides, but from page one it was clear that was not the case with Mr. Shipman.
Mr. Shipman’s portrait of Constantine is that of an understanding, loving, caring man that will sacrifice everything for his people. Even the love of the woman he loves. By the way, that woman was completely fiction. It was only one of many elements Shipman utilized to make Constantine XI seem more human and appealing in the eyes of the readers.

Read the rest of my review at The Bookaholic Cat ( )

[Constantinopolis] by [[James Shipman]]
**** (4 - 4 1/2 stars)
The story is set in and around Constantinople beginning in November, 1452. For almost 1,000 years, the Ottomans have repeatedly tried to conquer Constantinople, as have the Romans, the Crusaders, and the Hungarians, to name a few. Constantinople has been repeatedly saved primarily by its defenses - a series of massive battlements on the city’s 5-mile long west side, the Sea of Marmara to the south, and the Golden Horn and Bosphorous Sea protecting the north and east sides and harbors. It’s secondary saving grace seems to have been the belief of the people in the continued existence of their Constantinople.
As the tale begins, we get our first look at Mehmet II, new Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. At the age of 21, Mehmet II is a very young emperor, finally succeeding to the throne two years earlier after his father Murad’s death, and now has his third chance at getting it right. Twice, Murad elevated his youngest son Mehmet to Sultan, stepping down from the sultanate himself. Twice, Mehmet failed and his father was forced out of retirement to retake rule of one of the largest empires in history. Mehmet, eager to prove himself equal to the task, tried to do too much, too fast. Halil, Grand Vizier and Murad’s most trusted counselor, was Mehmet’s nemesis in his two failed attempts at the sultanate, and is working once again to impose his own agenda on Mehmet’s rule and possibly to overthrow him. Mehmet II believes he must conquer Constantinople in order to cement his power, be able to eliminate Halil, and win the love and adoration of his people. Author James Shipman ably captures the angst of an uncertain young man, the frustration of being treated with condescension, and the more than slight madness, genius and ruthlessness of an extreme Type A personality. Mr. Shipman’s Mehmet is not a character about whom you can be ambivalent. At times, I felt repulsed by his inhumanity. In numerous instances though, I found his brilliance astonishing. There was a generous and forgiving manner in dealing with those he conquered that was in stark contrast with his paranoia and suspicions of those around him. Overall, I felt Mehmet was the more developed main character, perhaps rightly so due to his complexity.
The other main character is Constantine XI Palaiologos, Emperor of Constantinople, descendent of “The” Emperor Constantine, ruler of the city, a few villages and a few Mediterranean islands. Constantine is dispirited and beleaguered from keeping a near-bankrupt, broken empire functioning for its own sake. He is paying protection money to the Ottoman Empire and tithes to the Holy Roman Empire. And now he finds the city “surrounded for hundreds of miles in each direction” by the Ottomans. Even if he had money left to buy food for his people and pay troops for the city’s defense, getting these desperately needed resources is problematic, at best. Though a small number of troops are able to get into the city, Constantine seems to know it will not be enough. A well-planned assault on the Ottomans, one that could literally drive them away and secure the victory for Constantinople, falls victim to treachery. The Pope, after much political delay, commissions a relief force, but privately tells the Captain to travel slowly and circuitously. Constantine agonizes over asking assistance from the Hungarians, because their leader has tried before to conquer the city. He forsakes his only love to pledge marriage to the daughter of a far-away king, in exchange for military aid. Mr. Shipman successfully portrays Constantine in his persistent, pervasive sorrow. I felt sadly cheered by Constantine’s courage, and impressed by his integrity in the face of overwhelming odds. He was constant and loyal to those around him, even when they were not deserving of his loyalty and constancy.
The story necessarily contains much detail of the various battles of the siege of Constantinople. The mark of a truly great storyteller is the ability to bring an intricate battle or war to life on paper, and Mr. Shipman quite successfully does that. I could hear the clang of steel and smell the coppery odor of blood in his words. But I always hate it when the author is so good that I can hear in the pages the screams of the horses, and, unfortunately in this case, he is. Military characters on both sides of the siege were well followed and their actions detailed in the battle scenes. While I am quite good at map reading and directions, I lose my sense of position in reading battle scenes. The small map at the beginning of the book only gives a general feel, so I finally resorted to the internet for a somewhat more detailed map.
The internet map also proved useful in following the characters around during more mundane activities. The beauty of Constantinople came alive for me - the play of sunlight on the palace walls, the sights and sounds and smells of the harbor, the feel of the cool sea breeze in the evening, the beautiful art treasures of the Cathedral of St. Sophia (predecessor, I believe, of the Hagia Sophia), even the chill in the cold winter rain. The descriptions of the settings, as well as general activity within the story were colorful, coherent and evocative, without being overly done. There were hardly any, if any at all, descriptions that ran on to the point where I would think “Alright, already!” Being able to enjoy a scene without it becoming tedious or boring is most pleasant.
Technically, [Constantinopolis] is very well-done. The two perspectives – Mehmet’s and Constantine’s - balance each other very well and are evenly presented. The editing is fairly thorough, with few overlooked grammatical errors. This is usually my biggest complaint with ebooks - the lack of attention to or competency in editing - and usually results in a loss of stars in my rating (but not in this case). Mr. Shipman’s writing and storytelling ability are excellent, and he evidently did a great deal of research for this story - his Epilogue is quite impressive.
Quite simply, [Constantinopolis] is an excellent book, and will most likely be in my top picks for this year. ( )