Anna of Byzantium

Rating:
Summary: Engaging
Review: Anna is set to take over her father's empire as the future heir. She has been training for this her whole life, when suddenly, her negative comments about her grandmother take their toll. Her brother is to be the new heir, and Anna is astounded. Life is suddenly torture. Anna and her mother plot to gain the throne back, but the scheme backfires and Anna is sent away.
I liked the novel because it grabs your attention until the end. The emotions are real and insightful. The backdrop of the ancient empire is most realistic. This story isn't predictable and leaves itself open to the possibility of a sequel, which I would love to read.
I did not like how much the main character suffered. It made the book slightly frustrating and depressing at times.
Overall, I would recommend this book as a good read. Those who like history will probably like this book, as will those interested in the days long past.

Rating:
Summary: Description of an awesome book
Review: Anna of Byzantium is about the first born Princess of the Byzantium kingdom. In her young years, she gets a younger brother, who she despises since first sight. The boy grows up spoiled by his nurse, since their mother becomes sick after the birth. Because of this, he never comes into the classroom with Anna and her sister, Maria, and always throws tantrums over anything he wants or doesn't want (and always gets his way.) She gets betrothed to her cousin, Constantine. Anna's grandma starts `teaching' her how to run the empire, since she was the heir. Her grandma talks about affairs, how to run this and that, but also puts down Anna's mother's family.
Anna and her mom try to tell the King of what his mother is doing, but she denies it, so he won't believe them. A lot of history between Anna's mother and grandmother rise up.
Anna, while talking to her tutor, talks about how when she goes to rule the kingdom, she will first kill her brother off. Her brother, being taught by their grandmother, hides out wherever Anna is and tells on her whenever he hears anything. So, he runs straight to his father and Anna is confronted on it. She is scared for her life then because it was death for whoever wished death on a royal.
But, she gets off, but she's not the heir anymore...her brother is. Her father and once betrothed, Constantine, go to war...her father gets sick, and Constantine dies. After her father's death, her brother ends up banning her from the library (where she spends all her time.)
Anna and her mother start a plot on killing Anna's brother. Anna goes to put medicine that was deadly (that she got before her father died by his sickbed) and tried to put it in her brother's cup (he had a king's cup, so no one else's was like his, and only he could drink from it.) well, she gets caught, but her brother, in rebellion to her grandma, sends her to a convent.
Threw all this, Anna's slave, dreams of her freedom and marrying her betrothed. She ends up finding Anna at the convent, after so long without seeing her, and presents Anna with her daughter, who is named `Anna'.

This book I read in less than a day, straight threw. It was incredible for a book of its length. I would recommend it :)

Rating:
Summary: Mixed feelings
Review: Anna of Byzantium tells the story of the rising and falling fortunes of Anna Comnena, a princess of the Byzantine Empire, and heir to the throne. The plot includes friendship, betrayal, power struggles, an assassination attempt, love, manipulation, and sibling rivalry, and is a fascinating glimpse into the political and family turmoil that Anna may have been caught up in.

There were a lot of things about this book that were wonderful. I really enjoyed the author taking on the challenge of writing a book about the Byzantine Empire. I don't know of any other children's or teens' authors who have used this setting, and it's a unique and interesting glimpse into life in this era. The plot twists kept me reading to see how everything would turn out.

I had very mixed feelings about the characterization, though. Some of the characters were really well drawn and elaborated, and I really appreciated the author's ability to portray the ways that both positive and negative character traits could be intertwined in the same person. On the other hand, though, there were several characters that were key to the plot but were not well characterized at all. For example, John, Anna's younger brother, appears as a pretty flat, inept, selfish, weak, and spoiled character throughout most of the book, and there doesn't seem to be a lot of nuancing of his character. At one point in the book however (won't give too much away) his behavior seems pretty strongly contradictory to this, and the historical note at the end of the book describes him in a way that seems inconsistent with both presentations of him. In other words, he seems almost like three different characters in three different times of his life, and there doesn't seem to be any attempt to harmonize these three or portray characteristics that would tie them together or demonstrate gradual development that might have led in that direction eventually. Instead, it feels like he fairly abruptly changed several times, and the reason for these changes are unclear. This is the case for several other characters in the book as well. This left me confused about why some of the events in the plot turned out the way they did. It seemed that the character traits of the key players that might have directed them to act as they did had not been sufficiently developed to support some of their actions. I was left asking, "but why did he do that?" or "what is his motivation here?" and commenting, "it doesn't seem like he would have done that." It seemed that a more thorough and complex characterization of the mixed traits of those characters might have helped the plot fit together more cleanly.

Overall an excellent book and a fascinating look at court life in Byzantium. The unique and interesting aspects of this book definitely override its faults, and I can recommend it to anyone looking for a unique read.

Rating:
Summary: Great, but short, read...
Review: Despite my reluctance in beginning this book, it turned out to be greatly more interesting than what I first believed. After finishing Anna of Byzantium, I learned that it was based on The Alexiad, which provoked my greater interest in Anna Comnena. If you enjoy history, and if you enjoy women's place in history, you will love this book. I have since found The Alexiad at the local library where I work and can't wait to begin reading it!

Rating:
Summary: ***READ THIS BOOK***
Review: Overall I felt that this book was very well written with a strong-willed heroine and a setting of intrigue. The author created an amazing word with culture and customs interwoven throughout the novel. I learned a lot about the Byzantine Empire from the book although I really loved it because of the incredible storyline. At times Anna, the main character, was a little annoying because she came across as too self-centered but it was still a fantastic read!

Rating:
Summary: Great book that show's all aspects of being a princess
Review: The main reasons why I liked this book was because it did not have the all to common happy ending and Anna was portrayed as middle ages princess, not a modern thinking girl. She had a bit of a temper and was rather selfish at times, whiich I thought made her character all the more interesting. A must read book, filled with lessons to be learned

Rating:
Summary: Anna, Anna, Anna
Review: The subject matter of this book makes it interesting: a look at the life of Anna Comnena, who was SUPPOSED to become empress. However, some problems abound in this book. First off, the beginning of the book lets us know what happens at the end! Secondly, Anna is not a very likable person in the book, so many times, I found it hard to feel bad for her. Lastly, I felt the author could have expanded on details. Except for the strong personalities of Anna's grandmother and her teacher, Simon, many other characters seemed to be merely window dressing. Don't get me wrong, the book was not HORRID. However, I think some more details and concentrating on characters might have enhanced it. If you are interested about Anna Comnena, I would say read this book. It does have it's exciting parts, and the author at the end tells you what she changed for the sake of fictionalizing the story, which is a nice touch. I also like how she includes a family tree at the beginning, so we can see how everyone is related.

Rating:
Summary: AWESOME READ FOR ALL AGES
Review: This is a book which contains elements suited for readers of all types of books. I would recommend this as a must read for anyone from young adult to adult. It has romance, suspense, betrayal, history, and more to keep readers riveted and anxious to see what happens next. Tracy Barrett has proven with her very first novel that reading can be entertaining as well as a learning experience. I hope to read many more books in the future by this author!!

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: With a great cover and a story to match, I know this book will stay in my mind for a long time. It's not very often you find a book like this - realistic, yet fictional, exciting and meaningful - this has it all! Princess Anna Porphyrogenita Comnena is a delightful heroine. She's not predictable like the other girls in books nowadays, who are always perfectly considerate of others and completely wrapped up in their own problems. Anna has a personality all her own. Tainted by the wrong teachings of her manipulative grandmother and the tensions between her mother and grandmother, Anna feels deep hatred throughout the book, but even though you're shocked at some of her actions, you can't stop feeling for her and sympathsizing her. READ THIS BOOK - IT'S THE BEST!