Kindle Price:	$4.60
Sold by:	Amazon.com Services LLC

Read with our free app

You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.

Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

There was an error. We were unable to process your subscription due to an error. Please refresh and try again.

Follow the author

Peter Darman

+ Follow

More books from this author

The Black Sheep (Catalan Chronicles Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Peter Darman (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.4 1,107 ratings

Book 1 of 4: Catalan Chronicles

See all formats and editions

Constantinople 1302.
Luca Baldi, a young shepherd, is catapulted into the violent world of mercenary warfare when he is forced to flee his native Sicily. He falls in with the Almogavars – ruthless mercenaries from the Catalonia region of Spain who have just finished butchering the French during a 20-year war on the island. He and they take ship to Constantinople when they are hired by the Byzantine emperor, whose empire is disintegrating in the face of remorseless Muslim advances.
Alone and marooned amid danger and violence and surrounded by enemy forces, Luca must master the Almogavar way of war to survive. Plunged into the brutal world of Medieval warfare when the mercenaries take the fight to the emperor’s many enemies, can Luca live through fighting impossible odds as he battles to preserve a crumbling empire that has stood for a thousand years?
‘The Black Sheep’ is the first volume in the Catalan Chronicles, a Medieval saga set in the early 14th century. Maps of the Byzantine Empire and western Anatolia at this time can be found on the maps page of my website: www.peterdarman.com

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B082VG172F
Publisher ‏ : ‎ ; 1st edition (December 16, 2019)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 16, 2019
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 2101 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 419 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1653673990

Best Sellers Rank: #372,474 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #275 in Hispanic American Literature
- #674 in Hispanic American Literature & Fiction
- #2,544 in War Fiction (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
4.4 1,107 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

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

Peter Darman

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Born in the great county of Lincolnshire and educated at the King's School in Grantham (where Sir Isaac Newton was also educated, though not at the same time!), I began writing over 25 years ago. You can find out all about me and my books by taking a look at my website;

www.peterdarman.com

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5

1,107 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Gesler

Great story

Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2020

Verified Purchase

Very engaging book, and keeps the reader enthralled even though the main course of the plot is fixed given it is based on historical events. Vaguely read about Constantinople in school and how it was a great city when London and Paris were still little villages but learnt a lot more about it in this book. Very fascinating history, and full of grandeur, brutality and tragedy. This books depicts all of that without becoming too burdensome to the reader while the fictional main characters’ arc forms the main narrative.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

donald r millard

Fast paced and entertaining story about a little known time in eastern Roman history.

Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2021

Verified Purchase

The Catalan fighters in what is modern Turkey performed at a very high level. It is amazing that they did not suffer many more troop losses with their light armour and aggressive attack style.

Helpful

Amazon Customer

An interesting part of forgotten history!

Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2021

Verified Purchase

This is fascinating tale of a mercenary company made of Catalan men thrust into the politics and wars of the Eastern Roman Empire. A great read which ending will make you want to read the next book

Helpful

Maria

Interesting & well-written historical fiction novel

Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2020

Verified Purchase

I was totally immersed in this novel about Medieval times in the early 14th century. The story was captivating and well-written, easy to read and extremely entertaining. I am so looking forward to reading the rest of the books in the series. Hats off to Mr Darman, a wonderfully talented writer! Highly recommend !

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Michele

Black Sheep

Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2020

Verified Purchase

Good story based on real events. Good character
Development. Good suspense, although slough in certain places. Worth a read along with its sequel.

Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2021

Verified Purchase

I would have given this the 4 stars it truly deserved if it had included maps. Using the Byzantine terminology for the places involved makes sense, but makes it virtually impossible to utilize a current map to place cities as they have been renamed for centuries. Just to find the Artake peninsula was arduous. I freely admit I am an uncouth American with poor geographical knowledge of this part of the Mediterranean despite my BA in Classical Humanities.

Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2020

Verified Purchase

Another well written adventure! I can't wait to find out what the young man known as the black sheep 🐑 does next. Corruption and politics, deception and betrayal. I'm looking forward to seeing this young man navigate through the mess those in power create.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Barry George

Black sheep

Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2019

Verified Purchase

Easy read, very hard to put down once commenced. Interesting characters that keep the story alive and the reader entertained

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English

Howard M Hare

Well written.

Reviewed in Canada on March 31, 2022

Verified Purchase

Looking foreward to sequel

eap

dos niveles más abajo que la serie de Pacorus

Reviewed in Spain on December 21, 2023

Verified Purchase

A mi no me ha enganchado, poco real y a los personajes les falta gancho, además de un excesivo cameo que no viene a cuento. Una pena q no sea una nueva serie tan excelente como la de los partos

Translate review to English

Marv

A page Turner

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 17, 2020

Verified Purchase

A change of perspective and much better having a new book without the constant itemisation of what the army was wearing and made up of.
I am looking forward to reading the sequel.

One person found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Pleasantly surprised

Reviewed in Australia on February 19, 2020

Verified Purchase

I thoroughly enjoyed this yarn. I have not read many stories from this exact era however have a reasonable knowledge of pre and post periods. The Catalans were unknown to me and I enjoyed them turning a shepherd boy into an outstanding warrior and seeing the Muslims and Christians through his eyes.

I look forward to his next adventures.

dfc

Disappointment

Reviewed in Canada on March 18, 2020

Verified Purchase

I've been a big fan of this author, but this novel is a great disappointment to me. I don't recall any of his other novels containing "out" homosexual characters. This novel however has two, and both are among the worst homosexual stereotypes possible. They're the kind used by repressive regimes, ie Russia and Nazi Germany to incite fear and hatred toward homosexuals. As I say, it's a great disappointment.

Buy for others

Buying and sending eBooks to others

Follow the author

Image Unavailable

The Black Sheep (Catalan Chronicles Book 1) Kindle Edition

Product details

Videos

About the author

Peter Darman

Customer reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries