tHis year was 1538, and the magnificent Suleiman decided to sign “The Great Lord and Conqueror of the World.” The Holy Roman Emperor may have something to say about it. Charles V is still in charge of the Ottoman Empire's European border, from the Danube to the Baltic Sea. In the same way, there is no denying Thuleman's vast reach. Since taking the throne 18 years ago, he has invaded many of Belgrade, Rhodes, Hungary, Baghdad, and the many Mediterranean ports to mention. He conquered most of North Africa. Certainly, he had several hitches that failed to catch Vienna in 1529, but he still sits on the golden perch of Istanbul, so he is the master of all of all investigations.
In his previous book, The Lion House, Christopher de Bereig illustrated the rise of Suleiman's power with rich, wavy details. Here he takes the story into the next stage as the Sultan of Swann's neck protects his interests, protects his previous failures (the Hungarian bits need to be re-shot), and most importantly worry about the heirs. Unlike Huawei and the insignificant Henry VIII of England, Suleyman is not within the scope of his son. He has five different mothers, but the system has a terrible kicker built into it. Once the heir is chosen (they don't have to be the oldest boy), the lucky young man is expected to kill all his siblings. Thuleman's father, Selim, killed five nephews, ensuring the smooth progression of his own boy. It's no wonder everyone feels at the edge, as the Sultan leads to the middle-aged battle scarred.
The Golden Throne is a meticulous work of the story's history, but employs a fictional voice that owes much to Hillary Mantel's Wolf Hall trilogy. The same use is available throughout the current tense, allowing De Bellaigue readers to experience the event at the same pace as the historic actors (it's fascinating to call them “characters”). They also inject human agents into the kinds of set pieces that are often boring. These incredible sea battles, the diplomacy of that maze, especially the complicated acts of the twisted pope. In De Bellaigue's hands, these complex procedures become easier to read and thrilling in their own unique way. In addition to the feeling that the drama is unfolding in real time, the book is divided into five “actions” and begins with a cast list for “Drama Person.”
Like Mantel, de Bereig tells his story with a mashup of modern colloquial language and gorgeous descriptions. Barbarossa, the pirate chief patrols the Mediterranean coast for Thuleman, is “a great grizzly sexual bugaboo”, Hungarian Queen Isabella “is not the airhead that people say”, and Habsburg High Up is “a continuous bullsitter”. The aphorism is similarly arrested: “War is the weather,” “In the summer he is a terrorist, in the winter he is a civil servant,” “Luxury is not safe. Information is.”
The Sultan may sit on a solid golden throne, but the vulnerability of the human body is never far from his calculations. He only employs deaf people as secret secretaries to ensure that secrets are not leaked. His preferred courtier is the e-official, as they cannot breed themselves in a dynasty of dissatisfaction. The little boy took him to the palace and pulled his penis and scrotum with a braided cord. It is designed to contribute to the elderly as well. When a group of Sultan soldiers attack a church on Lipari Island, the first thing they do is to harvest the gallbladders of the old man hiding inside. (It appears that the gallbladder, or bile, had “many useful qualities.”
In the cute movements, Thomas Cromwell makes a cameo appearance in De Bereig's book. Henry VIII's right arm is always full with France's Francis I, always on the side of the Holy Roman Emperor, and is happy to welcome Suleiman's army into the heart of Europe, if it means that Milan can be exchanged. Plus, there are plenty of homemade Cromwells. There are men (and occasionally women) from everywhere by making themselves useful. The camp was brought to Istanbul by Sultan's own wife, Loxerana, who was brought as a slave from Poland to Istanbul, and is recently known as the Sultan's Haseki, or “special friend.”. Or what about Grand Vigier Resme, who doubles as the emperor's son-in-law? He began his life as a pig. Then there is Hassan, governor of the e-manager of Algiers, who was a Sardinian shepherd in his former life.
The Golden Throne belongs to that particular subgenre of “non-fiction novels” and clumsy writing. This is not the same as historical fiction. The author takes the documented past and remakes it along a more pleasant line. Cut out minor characters, confuse others, and abandon parts of the plot that don't fit at all. Christopher de Bereig does something completely different here. Intimately sticking to written records, he unfolds his novelist skills, thrilling the archives and risking his life.
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