Author Description

In the shadow of empire and ambition, the sun vanished. In 536 CE, a veil of ash cloaked the skies, plunging the known world into a bitter twilight. Crops withered, famine spread, and the Byzantine Empire teetered on the edge of collapse. The Year the Sun Died follows Procopius of Caesarea—eminent historian, imperial secretary, and reluctant prophet—as he chronicles the unraveling of civilization from the heart of Constantinople. Serving both General Belisarius and Emperor Justinian I, Procopius bears witness to the empire’s grand campaigns and its slow descent into chaos. As Justinian dreams of restoring Rome’s glory, Procopius sees omens in the fog and frost—signs ignored by the powerful but feared by the people. Torn between duty and truth, he risks everything to record the catastrophe that reshaped history. Inspired by Procopius’s own writings, including his incendiary Secret History, this novel blends meticulous research with haunting drama to illuminate one of humanity’s darkest years—and the man who dared to tell its story.