Seventy years after the fall of the West, the Emperor Justinian and General Belisarius had nearly stitched the Empire back together when the Black Plague hit, killing half Rome's citizens, bringing the Empire to her knees and evil to Caesar's throne. “The Exarch’s Son” follows the tale of Heraclius, son of the Exarch of Carthage, born into this humbled Rome, and his quest to rescue the Empire from the clutches of the tyrant Emperor Phocas. Young Heraclius sails to Constantinople to confront Phocas, while the most powerful enemies that Rome has ever known - the Avars and resurgent Persians - overrun her borders. And in Arabia's deserts a new dynasty emerges, one that will change the world forever. "Storm, with magisterial historical command, depicts a bedraggled Rome long after its proudest years ... an intelligent and uncommon blend of masterful history and artistic creation." - KIRKUS REVIEW