Steven Till

The Sword and the Shield of the Realm by Florian Stone Wells

Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: sapientus; 1st edition (January 15, 2008)
Average Customer Review on Amazon: 5 stars (5 customer reviews)

Product Description from Amazon:

Part mystery and part alternative history, this novel debuts a magnificent historical saga, which takes the reader on a grand adventure during the religious, political and economic maelstrom that is Eastern Europe in the middle of the 15th Century. The year is 1448 and the epic struggle between the Islamic Empire of the Ottomans and Christendom is at its height. Transylvania and Wallachia, the sword and the shield of the Kingdom of Hungary, are about to be invaded by an immense army under the banner of Sultan Murad II, the man who calls himself the Shadow of Allah upon the World. Lorian Comosicus, the heir to a legacy represented by a mysterious Draconic ring, and his twelve-year-old brother, Silvan, are sent across the border mountains to the fortress of Roter Turm with a secret message from the conspirators who killed Voievod Vlad Dracul of Valahia for pledging allegiance to the Ottoman Empire. After narrowly escaping capture by the Sultan’s forces, the boys lose their way in the vast forests of Transylvania where they meet Sir Gregor Dahr Altair, an imperial knight who narrowly escaped from Roter Turm before it was destroyed by the Ottomans.

Gregor is a powerful force within the Excubitors, a secretive fraternity of royal advisors, financiers, and merchants who could change the outcome of the war through their influential positions within the Ottoman Empire and Christendom. Learning Lorian s identity and mission, he leads the brothers ahead of the tempest, rushing to reach the great trading city of Hermannstadt before it is surrounded and destroyed by the Sultan’s army. The period embraced in this saga generated one of the most dramatic turning points within the ever-changing geo-political divisions and intrigues of the time which can only be called, appropriately to the novel, Byzantine. Using scenes that are carefully and artfully presented lessons in history, the author takes us to a long-forgotten past which, in the intricate tapestry of human history, helped shape the world of today. This exceptional first novel, which will not only interest you in its own right but which will definitely leave you eager for the next installment, is enhanced with a comprehensive glossary that contains terms contemporary to the story and to relevant historical references and characters. The lexicon adds to the interest of the story line by allowing the reader to accurately relate to the people and events in the book.

Filed under: Middle Ages History, Medieval History, Historical Fiction on October 28th, 2008