“The Crusader” by Michael Alexander Eisner (Doubleday, 2001)

Contrary to the title, this is not a novel about a bloodthirsty Christian knight slaying Saracens left, right and center.  Well, it is sort of, but in a really boring way, where everything is recounted from memory in chronicle form, and a certain lacking in gory detail that a reader might be expecting with a title like The Crusader.  Nevertheless, the motif of the crusader is apparent, in his goal to purge the world of these Muslims that are invading Spain and crawling up to the Pyrenees, as well as remaining a true and pious knight who believes only in God, and therefore as Him on his side.  This is the story of a crusading knight who as God in his court, and where victory is as inevitable as his assurance in ascending heavenwards at his death.

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Originally published on April 15th 2002.

Originally published in the Long Beach Union.

“Sharpe’s Fortress: India 1803” by Bernard Cornwell (HarperCollins, 2000)

Sharpe is currently stationed in India, having just fought at the Battle of Assaye, and barely escaped, nevertheless saving Britain once again.  He has recently been promoted to ensign.  With high hopes, Sharpe is then moved from platoon to platoon, the level of job satisfaction decreasing each time.  He knows his job sucks, but as he looks up on that hill, he sees a hope, as revenge boils the blood in his heart.  On that hill sits Gawhilgur, and the year is 1803.  It is where he must wage war once more, but now he has deaths to avenge.  His time the siege will be hard, the fortress almost impenetrable, and Sharpe will be stretched to his very limits.

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Originally published on April 15th 2002.

Originally published in the Long Beach Union.