Cross and Crescent [Paperback]

Susan Shwartz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2, 1999

Cross and Crescent continues the story begun in Shards of Empire: the story of Byzantium, once center of the world. Fierce Turkish armies have attacked the Empire's borders and captured Jerusalem. All seems lost. From the West have come Jerusalem's saviors -- the armies of Franks and Normans -- to reclaim Jerusalem for Christ's faithful. But the Byzantines must play a dangerous game to save their land, from infidel and Christian both ... and the things done in God's name may condemn an entire generation.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

Sequel to the 11th-century historical fantasy Shards of Empire (1996). The First Crusade is under way: A mixed force of Normans, Franks, and other northerners under Bohemond has assembled, intending to attack the Holy Land and wrest Jerusalem from the Turks. To Byzantine Emperor Alexius, however, surrounded by enemies, the Crusaders are just as threatening as the Turks themselves, so he engages linguist and warrior Theodoulos, adoptive son of his old friend and rival Leo Ducas, to accompany the Crusaders and report back. Alexius also appoints Binah, Leo's magic-powered adoptive daughter, to be a companion for his fiercely ambitious daughter Anna. Along the way, Theodoulos finds his own magic powers awakening (like his sister, he's the offspring of a goddess), and almost against his will he begins to like the barbarous but good-hearted northerners. As the Crusaders draw ever nearer to Jerusalem, Binah teaches Anna magic, while the latter schemes and plots and prepares herself to seize the throne when the opportunity presents itself. Though Shwartz's sympathies and interests manifestly lie with Anna, much of the book is simply a fictionalized account of the First Crusade. The upshot is schizophrenic and only moderately engaging. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

"Susan Shwartz is a sorceress surely without peer, weaving her spells of entrapment to the wonder of all." --Dennis L. McKiernan

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; First Edition edition (July 2, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312868073
• ISBN-13: 978-0312868079
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,375,039 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing..., October 25, 1998

By 

Stuart W. Mirsky "swm" (New York, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cross and Crescent (Hardcover)

The basic take-off point of the tale seems to be the machinations and ambitions of Anna Comnenus, the Byzantine princess who celebrated her father, the Emperor Alexius, in her well-known text, The Alexiad, itself a rather dry though intriguing document of the political twists & turns and military escapades undertaken by the Byzantine Greeks of that time. The promise of it all was great. But not so, the execution. There are elements of intrigue and fantasy and adventure here but they are not well meshed. Some of the characters were promising and I did like the attempt to depict the life of the Byzantines on their wharfs and in their palaces. But the mixing of pagan deities with the real world of religious Byzantium just didn't work for me. Although I like this kind of stuff, I put this one down about half way through -- though I tried mightily to see it through to the end. But I failed. And so, regrettably, did this book. -- SWM