Customer Reviews

The Saracen: Land Of The Infidel

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Just picked this book up used; as a long-time fan of R.A. Wilson I recognized Shea as the co-auther of the Illuminatus! trilogy. What a pleasant surprise!!! I have not read a historical adventure novel this well-crafted in years. It's almost depressing that Shea did not enjoy great wealth and fame as an author in his lifetime; extremely few bestselling genre potboilers come close to the standard he sets here, and very little "literary" fiction explores as much territory as Shea and Wilson's Illuminatus! *Sigh* In many ways Shea is a superior craftsman to Wilson---it's a very interesting contrast for the R.A. Wilson fan. Minor spoiler: the novel ends abruptly in the middle of the story; try and get this one together with its sequel. As Ezra Pound wrote eulogizing T.S. Eliot (I may be unconsciously paraphrasing here): "Read him, read him, read him". Read him voraciously and get his novels back in print. It's a travesty neither Wilson nor Shea is a household name (yet) in the english speaking world.

The premise of this book is an interesting one. An English child is left an orphan in Palestine and is raised as a Muslim soldier in Egypt. The Mameluke Corps. that is the basis for this book was a real organization of slave soldiers derived from Christian and pagan boys from Russia, Circassia (now in southern Russia), as well as from Asia Minor, Greece, and sometimes Central Asia. These boys were raised as the Jannisaries were in the Ottoman armies. Strictly pious Muslims trained in all the arts of war. The Crusaders had some similar, and sometimes equally rambunctious, military weapon in the Military Orders such as the Templars and Hospitallers. Mostly of Franco-Belgian ancestry and fervent Catholic Christians, the Crusades were quickly forgotten in the Middle East until the return of Europeans in the form of the Israelis (the Ashkenazi) and the French and English administrators with troops derived from their vast domains stretching from Indo-China and North Africa to India and the Americas. This book was well researched and the character of Baybars is a menacing supersoldier, albeit somewhat heroically portrayed since the Mamelukes were ferocious fighters and were the only army to halt the Mongol advance. Some historians argue that this Mongol army that the Mamelukes defeated was not the same as the one Genghis Khan had led, but many in the Islamic world believe that if Egypt had fallen so too would have Islam. This unlikely viewpoint is conveyed in this book as we see things from the point of views of the participants including a French knight, an English-born Mameluke, and the woman they both love/lust. Romantized for effect, the history is interesting and vivid. The brutal military training that Daud has to endure matches closely the theories of many historians as to how the Mamelukes were trained. It's worth a look as something original and will entertain without a doubt.

this is a brilliant book, with many twists and turns. What sets it apart from other books is the fact the two main characters are both hero's yet on opposing sides. Confused? not at all read it you will love it. Be warned the second book must be purchased as well, as it ends midway through.

What a great book! Great depth of character, the people come alive. This is one that really needs to be reprinted!

Robert Shea is one of the most talented authors. In this series, he transports you to a world that existed a long time ago and makes it live again! The characters are real and easy to fall in love with. Daoud is a man that anyone would want to know! I highly recommended this series as well as the Shike series. It is truly a shame that Mr. Shea hasn't given us more of these wonderful stories to love!

I read this book by Robert Shea over ten years ago. Yet the characters and the poignancy of the story remain with me. It was at the time unlike any historical fiction I had ever read, unique in its time period, unique in its plot. And it remains unique and wonderful to this day... and I've read a lot of historical fiction. The only books I loved more were AZTEC by Gary Jennings, and THE EGYPTIAN by Mika Waltari. I recently read MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA and loved it too.