Customer Reviews

Shadow of the Swords: An Epic Novel of the Crusades

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Shadow of the Swords is somewhere in between historical fiction and history book. It's a serious novel, a bit dry in the beginning, but it ends with the heat and passion of the true history of the Crusades in the twelfth century.

Pitted against each other in this novel, as they were in the Crusades, is Saladin, Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and Richard the Lionheart, the new king of England. When Richard's father, King Henry, dies and leaves the throne to his second son, John, Richard takes the throne by force. Determined to win the love of his nobles and subjects, and the admiration of his family, Richard embarks on a war to reclaim the city of Jerusalem, which has just been lost to Saladin.

Thrust in between these two powerful foes is Miriam, a beautiful, independent, stubborn woman, scorned for her religion as a Jew by both sides. Neither man can deny their growing feelings for this emerald eyed beauty, but her actions will surprise them both.

Beneath the plot of Shadow of the Swords lies evidence of Kamran Pasha's passion for writing and his love of Muslim history. He paints Saladin as a powerful warrior, terrifying and dominating, but also gentle and generous. Richard the Lionheart, known in history as a stubborn and evil tyrant, is shown as a human, with flaws but not always so heartless. The fictional love triangle is the tool Pasha uses to illustrate what these two men may have actually been like, aside from enemies.

The first hundred pages of this novel were a struggle at times, but the last hundred were fast-paced and thrilling. I learned things about this time period and history that I won't easily forget. All-in-all, Shadow of the Swords is a great novel for fans of historical fiction, who like something more serious than fluffy romance.

Kamran Pasha does it again. I was skeptical on how he was going to pull off SHADOW OF THE SWORDS, but he did it in a fantastic way! I have read many books, both fictional and non-fictional about the crusades. Usually they have a preachy tone to them, or rather slated take. I was 100% satisfied with this novel. It read very quickly and reads like a feature movie. I love reading Pasha's book because he is a successful Hollywood writer and the books flow naturally like a film.

Kudos Pasha. To anybody seeking an action-packed and very emotional ride - you will want to buy this book. As someone with historical knowledge of the last crusade, Pasha doesn't take that many liberties and doesn't veer off the path that much. There are a few obvious characters that are not part of history - but it makes for a better story - and hence the "non-fictional" novel.

Great job - highly recommend!!

Few will argue the old cliché that there are "two sides to every story," or that truth requires consideration of both sides, especially when it comes to the study of written history. The tendency of history textbooks to present only one point-of-view brings to mind the famous Winston Churchill quote, "History is written by the victors." But the "victors," unfortunately, tell us only what they want us to know, and the losers generally have lost their right to argue the point.

Kamran Pasha's "Shadow of the Swords" is an opportunity for Western readers to look at the bloody Third Crusade of the late twelfth century through the eyes of Saladin, commander of the Muslim forces in Palestine at the time of Richard the Lionheart's invasion of the region. Note, however, that portions of the book are written from Richard's point-of-view, although Saladin's character remains the most influential one throughout the book.

Most intriguingly, at the time of Richard's quest to recover the Holy Land from the hands of the Muslim "infidels," the relative strengths and weaknesses of the European and Muslim worlds were near opposites of what they are today. The twelfth century Muslim world was well ahead of its European counterpart in the areas of science, mathematics, medicine, government and weaponry. Despite this, Europeans generally considered Muslims to be little more than barbaric infidels with no right to occupy the Holy Land, especially the city of Jerusalem. As Saladin and his people saw it, Richard the Lionheart was the terrorist of his day, leader of an army seeking to destroy Muslim and Jew, alike, in the name of Christianity. More than 800 years later, the roles and positions of the two cultures have largely reversed.

Just three years before, Saladin had successfully rid Jerusalem of the Christian army that had controlled it for so long. Now, while Saladin continues to fight remnants of that army along the coast, Jerusalem is a peaceful city within which people of all faiths live and work in relative harmony. Saladin, a bit surprised at how quickly the Europeans have been able to place such a large army in Palestine to challenge him, realizes that he and his people are faced again with a war that might very well change the course of history. This fight, though, is as much about Saladin vs. Richard the Lionheart as it is about huge conflicting armies and religious differences.

Pasha uses a combination of historical and fictional characters to tell his story. And his fictional characters are so vividly painted, and his historical ones so well fleshed, that it can be difficult for the reader to remember which are real and which are made up. Pasha, very helpfully, explains which are which in an attachment to the end of the book that also puts much of the story into its historical context. "Shadow of the Swords" is eye-opening historical fiction cloaked in a love story involving Miriam, the niece of Saladin's Jewish advisor and doctor, Maimonides. Fate gives Miriam a chance to charm both leaders and she makes the most of her opportunity, eagerly playing the spy on Saladin's behalf. The inclusion of a fictional character like Miriam allows Pasha to create more complete personalities for Saladin and Richard so that there is a very personal aspect to their clash as the two men meet on the biggest world stage of their day.

Readers may find this one to be a little bit of a slow-starter (and some may, perhaps, even be a little put off at first by the point-of-view from which it is written). Do not, however, give up on this one too early; if you do, you are going to miss out on one heck of an adventure and a very painless history lesson.

As a prcticing, orthodox Jew, I was not expecting this book to be as eye-opening as it turned out to be. Although an acknowledged work of fiction, the message is clear. Either learn to live in peace or die.
I cannot begin to express how profoundly I was affected by this book.

I could not put this book down, especially towards the end. At the climactic struggle between Richard and Saladin, my heart was pounding, the story was so vividly told. By then, I was emotionally invested in all the main characters. This book works as historical literature, as a vehicle for conveying ideas, and as great entertainment.

In this day and age of so much conflict between some followers of the Abrahamic traditions, I welcome this historical novel by Kamran Pasha. Between the actual historical personages and the fictional characters that Mr. Pasha creates, his imagination weaves an intricate yet comprehensible picture of the the third crusade, and its resonance down to the present day.

While there is a plethora of history texts that provide portraits of Saladin and Richard, I found it refreshing that Kamran creatively added new dimensions to these two figures, dimensions that expanded our appreciation of their heart and their humanity.

Miriam, the character that Kamran invented to carry part of this story, forms a brilliant centerpiece through whose intelligence and beauty these two men are engaged with a passion and love that each man no doubt possessed, but that is largely absent from their historical portrayals.

I did not read this book expecting a dry, historical account. And, thank God, that is not what I got when I read it.

Dammit Jim, this is a novel, not a history of courtly dance steps!

I really did enjoy reading Kamran Pasha's second book, "Shadow of the Swords." The characters are well developed, and the storyline leaves the reader immersed throughout the entire book. Because of the writing style the characters come to life which enables the reader to fully visualize them. This coming from somebody who is not that familiar with the Crusades it encouraged me to further read up on this topic. In the end, it was fun to pick up this book each night and let myself be fully immersed in it.

This novel is the second book by the author about the Crusades. The book starts with Miriam, a young adolescent who has just run from a band of Crusaders that had attacked her family in the desert. She watched in horror as her parents are murdered and her mother is violated. She is also violated and would suffer the same fate as her parents had she not cut her attacker with his own dagger and run. She survives but is deeply scarred. Picked up by a kind Bedoin, Miriam is given to her kind aunt and uncle, the latter being a rabbi, doctor, and close advisor to the current Sultan.

Fast forward a few years and Jerusalem is retaken by the Mideastern lot, the Muslims and Jews having joined forces. The kind rabbi brings his beautiful niece to Jerusalem with her aunt in order to protect her. She becomes a person of interest for the Sultan.

The historical portion of this novel is well over 50%. It is not so much a love story as a war story. The author wanted to write a screen play about the crusades so others would have a greater understanding of it. The idea came to him shortly after the attacks on 9/11. Being Muslim, he was disheartened by the extremists who were not following the teachings of Mohammad. He also saw the parallel between Al-Qaeda and the crusaders; extremists who do not represent the true teachings of Mohammad nor Christ.

I did not know the author was Muslim by reading this book. History of the two protagonists, King Richard the Lionheart and Saladin, the Sultan, paints the former as a young, brash, and somewhat power-hungry king who turned to perpetuating the crusades as a way to show his worth as king. The latter protagonist is known throughout history as a patient, merciful, and accepting man who showed chivalry, honor, and principle.

The author also introduces a somewhat fictional character into the story named William. William sees the stupidity of pride ruling war and needlessness of murdering, pillaging, and raping the villagers on the way. He also does not agree with Richard to continue the crusades however, as a life long friend, he supports him, nonetheless. This friendship is severely strained as Richard commands 9/10 of the occupants of one settlement to be executed in a show of power, including men, women, and children. Tens of thousands were led to a pit and beheaded. Yes, this book is not for the faint of heart.

William is a piece of the author, who does not believe any religion or race should become so extreme as to not see that all human kind are the same. We are brothers and sisters. In one touching conversation, Richard asks William (who has had contact with enemy) of the the enemy, "Are they like us?" William pauses, looks away and responds, "They are us."

Kamran has put together a great story about all the moving parts that revolved around the lives of Saladin and Richard leading up to their epic battle. The story keeps you glued to your seat, as you start learning about the personalities of these two historical figures and how their actions inspired so many around them.

What is really interesting about this book is how Kamran has shown there is good in every religion, and how everyone ultimately wants peace.

As the story progresses, the reader will get sucked into the the main characters, and how the events leading up to the battle over Jerusalem takes over all Muslim, Jewish, and Christian parties involved. I think what I liked the most was how Kamran showed that each religion has good in it, and how if we just respected each others thoughts and views, we could all live as peace loving neighbors.

If you are a fan of historical figures, you will surely like this book. Highly recommend it!!

Shadow of the Swords is a true historical fiction, steeped in facts but yet serving to fill in the gaps that history ignored with political intrigue, suspense and romance. I really enjoyed reading this novel simply because it was really well written and well laid out. Admittedly the author did have a substantial background to work from since many of the events that were described in the book actually took place. However they were heightened in some instances with so many twists and turns that made putting this book down for even 10 mins difficult.

The story is set during the Third Crusade (1187 - 1192) that is launched against the Muslim world. With this book we look at the crusades from several perspectives including Muslim, Jewish and Christian and I really appreciated that. I think that often we get a western perspective on historical events and they do not always give us an unbiased point of view. However by writing Shadow of the Swords in the third person, I believe that Pasha is allowing the reader to gain an overall understanding of the event.

The two figures central to the story King Richard 1 and Sultan Saladin were quite opposites in every way and I think if you decide to look up both men, that's one of the first things you would notice. The author did a great job to show the side of these men that history has recorded but Pasha went one step further in making them complex and multi-dimensional characters that were a joy to get to know. There are instances where the characters were entirely fictional however you could hardly tell because they were so neatly weaved into the story that without a doubt, they were real men and women written in the annals of history.

I think that it's for that reason that it was so hard for me to have a favourite character in this book. Saladin's chivalry, kindness and his devotion to Islamic practices were sometimes incredulous but do your research and you would realize that it is all true. I loved Miriam simply because she was a woman that was ahead of her time. She was fiercely loyal and independent, out spoken and brave. The author in his note stated that Miriam embodied the resilience of the Jews but I think I connected with her because she represented the modern ideals of women and who we all should strive to be. The cherry on the ice cream would have to be Sir William of Chinon. His character is rightly so, a sympathetic Christian and his disagreement with the crusades is how one can imagine most sympathetic Christians felt during this period.

I thought that this entire book took a stab (no pun intended) at the current conflict between the Muslims and the Western world and by extension the misrepresentation of Muslims in the media. There were some quotes that I found bearing truth to this for example:

"All human conflict was fundamentally premised on those two emotions, hatred and fear, bound painfully together and forced to dance to a grim tune played forever on the Reaper's tune." Pg 237

"Perhaps there will come a time when the West will be powerful again and the Arabs will fight to restore their lost glory" pg 202

For what it is worth, I do think that Pasha succeeded in shedding more favourable light over Muslims. Saladin truly embodies the core of what Islam stands for however the real question is how much of Saladin's principles and by extension that of Islam is still maintained.

Shadow of the Swords is a really good read, not just for history buffs like myself but for anyone who appreciates how past events continue to shape our future. It's also a great story about showing love, compassion and tolerance in a world that is as diverse as ours is. I am definitely going to give it a second read before I pass it on to my friends.

Kamran Pasha, Author
Shadow of the Swords
Washington Square Press, ISBN 978-1-4165-7995-3
Fiction-religion, crusades, Muslim, Islam, Kings, warriors, Egypt, Iran, Christianity, England
390 pages
June 2010 Review for Bookpleasures
Reviewer-Michelle Kaye Malsbury, BSBM, MM
Review
Kamran Pasha is a two time author of fiction. His first book was titled Mother of All Believers. It was published in 2009. (2010, back cover) In addition to writing fiction Mr. Pasha has written and produced two, well received, television series: Sleeper Cell and The Bionic Woman. He has been a contributing writer for the NBC series titled King's. And now he introduces his newest novel, Shadow of the Swords.

Shadow of the Swords has an eclectic cast of main characters. They offer high drama, nearly endless action, and subtle deception. Much of the book is about bloody battles fought for religious superiority across the Middle East, England, Europe, and Asia. The story takes place in the 1100's AD where life and circumstance were difficult unless you were lucky enough to be of the privileged sect that had minions to tend to your every need.

Kamran Pasha seems to capture the essence and life blood of the people during that period in history with piercing clarity. The plot unravels a little at a time and keeps the readers turning pages to see what will happen next. Mr. Pasha's writing style is eloquent and detailed. Descriptions of places these characters travelled made the reader feel as if you were there with them. For instance, Mr. Pasha's words created a vision whereby you could literally experience the heat from the sun and taste the long awaited water as it ran down your throat after crossing the dessert, or smell the stench of battle and disease as the characters fought their way into new territory, or linger in the sweet residue of a gentle kiss between lovers.

The main story line is about differing kingdoms clashing over acquiring more land to reign over and pressing their religion as the "one". Contrary to what some may think, Islam is not the frenetic, erratic, terror plotting, blood thirsty religion it has been made out to be by some in the media. The basic teachings of the Quaran are of peace, diplomacy, and understanding: as were the tenants of other religions that have been misinterpreted by fanatics throughout the history of the world.

Basically the Knights Templar, under direction of King Richard the Lionheart and his counterpart, Conrad, meet up Saladin, the ruler of Islam for a fight like all before. Courage and bravery are in no short supply, on or off the battle field. There are religious undertones that hint at the plight of the Jews during this tumultuous time and three of the main characters are displaced Jews who have managed to get in pretty tight with Saladin and as such are largely under his protection. As the plot moves forward high profile prisoners are captured, exchanged, and sometimes killed. Lessons are learned by all.

This book offers a little something for everyone: war, love, deceit, betrayal, extensive travel, conquests, disease and pestilence, multiple languages and religions all wrapped up in the fight, friendships won and lost, and more. Mr. Pasha has done a marvelous job of spinning a very believable tale that borders on actual history from those times. His characters are complex, shrouded in mystery, and intelligent beyond their years. I found some endearing and some too awful for words. I loved the ending and would highly recommend reading this wonderfully moving and totally engaging book. Thank you Kamran Pasha for a great read!