The Saracen: The Holy War

Saracen #2

by Robert Shea

Destiny will not wait. At last, the final confrontation between East and West, Sacarcen and Crusader, is about to take place. The awesome magic of one civilization will be pitted against the unslaked thirst for conquest of its rival.

Daoud ibn Abdullah, the fair-haired spy and assassin known as the White Emir from the palaces of Cairo, will have his long-anticipated duel with Simon de Gobignon, the young French count entrusted with the guardianship of King and Pope. And Sophia, the beautiful courtesan richly trained in the arts of both love and treachery, must make her agonizing choice between the two warriors, a choice whose consequences will go dangerously beyond the hungers of the heart, or of life and death itself...

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Novels, Fantasy

357 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 13, 1989

About the author

Robert Joseph Shea was a novelist and journalist best known as co-author with Robert Anton Wilson of the science fantasy trilogy Illuminatus!. It became a cult success and was later turned into a marathon-length stage show put on at the British National Theatre and elsewhere. In 1986 it won the Prometheus Hall of Fame Award. Shea went on to write several action novels based in exotic historical settings.

Reviews

[Jake Colalilo]

Why doesn’t Robert Shea like happy endings? 🥺🥺

[Al Lock]

The war in Italy comes to an end (or at least, only one King survives) , but the alliance with the Tatars is broken into ruins. Good men die and other good men learn from their death. And evil men die as well and win as well. The reality of the unfairness of life continues... and conflict is not ended.

[Liesbeth Kampen]

fantastisch boek!!

[Xavier Alexandre]

A well documented historical novel about the attemped alliance between Tartars (Mongols) and France to launch a last, devastating crusade. Historical events are correct. The author evidently spent a lot of time checking facts and setting a realistic stage to the story. The 2 main characters, Daoud and Simon, are complex and their weaknesses somehow mirror each other. Fighting for 2 different religions but for the same woman can only lead to a saga-like scenario. This is a page turner.