What do you think?
Rate this book
The Siege of Malta: An Historical Novel
The island of Malta is key to the control of the central Mediterranean Sea. For five months in 1561 a Turkish force attacked Malta--and was defied, in a great epic of endurance, by the Knights of St. John. Sir Walter Scott visited the island a year before his death, and gathered material to write a novel about it, dying before it was complete. Now S. Fowler Wright has finished Scott's last great historical romance. This is a story of high courage and deep faith. At its centre stands the old Grand Master of the Order, La Vallette (after whom Valetta was named), grim and unshakeable. But it is also a story of love undaunted amid fearful perils; of a girl who, rather than be separated from the man she loves, learns to wield a sword, and, escaping by a hairsbreadth from the clutches of the infidel, finally wins even the Grand Master's grudging admiration. Here is a novel to stir the blood and stimulate the imagination.
842 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1942
3 people are currently reading
274 people want to read
About the author
Walter Scott
8,715 books2,032 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Sir Walter Scott was a Scottish novelist, poet, historian, and biographer, widely recognized as the founder and master of the historical novel. His most celebrated works, including Waverley, Rob Roy, and Ivanhoe, helped shape not only the genre of historical fiction but also modern perceptions of Scottish culture and identity.
Born in Edinburgh in 1771, Scott was the son of a solicitor and a mother with a strong interest in literature and history. At the age of two, he contracted polio, which left him with a permanent limp. He spent much of his childhood in the Scottish Borders, where he developed a deep fascination with the region's folklore, ballads, and history. He studied at Edinburgh High School and later at the University of Edinburgh, qualifying as a lawyer in 1792. Though he worked in law for some time, his literary ambitions soon took precedence.
Scott began his literary career with translations and collections of traditional ballads, notably in his Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. He gained early fame with narrative poems such as The Lay of the Last Minstrel and The Lady of the Lake. As the popularity of poetic storytelling declined, especially with the rise of Lord Byron, Scott turned to prose. His first novel, Waverley, published anonymously in 1814, was set during the Jacobite rising of 1745 and is considered the first true historical novel. The success of Waverley led to a long series of novels, known collectively as the Waverley Novels, which blended historical events with compelling fictional narratives.
Over the following years, Scott produced a remarkable number of novels, including Old Mortality, The Heart of Midlothian, and The Bride of Lammermoor, each contributing to the romantic image of Scotland that became popular throughout Europe. With Ivanhoe, published in 1819, he turned his attention to medieval England, broadening his appeal and confirming his status as a major literary figure. His works were not only popular in his own time but also laid the groundwork for historical fiction as a respected literary form.
Scott married Charlotte Genevieve Charpentier in 1797, and they had five children. In 1820, he was granted a baronetcy and became Sir Walter Scott. He built a grand home, Abbotsford House, near Melrose, which reflected his passion for history and the Scottish past. However, in 1825, financial disaster struck when his publishers went bankrupt. Rather than declare bankruptcy himself, Scott chose to work tirelessly to pay off the debts through his writing. He continued to produce novels and non-fiction works at a staggering pace despite declining health.
Walter Scott died in 1832, leaving behind a literary legacy that influenced generations of writers and readers. His works remain widely read and studied, and he is credited with helping to revive interest in Scottish history and culture. Abbotsford House, now a museum, stands as a monument to his life and achievements.
Sir Walter Scott was a Scottish novelist, poet, historian, and biographer, widely recognized as the founder and master of the historical novel. His most celebrated works, including Waverley, Rob Roy, and Ivanhoe, helped shape not only the genre of historical fiction but also modern perceptions of Scottish culture and identity.
Born in Edinburgh in 1771, Scott was the son of a solicitor and a mother with a strong interest in literature and history. At the age of two, he contracted polio, which left him with a permanent limp. He spent much of his childhood in the Scottish Borders, where he developed a deep fascination with the region's folklore, ballads, and history. He studied at Edinburgh High School and later at the University of Edinburgh, qualifying as a lawyer in 1792. Though he worked in law for some time, his literary ambitions soon took precedence.
Scott began his literary career with translations and collections of traditional ballads, notably in his Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. He gained early fame with narrative poems such as The Lay of the Last Minstrel and The Lady of the Lake. As the popularity of poetic storytelling declined, especially with the rise of Lord Byron, Scott turned to prose. His first novel, Waverley, published anonymously in 1814, was set during the Jacobite rising of 1745 and is considered the first true historical novel. The success of Waverley led to a long series of novels, known collectively as the Waverley Novels, which blended historical events with compelling fictional narratives.
Over the following years, Scott produced a remarkable number of novels, including Old Mortality, The Heart of Midlothian, and The Bride of Lammermoor, each contributing to the romantic image of Scotland that became popular throughout Europe. With Ivanhoe, published in 1819, he turned his attention to medieval England, broadening his appeal and confirming his status as a major literary figure. His works were not only popular in his own time but also laid the groundwork for historical fiction as a respected literary form.
Scott married Charlotte Genevieve Charpentier in 1797, and they had five children. In 1820, he was granted a baronetcy and became Sir Walter Scott. He built a grand home, Abbotsford House, near Melrose, which reflected his passion for history and the Scottish past. However, in 1825, financial disaster struck when his publishers went bankrupt. Rather than declare bankruptcy himself, Scott chose to work tirelessly to pay off the debts through his writing. He continued to produce novels and non-fiction works at a staggering pace despite declining health.
Walter Scott died in 1832, leaving behind a literary legacy that influenced generations of writers and readers. His works remain widely read and studied, and he is credited with helping to revive interest in Scottish history and culture. Abbotsford House, now a museum, stands as a monument to his life and achievements.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 12, 2021
The story behind this epic historical novel is quite singular. Towards the end of Walter Scott's illustrious and prolific career, he had been trying to churn out books to try to pay down some debt he had accrued, but he was struggling cognitively after having suffered several strokes. After taking a cruise abroad for his health, he was fascinated by the island of Malta and its history. For one, the Great Siege of Malta of 1565 was a grand tale that really tweaked Scott's sensibilities, as the story of the the Knights Hospitaller heroically defending Christianity from Turkish forces as a defining part of the centuries-long Ottoman Habsburg wars fit in well with his "Waverly novels" of the Crusades. Therefore, he jotted down some notes on some of the things he learned about the Siege while in Malta, and created a rough manuscript of what he felt would be his finest novel yet. He sent it ahead to his publisher for consideration, but he died of another stroke shortly thereafter. Left with a largely incohesive novel that was hardly a novel at all, but rather a somewhat factually inaccurate military account of the battle, the publishers refused to print the novel, and in fact, throughout the years, handlers of Scott's estate and academics who place him on a literary pedestal have taken steps that the manuscript should never see the light of day.
Yet when British science fiction and historical romance novelist S. Fowler Wright was given a chance to view a copy of the manuscript, he was puzzled by the attitude to deny publication to Scott's work. The argument had been (and continues to this day) that Scott intended the story to be complete, but it was so bad that only a failing intellect would have felt this fit for publication. Wright, on the other hand, did not feel that this manuscript was the product of a demented mind at all, but merely a rough draft of an unfinished work. Wright argues with some historical evidence that Scott did NOT in fact consider the manuscript to be a complete novel. Among many reasons for this assessment, Wright points out that Scott tended to dictate his novels, and so likely planned to flesh out the manuscript and dictate a final product upon his return from overseas.
Wright, a devoted fan of Walter Scott's oeuvre, received permission to complete the work he believed Scott had intended. The manuscript started off with a fairly developed narrative with characters either fictionalized or based on real people set in the historical framework of the Great Siege, but then devolved into a set of notes and snippets of historic events, largely dropping the main characters. Wright used clues from the existing narrative to flesh out full character arcs and storylines, mixing them in with Scott's historical outline. Some of these developments were completely from the imagination of Wright himself. I must say that Wright blended in his own fantasy almost seamlessly into Scott's original script. Since Scott was such an influence on Wright's writing, his style of prose tends to compliment, if not directly match, that of the Scottish literary legend. But those of you familiar with Wright's original work can certainly tell where Scott ends and Wright's romantic sensationalism and more modern knack for suspense and action is in full display.
This was truly a labor of love for Wright, and I think his intentions were completely pure. He had, after all, written one of the definitive biographies of Sir Walter Scott, and to be able to virtually collaborate with the great master he so long admired must have been like a dream.
The result is an absolute doorstopper of a book, an almost 900 page epic clash of cultures complete with pirates, knights, spies, raging battles at sea, sword-fights, military strategy, double-crosses, and steamy sexual exploits. The main highlight is the two female leads of the story--Angelica and Venetia. S. Fowler Wright really was ahead of his time in questioning gender stereotypes and creating strong female characters with complex motivations and arcs even in his most pulpy fantasies. We see his touch here in spades.
Angelica starts off as a somewhat timid and immature Spanish upper-crust socialite who has inherited her father's wealth and is being well kept by her influential uncle, Don Manuel. She never would have to endure a day of hardship, though to maintain her family's honor, her uncle has plans to send her to a celibate life as the administrator of a convent. Not relishing this idea, she tries to sneak aboard one of her cousin's ships that are headed to Malta to assist the Order of St. John in the defense of the island from Turkish invaders and Barbary corsairs. She disguises herself as a man, calling herself Don Garcio, and as such, gets pulled into the thick of the fighting almost from the get-go. Angelica must fight to keep her identity as a woman secret lest she become the target of Muslim slave traders who would love to get their hands on a virginal Spanish elite like herself or be whipped and expelled to her shame by the prudish Christian knights who have no place for a woman amongst their ranks. She quickly learns that "to dress as a man is to pay as a man," but she proves herself again and again to be of immense value to Malta's cause. I loved this character because Wright never tries to magically make a spoiled debutante who never had to use a sword in battle before into a superhero. She is not Captain Marvel and does not pretend to be stronger than her male peers who are well-seasoned in war. But she will certainly run you through if you mess with her and hers. She is smart, courageous, cunning, charming, and resourceful as well as being handy with a blade, but she is not perfect, making mistakes in judgment usually because she is too trusting and fully believes in the doctrine of forgiveness. Her soft heart gets her in trouble more than once, but she never becomes a victim, she always owns her mistakes, and she never gives up. She is a true soldier and someone to admire.
Venetia is the antithesis to Angelica's hero, though there are many similarities. Venetia is also a woman who is not where she is supposed to be. She was being hidden away in a tower of St. Angelo by one of the less scrupulous knights as his mistress, but she is discovered and imprisoned after she kills a servant who tries to rape her. Venetia is not as trusting or naïve as Angelica, having not been of high breeding and from a wealthy family. She was born in the slums of Genoa, and quickly learned how to manipulate men in order to survive. As such, she is considered a wanton, a prostitute, and faces public flagellation or worse from the Knights of Malta. But unlike Angelica, Venetia is forced to use much less noble means to literally keep her skin intact. Venetia is, in fact, a traitor, a liar, and a user. She is not necessarily as much of a sociopath as her actions would imply, however. Wright paints Venetia with incredible depth and sympathy, so that readers find themselves rooting for her and admiring her survival instincts as well as lamenting her choices. With incredible detail, Wright manipulates the emotions of the reader with this character. He would have her literally sleep with the enemy, only to appeal to the necessity of such an action for her survival, and then point out how sweetly she has the habit of sleeping with a hand cupped to her face like a child. You want to hate this woman, or have sweaty sex with her, or take her under your protection and give her the safe harbor which is the only thing she ever really wanted. Brilliant.
Unfortunately, not all of the novel is up to the usual Wright standards. The original Scott manuscript, as bare as it was of actual plot, was extremely repetitive, and Wright did nothing to correct this. In fact, he made it worse. Characters keep arguing over and over again in scene after scene about the same damn things. Sometimes, the same sentences are repeated with minimal variation in several parts of the story. Wright was an editor and should have known better. Perhaps not wanting to mar too much of Scott's original text, he includes page after page of incessant wartime planning. After reading about people talking about something that they plan to do, he then has the characters relate to others not present the same plan we just read about, all before we see this same information put into action as the plot plods painfully forward. As such, this otherwise well-paced and action-packed historical thriller overstays its welcome. By the time I was three-quarters into the book, I was unfortunately speed-reading, because I learned the patterns and knew where to skim through without missing a bit of the main thrust.
SPOILER ALERT FOR THIS PARAGRAPH: Wright also goes too far in trying to turn a historical novel into a thriller. He places the hero in peril after peril, so much so that it gets very tiresome rather than exciting. Angelica gets captured not once, not twice, but three times by the Turkish forces. This had the unintended consequence of diminishing what he was trying to do with the character, threatening to make her into a damsel in distress rather than an independent woman grappling with gender roles in a patriarchal world. And at least two of these times it was not known at first that she was a woman. Therefore, by the third time she ends up in the Ottoman camps, the reader no longer buys into the danger. If the Turks thought Angelica was just another Christian heathen who considered it God's will to send all Muslims to hell, they would likely decapitate "him" with a scimitar or impale "him" on a stake, not try to steal "him" away like King Kong would do with Fay Wray.
All of this really emphasizes that this book is WAY... TOO... LONG! Much like this review, it seems. This seriously hurts an otherwise very entertaining epic with intelligent themes. The book is divided by Wright into two parts, "St. Elmo" being the first and "St. Angelo" being the second. "St. Angelo" is much longer than the first part, and so if you feel at all exhausted after completing "St. Elmo," take a break and read something else to cleanse the palate before embarking on the rest of the journey.
But as of the time of this review, Kindle only has Part One available as an e-book. This means you have to go to SFW.org and read Part Two on their website. I do encourage anyone to visit the website, which has everything that S. Fowler Wright ever wrote available for free. The drawback is that there are no page breaks, nor is there the ability to save your place. For a section this long, it becomes quite a challenge to pick it up again and scroll down to where you think you left off. Your only other option to experience this book is to order the physical book online, where several vintage and new copies are readily available.
In 2008, the Edinburgh University Press released Scott's original unpublished manuscript as a transcript alongside a reading text where the misspellings and other typos were corrected. Also, Scott supposedly had a tendency to reuse words multiple times indiscriminately, sometimes even in the same sentence, so the editors busted out the thesaurus to diminish these repetitions. But that being said, the 2008 release is the closest most readers will ever get to what S. Fowler Wright used as the source material for his version reviewed here. However, I would only recommend the Edinburgh edition to serious scholars of Scott's full body of work. For my purposes, Wright's novel is the definitive version of the story, and one that is a fitting tribute to the great wordsmith.
I do recommend "The Siege of Malta" for lovers of historical dramas and swashbuckling adventures on the high seas. I only regret that I felt the need to speed through the last chapters rather than savoring the payoff. Therefore, an otherwise fine novel earns 3.5 stars out of 5.
Yet when British science fiction and historical romance novelist S. Fowler Wright was given a chance to view a copy of the manuscript, he was puzzled by the attitude to deny publication to Scott's work. The argument had been (and continues to this day) that Scott intended the story to be complete, but it was so bad that only a failing intellect would have felt this fit for publication. Wright, on the other hand, did not feel that this manuscript was the product of a demented mind at all, but merely a rough draft of an unfinished work. Wright argues with some historical evidence that Scott did NOT in fact consider the manuscript to be a complete novel. Among many reasons for this assessment, Wright points out that Scott tended to dictate his novels, and so likely planned to flesh out the manuscript and dictate a final product upon his return from overseas.
Wright, a devoted fan of Walter Scott's oeuvre, received permission to complete the work he believed Scott had intended. The manuscript started off with a fairly developed narrative with characters either fictionalized or based on real people set in the historical framework of the Great Siege, but then devolved into a set of notes and snippets of historic events, largely dropping the main characters. Wright used clues from the existing narrative to flesh out full character arcs and storylines, mixing them in with Scott's historical outline. Some of these developments were completely from the imagination of Wright himself. I must say that Wright blended in his own fantasy almost seamlessly into Scott's original script. Since Scott was such an influence on Wright's writing, his style of prose tends to compliment, if not directly match, that of the Scottish literary legend. But those of you familiar with Wright's original work can certainly tell where Scott ends and Wright's romantic sensationalism and more modern knack for suspense and action is in full display.
This was truly a labor of love for Wright, and I think his intentions were completely pure. He had, after all, written one of the definitive biographies of Sir Walter Scott, and to be able to virtually collaborate with the great master he so long admired must have been like a dream.
The result is an absolute doorstopper of a book, an almost 900 page epic clash of cultures complete with pirates, knights, spies, raging battles at sea, sword-fights, military strategy, double-crosses, and steamy sexual exploits. The main highlight is the two female leads of the story--Angelica and Venetia. S. Fowler Wright really was ahead of his time in questioning gender stereotypes and creating strong female characters with complex motivations and arcs even in his most pulpy fantasies. We see his touch here in spades.
Angelica starts off as a somewhat timid and immature Spanish upper-crust socialite who has inherited her father's wealth and is being well kept by her influential uncle, Don Manuel. She never would have to endure a day of hardship, though to maintain her family's honor, her uncle has plans to send her to a celibate life as the administrator of a convent. Not relishing this idea, she tries to sneak aboard one of her cousin's ships that are headed to Malta to assist the Order of St. John in the defense of the island from Turkish invaders and Barbary corsairs. She disguises herself as a man, calling herself Don Garcio, and as such, gets pulled into the thick of the fighting almost from the get-go. Angelica must fight to keep her identity as a woman secret lest she become the target of Muslim slave traders who would love to get their hands on a virginal Spanish elite like herself or be whipped and expelled to her shame by the prudish Christian knights who have no place for a woman amongst their ranks. She quickly learns that "to dress as a man is to pay as a man," but she proves herself again and again to be of immense value to Malta's cause. I loved this character because Wright never tries to magically make a spoiled debutante who never had to use a sword in battle before into a superhero. She is not Captain Marvel and does not pretend to be stronger than her male peers who are well-seasoned in war. But she will certainly run you through if you mess with her and hers. She is smart, courageous, cunning, charming, and resourceful as well as being handy with a blade, but she is not perfect, making mistakes in judgment usually because she is too trusting and fully believes in the doctrine of forgiveness. Her soft heart gets her in trouble more than once, but she never becomes a victim, she always owns her mistakes, and she never gives up. She is a true soldier and someone to admire.
Venetia is the antithesis to Angelica's hero, though there are many similarities. Venetia is also a woman who is not where she is supposed to be. She was being hidden away in a tower of St. Angelo by one of the less scrupulous knights as his mistress, but she is discovered and imprisoned after she kills a servant who tries to rape her. Venetia is not as trusting or naïve as Angelica, having not been of high breeding and from a wealthy family. She was born in the slums of Genoa, and quickly learned how to manipulate men in order to survive. As such, she is considered a wanton, a prostitute, and faces public flagellation or worse from the Knights of Malta. But unlike Angelica, Venetia is forced to use much less noble means to literally keep her skin intact. Venetia is, in fact, a traitor, a liar, and a user. She is not necessarily as much of a sociopath as her actions would imply, however. Wright paints Venetia with incredible depth and sympathy, so that readers find themselves rooting for her and admiring her survival instincts as well as lamenting her choices. With incredible detail, Wright manipulates the emotions of the reader with this character. He would have her literally sleep with the enemy, only to appeal to the necessity of such an action for her survival, and then point out how sweetly she has the habit of sleeping with a hand cupped to her face like a child. You want to hate this woman, or have sweaty sex with her, or take her under your protection and give her the safe harbor which is the only thing she ever really wanted. Brilliant.
Unfortunately, not all of the novel is up to the usual Wright standards. The original Scott manuscript, as bare as it was of actual plot, was extremely repetitive, and Wright did nothing to correct this. In fact, he made it worse. Characters keep arguing over and over again in scene after scene about the same damn things. Sometimes, the same sentences are repeated with minimal variation in several parts of the story. Wright was an editor and should have known better. Perhaps not wanting to mar too much of Scott's original text, he includes page after page of incessant wartime planning. After reading about people talking about something that they plan to do, he then has the characters relate to others not present the same plan we just read about, all before we see this same information put into action as the plot plods painfully forward. As such, this otherwise well-paced and action-packed historical thriller overstays its welcome. By the time I was three-quarters into the book, I was unfortunately speed-reading, because I learned the patterns and knew where to skim through without missing a bit of the main thrust.
SPOILER ALERT FOR THIS PARAGRAPH: Wright also goes too far in trying to turn a historical novel into a thriller. He places the hero in peril after peril, so much so that it gets very tiresome rather than exciting. Angelica gets captured not once, not twice, but three times by the Turkish forces. This had the unintended consequence of diminishing what he was trying to do with the character, threatening to make her into a damsel in distress rather than an independent woman grappling with gender roles in a patriarchal world. And at least two of these times it was not known at first that she was a woman. Therefore, by the third time she ends up in the Ottoman camps, the reader no longer buys into the danger. If the Turks thought Angelica was just another Christian heathen who considered it God's will to send all Muslims to hell, they would likely decapitate "him" with a scimitar or impale "him" on a stake, not try to steal "him" away like King Kong would do with Fay Wray.
All of this really emphasizes that this book is WAY... TOO... LONG! Much like this review, it seems. This seriously hurts an otherwise very entertaining epic with intelligent themes. The book is divided by Wright into two parts, "St. Elmo" being the first and "St. Angelo" being the second. "St. Angelo" is much longer than the first part, and so if you feel at all exhausted after completing "St. Elmo," take a break and read something else to cleanse the palate before embarking on the rest of the journey.
But as of the time of this review, Kindle only has Part One available as an e-book. This means you have to go to SFW.org and read Part Two on their website. I do encourage anyone to visit the website, which has everything that S. Fowler Wright ever wrote available for free. The drawback is that there are no page breaks, nor is there the ability to save your place. For a section this long, it becomes quite a challenge to pick it up again and scroll down to where you think you left off. Your only other option to experience this book is to order the physical book online, where several vintage and new copies are readily available.
In 2008, the Edinburgh University Press released Scott's original unpublished manuscript as a transcript alongside a reading text where the misspellings and other typos were corrected. Also, Scott supposedly had a tendency to reuse words multiple times indiscriminately, sometimes even in the same sentence, so the editors busted out the thesaurus to diminish these repetitions. But that being said, the 2008 release is the closest most readers will ever get to what S. Fowler Wright used as the source material for his version reviewed here. However, I would only recommend the Edinburgh edition to serious scholars of Scott's full body of work. For my purposes, Wright's novel is the definitive version of the story, and one that is a fitting tribute to the great wordsmith.
I do recommend "The Siege of Malta" for lovers of historical dramas and swashbuckling adventures on the high seas. I only regret that I felt the need to speed through the last chapters rather than savoring the payoff. Therefore, an otherwise fine novel earns 3.5 stars out of 5.
June 18, 2016
The epic siege of Malta told with fire, value and endurance. How the Knights of Malta and the Maltese managed to defeat an overwhelming army of Turks who invaded them in 1561. A tale of how spirit, courage and despair can make people rise above themselves and achieve feats impossible to reason alone.
The old English makes the reading more arduous but also more attentive. This story will stay with me for a long, long time.
The old English makes the reading more arduous but also more attentive. This story will stay with me for a long, long time.
bøgernes-verden
October 12, 2018Malta
January 5, 2022
boyfriend brought me here. again. apparently all ways lead to sir walter scott.
December 13, 2024
This is Fowler Wright, not Sir Walter Scott.
February 5, 2026
in a story of heroes, the bravest of them is the sicilian Duke having the ordasity to even look the Marshall in the eye
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews