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The Lion of the Cross
William de Scotia's gentle blood flows with the ancestry of Scottish Kings and the malevolent taint of the murderous Lion of Islam, Sultan Baibars I. Born to an innocent mother, who was stripped of her nobility and dignity, then sold into bondage by a diabolical Genoese slaver, William is the lesser son of the Mameluk Sultanate and fated to be his eldest brother's elite guard. When his barbarous father is suspiciously poisoned, his eldest brother ascends the throne and William prepares to embrace his destiny. But when one is young, the future is but a mirage in the desert-cruel and deceptive. William is forced to flee his beloved Cairo when an ambitious emir, Qalawun, and his cunning son, Khalil, overthrow his brother. With the aid of a mysterious Templar Knight, he escapes to the Christian stronghold of Acre. A fugitive orphaned by fate, William must enter life's crucible and become more than just a boy. Through the eyes of a boy, The Lion of the Cross: Tales of a Templar Knight transports you through actual events of the 13th century, an age in peril, where a delicate peace between Christians and Muslims exists and hangs on a precipice, and holy war is sermonized from minarets and pulpits.
- GenresHistorical Fiction
372 pages, Paperback
First published October 13, 2014
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249 people want to read
About the author
T.M. Carter
4 books9 followersT.M. Carter is an author and an avid historian, a member of the Historical Novel Society and a member of the California Writers Club of Long Beach. He lives in Southern California with his wife and two children.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 3, 2015
I have read many a book about this period and other equally bloody eras and they have generally been quite good if you have an ability to overlook the odd historical error in the name of a good story and, to be honest, I was expecting much the same from this one. Boy was I wrong! "The Lion of the Cross: Tales of a Templar Knight" by T M Carter is a great read, an engaging plot, interesting characters and a couple of great battles. Mostly this book is very enjoyable and I am looking forward to read the next books in the series. I highly recommend this book especially to those who are looking for good quality historical fiction and enjoy medieval books as a whole.
May 10, 2015
Lion of the Cross ~ Tales of a Templar Knight is told in first person about the life of William de Scotia, who was born to a Scottish princess sold to a sultan and she became William's mother with the sultan for a father. The 1300's with the fall of William the Bruce, the crusades and the betrayals of royal houses is the setting for William to start a new order of Templars in Portugal.
This is a historical account of the times with lots of bloody battles and is not a book for the faint of heart. Lion of the Cross ~ Tales of a Templar Knight is well written and to me appears historically accurate and a good depiction of the times.
I send my thanks to T.M. Carter, author and Goodreads First Reads for my copy of Lion of the Cross ~ Tales of a Templar Knight that I won in the Giveaway.
This is a historical account of the times with lots of bloody battles and is not a book for the faint of heart. Lion of the Cross ~ Tales of a Templar Knight is well written and to me appears historically accurate and a good depiction of the times.
I send my thanks to T.M. Carter, author and Goodreads First Reads for my copy of Lion of the Cross ~ Tales of a Templar Knight that I won in the Giveaway.
June 16, 2016
I am the odd man out in rating this book. I bought it based on its plethora of five star reviews. I simply do not know why I was not enthralled by it. The author's mechanics were excellent. There were some throw away characters. I did not get tripped by the author. The sex scenes were rather instructive. I just did not enjoy the read, and I may have good reasons. During the read, my country has been attacked by Muslim radicals; I watched a movie wherein Richard Burton played a blond haired Hannibal; and I watched several World War II movies (go figure the correlation).
The world is not so different today as it was in bygone centuries. We endure different players, but the script is the same. Despite my personal feelings regarding this book, I do recommend it to other readers.
Thank you, T. M. Carter, for a good read.
The world is not so different today as it was in bygone centuries. We endure different players, but the script is the same. Despite my personal feelings regarding this book, I do recommend it to other readers.
Thank you, T. M. Carter, for a good read.
May 25, 2015
Historical Fiction will always be one of my favorite genres and I was enthralled by this story that follows a young Muslim boy on his journey from Egypt to Christian Acre and the Templar Knights. I found this book to be well written and researched and look forward to reading more about William de Scotia in the future.
March 16, 2015
Extremely well researched and detailed work of historical fiction.
October 2, 2015
We are proud to announce that THE LION OF THE CROSS by T.M. Carter is a B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree. This tells a reader that this book is well worth their time and money!
May 17, 2016
**Extracted from a review originally written for "BigAl’s Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy.**
If you have ever wanted to know what the Crusades were all about – or if you want to know more – then I think you will enjoy this book. Mr. Carter is steeped in the Crusades to the extent that there are footnotes (unusual in a work of fiction). The voice of Wasim/William is good – the boy is arrogant, petulant, and humble when he remembers to be, and easily motivated if his interest is aroused or he finds someone he can look up to. As the boy grows, the voice changes to that of a young man wondering what he may reasonably expect from a life lived in immensely violent times.
There is a slightly quaint turn of phrase used to give a flavour of the period, which I felt worked well. For example, when they genuflect Mr. Carter has his knights ‘take a knee’. The intrigues between the various Orders of Knights, and the battle scenes (which increase in number as the book comes to a climax) are well told.
I was struck by the similarities to our own world (Christians and Muslims at loggerheads) and how little has changed in some ways. I was also struck by the futility of the Crusades in general, fighting back and forth across a few square miles of desert, soaked in blood; something that Carter captures poignantly.
The author has never met a qualifier he doesn’t like. Sometimes these qualifiers enable him to show nuances of his setting or the mindset of his protagonists to greater advantage. Sometimes the highly-coloured description leads the reader to mistake something trivial for something important. And sometimes the qualifiers slow the pace. There is a crowd of players in this novel (they are listed at the back, helpfully!) and a goodly number of different places too – so it is unkind to confuse the reader, who is already working hard.
The first chapter has nothing to do with anything else in the book. I mention this, as it was some time before I gave up trying to tie the two stories together. This is the first volume of Tales of a Templar Knight; two others are planned: it is to one of them that Chapter 1 belongs.
If you have ever wanted to know what the Crusades were all about – or if you want to know more – then I think you will enjoy this book. Mr. Carter is steeped in the Crusades to the extent that there are footnotes (unusual in a work of fiction). The voice of Wasim/William is good – the boy is arrogant, petulant, and humble when he remembers to be, and easily motivated if his interest is aroused or he finds someone he can look up to. As the boy grows, the voice changes to that of a young man wondering what he may reasonably expect from a life lived in immensely violent times.
There is a slightly quaint turn of phrase used to give a flavour of the period, which I felt worked well. For example, when they genuflect Mr. Carter has his knights ‘take a knee’. The intrigues between the various Orders of Knights, and the battle scenes (which increase in number as the book comes to a climax) are well told.
I was struck by the similarities to our own world (Christians and Muslims at loggerheads) and how little has changed in some ways. I was also struck by the futility of the Crusades in general, fighting back and forth across a few square miles of desert, soaked in blood; something that Carter captures poignantly.
The author has never met a qualifier he doesn’t like. Sometimes these qualifiers enable him to show nuances of his setting or the mindset of his protagonists to greater advantage. Sometimes the highly-coloured description leads the reader to mistake something trivial for something important. And sometimes the qualifiers slow the pace. There is a crowd of players in this novel (they are listed at the back, helpfully!) and a goodly number of different places too – so it is unkind to confuse the reader, who is already working hard.
The first chapter has nothing to do with anything else in the book. I mention this, as it was some time before I gave up trying to tie the two stories together. This is the first volume of Tales of a Templar Knight; two others are planned: it is to one of them that Chapter 1 belongs.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews