Crusader

Anarchy #14

by Griff Hosker

William of Stockton, the son of the Warlord, is heading to the Holy Land to do penance. He is leaving a world that he knows and entering a new one. The world he discovers is one filled with intrigue and false knights. Counts and Barons battle for thrones. All are not what they seem. William must return to his roots and become, as his father once was an English knight. He discovers unexpected allies and treacherous friends. He battles Seljuq Turks, Assassins, Egyptians and rogue knights. Through his journey, he discovers that most valuable of treasures: himself.

Genres: Historical Fiction

329 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 24, 2017

About the author

I was born in 1950 in Lancashire and attended a boy’s grammar school. After qualifying as an English and Drama teacher in 1972, I worked in the North East of England for the next 35 years. During that time I did write, mainly plays, pantos and musicals for the students at the three schools in which I worked.

When I stopped teaching I set up my own consultancy firm and worked as an adviser in schools and colleges in the North East of England. The new Conservative Government ended that avenue of work and in 2010 I found that I had time on my hands; having started work at the age of 15 I found the lack of work not to my liking and used the time to research the Roman invasion of Britain and begin to create a novel. The result was The Sword of Cartimandua.

My decision to begin writing was one of the best I have ever taken.

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Reviews

[Fred · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hosker moves the story from the main character, Alfraed, to his son, William. The death of William's wife and family cause him to reconsider his life and how he has lived to this point in time. He sees the loss of his family as retribution from God for his philandering. To atone for his perceived sins, he goes to the Holy Land where for his penance, he undertakes to protect pilgrims and merchants travelling the roads. William quickly realizes that not all crusaders have good motives and he soon is dealing with Europeans who are robbers, rapists and murderers. The story has intrigue and political plotting as well as battles and lots of action. I admit that I am addicted to Hosker's books. I find I can lose myself in them and not know what time of day it is. I have already started reading the next in the series.

[John Slatton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

I could not put this book down. It is by far my favorite of the series so far! William’s redemption is a great story!

[Jeff]

- A story about Alfred’s son, a knight who went to the Middle East on a pilgrimage. It ends with him about to return to England (& more in this series?)

[Michael Annis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fabulous Read

This is one of the best series of historical fiction I’ve ever read. Great main characters, lots of action and the scenes from history were realistically created

[Terry Simpson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like father, like son.

Moving on to the William novels from the Warlord was really seamless. I often wondered through the later Warlord books what and how William was faring. Crusader answered those questions. The difficulty I have now is holding back from reading the next book before my holiday!