The Sultan's Court

by R.A. Denny

A vivid and powerful sequel to The Alchemy Thief. A tale of stolen secrets, kidnapping, slavery, and death.

Left behind as a slave in Morocco while Daniel journeys to the New World with the fearsome corsair Ayoub, Peri gives birth to a daughter. The drive to protect the imperiled lives of those she loves leads Peri to the court of the ruthless sultan, Moulay Ismail. In a city built on the backs of slaves, Peri’s rescue plot hangs by a thread, dependent on a dubious disguise and the man she despises. It will take all of her wit and perseverance to survive.

This spellbinding 2nd novel in the Pirates and Puritans Series takes the reader on a journey from Algonquin villages to Moroccan palaces, during the time when Morocco’s most feared leader rose to power and the American colonies sank into a bloody war named after Metacom.

417 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 14, 2021

About the author

R.A. Denny is a history buff with a law degree from Duke University. After many years of practicing criminal law, she retired to do what she loves.

She is the author of Pirates and Puritans, a historical fiction series, and Tales of Tzoladia, an epic fantasy series. She enjoys spending time with her family and looking for adventure.

She has traveled to the ancient rock city of Petra on horseback, flown through the jungles of Costa Rica on zip lines, and visited the Great Pyramid on a camel.

In 2018 she toured Morocco as part of her research for her book, The Alchemy Thief.

R.A. lives in Delaware. As a child, she had two pet flying squirrels.

Reviews

[Angela Jones-Cuéllar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to the author for submitting this book for review!

The adventure continues and it does not disappoint. R.A. Denny pushes the series forwards with new challenges, new hopes, new characters, new places, and we get to watch as Peri and Ayoub continue to develop and evolve as their circumstances shift yet again. Pirates & Puritans combines history, fantasy, action adventure, and topics both heartwarming and heart-wrenching creating a series that is fascinating, quick-paced, and easy to fall into. While tougher topics are explored, as history dictates, there never ceases to be an undercurrent of hope and faith that helps propel both reader and story and I think that's why I enjoy it as much as I do.

[Nila Eslit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peri struggles with life as a slave and a mother while her husband is compelled to journey with the pirates. She needs to cope with the varied challenges of a single parent. Peri’s worst nightmare is when her teenage daughter lands in the Sultan’s Court.

The Sultan’s Court is the second book of the Pirates & Puritans series. The story continues where the first book ended.

The year is still in the 17th century. Peri, the lead character, gives birth to a baby girl in Mzoura. She names her child Mya. Thankfully, Peri’s master is kind enough to her. He allows her to take care of her child as she does her slave duties. Besides, the holy man is interested to know more about the future, from where Peri came.

Peri’s husband, Daniel, is not aware that she’s with a child. He’s out at sea without knowing his wife is pregnant. Daniel joins Ayoub and his crew of pirates. It’s not that Daniel is interested in being a sea rover. Rather, he is compelled to do so for a personal mission. He is bent on retrieving Peri’s bodkin from one of the pirates.

The pirates sail to the New World to find Van Salee, the son of the famous Jan Janszoon. Ayoub, the Corsair captain, wants to forge a relationship with him to advance his ambition. He intends to establish a caliphate.

But, historical events begin to unfold. Wars break out in different places. Armed forces from Europe and new settlers begin claiming local lands. Ayoub realizes that it’s now difficult to fulfill his dream. He and his crew end up in trouble. Particularly, Ayoub and Daniel are stranded in unfamiliar territories.

Drama in The Sultan’s Court

On the other hand, Peri grows worried over Daniel. Sixteen years have passed since he left and she never hears anything from him. Although she keeps hoping Daniel is alive, she cannot help but think of the inevitable circumstances at sea.

One day, a formidable rich man passes by Sidi Sharif Qabool’s place. Qabool is Peri’s master. The rich man notices Mya and finds her beautiful. He immediately decides he wants her in his harem and takes her to his palace. Peri is distraught over this turn of events, and she knows she must do something to rescue her daughter. And, just like any protective mother, Peri risks her life.

As soon as she secured freedom from her master, Peri proceeded to the sultan’s court. She presents herself before the sultan himself. Follow Peri’s heart-stopping feat in hostile grounds. Read The Sultan’s Court.

The Islamic State’s Plan

Meanwhile, in the year 2019, members of the Islamic State continue to organize themselves and work on their plans. They intend to kidnap a science history professor. Liam and Brahim play significant roles in the abduction, although the former’s part is kept obscure.

The Book and the Author

Just like in the first volume of the Pirates & Puritans series, the author brings her readers to the 17th century. In The Sultan’s Court, she writes more about the historical events during the arrival of settlers in the New World. Denny also mentions the different local tribes and their plight. I like this part of the book because the author does not only entertain her readers. But, she also educates them about important events in history.

Likewise, I compliment the author’s ability to incorporate science in The Sultan’s Court. The time travel part gives more flavor to the adventures of the characters.

The Sultan’s Court is truly a well-researched work as evidenced by Denny’s keenness for details. She intricately describes the cultures of the different tribes. By doing so, Denny gives the readers a better perspective of the Native Americans’ lives during King Philip’s War.

Moreover, the author builds her characters well. Each of them is consistent in their roles. I particularly like how she develops Liam’s role. His “weak” and trying-hard persona remains constant. And, although he is just a supporting role, he performs it effectively.

The Sultan’s Court Rating

Although I found a handful of typographical errors, they don’t affect the reading flow. And so, I give The Sultan’s Court a rating of 5 out of 5 stars. I highly recommend this book to all readers and history students. There is a lot to learn from this book.

NOTE: The above review is also found in Books for All Seasons.

[Bandora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what an adventure! The journey has not been easy for the characters and I must admit, it was painful to read through their suffering because I was emotionally invested and wanted things to work out for them. It was an emotional rollercoaster but glad I read it

The book has excellent character development and important lessons about faith, forgiveness, the power of love, and finding the good in others. I was amazed at how despite beloved characters did things that I would consider horrible, but I understood given the circumstances and didn't blame them.

I was most impressed by Ayoub's character development and how much he has matured.

While the book wraps up the story so far nicely. I am left with a cliffhanger for a brand new adventure for these characters that has me impatient to know what happens next.

I received an advance copy and I am voluntarily reviewing it.

[Escape Into Reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Sultan’s Court is book 2 in the Pirates and Puritans series. I was very excited when the author emailed me with a request to review it. I wasn’t disappointed!! I had enjoyed The Alchemy Thief and couldn’t wait to jump right into this book.

As I mentioned above, The Sultan’s Court is book 2 in the Pirates and Puritans series. I cannot stress this enough, but this book is not stand-alone. The author briefly goes over what happened in book one, but you need to read The Alchemy Thief to understand the relationships and motives. If you don’t, you will be lost and slightly confused.

The author did something that some authors don’t do enough of. She included maps of the different areas discussed in the books (present and past). Having those maps helped me a bunch while reading the book.

There were three significant points of view in The Sultan’s Court and two minor points of view. The critical points of view are Ayoub, Peri, and Daniel, with Liam and Brahim’s minor points of view. The book also goes between 1650 (ish) and the present day. The author does it seamlessly with each chapter saying who the POV is, where, and year. I had zero issues keeping the chapters straight.

The plotline for The Sultan’s Court was interesting. Instead of focusing on alchemy and time travel, it focused on Peri, Ayoub, and Daniel surviving and trying to find a niche in their new worlds. It made for a fascinating read.

There is religion in The Sultan’s Court, but it isn’t shoved down your throat, which I hate. Instead, I got to see how people from that era practiced Native American, Christianity, and Islam religions. The author also gave a small glimpse of extreme Islamists during Brahim and Liam’s POV. It was all very fascinating, and I couldn’t read enough of it.

Of all the characters in the book, I enjoyed reading Ayoub’s point of view the most. His character grew the most throughout the book. It was a gradual growth, but it showed at the end of the book. The conversation that he and Peri had before Ayoub left broke my heart. As did his realization that other people were traumatized like him but didn’t go down his extremist route. But most importantly, his behavior at the very end and his choice to help Peri and Daniel showed his real growth.

I also enjoyed reading Peri’s chapters. She was a devoted mother who gave everything to make sure that her child survived. I also understood why she did what she did when the Sultan took Mya away. As a mother with a child the same age, I would have done the same thing.

I was a little iffy about Daniel. He disappeared for a while from the book. When he was reintroduced, he was an almost different person (which I get, people change in 17 years). It seemed like he had practically forgotten Peri. He became a Mohawk and killed enough people that the tattoos formed a pattern on his face. It wasn’t until after his 2nd wife and children died that he decided to look for Peri. I go that he was tortured and then forced to marry into the tribe, but still. Then I felt terrible for him. He seemed to get the short end of the stick no matter where he went.

Liam was still a man-child who irritated me. But, I did figure out why he was being treated differently the minute they arrived where they were. Then I felt terrible because he didn’t see it until the very last minute.

Brahim, on the other hand, confused me. He came across as an extremist, but then the author did something that took me by surprise. I wasn’t expecting what happened with him to happen.

There is violence in The Sultan’s Court, and some of it was a little graphic. I was a little taken aback by one scene where Peri witnessed the Sultan execute a slave, order his body dumped into a wall (and all I could think was: the smell), then a cat was brutally killed when it wanted to get down. There are other similar scenes sprinkled throughout the book. But, seeing the era it took place in, I expected it.

The end of The Sultan’s Court was terrific. I was glued to the book and couldn’t finish it fast enough. What I didn’t expect was the twist the author threw in!!! It took me by surprise, and I loved it. Now, I can’t wait for book 3 (yes, there will be a book 3!!!)

[Lora Shouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Sultan’s Court continues the time travel adventures of Experience Fuller, a college student at Harvard, and Ayoub, an Islamic boy living in Morocco at the time he was transported to the seventeenth century.

The juxtaposition of events in Morocco with other events happening at the same time in colonial America continues to be intriguing. This is not something you normally think of happening. But according to the author’s notes, there were some actual instances of Muslims being transported to the New World – including possibly to the short-lived Roanoke colony – and others of Native Americans being sold into slavery and winding up in Morocco.

A lot of years pass in the past in this book. Peri has a daughter, Mya, who grows up during years while Ayoub and Daniel are stuck back in North America. Ayoub is looking for ways to set up an Islamic state in North America and prevent the United States from ever happening. Daniel is searching for the bodkin they need to travel back to the current time (2019 in the story). Neither of them finds what they are looking for.

Ayoub returns to Mzoura first after he encounters Jaata who has come to rescue him (or so he claims). He brings his stepson, Rowtag, the son of the Native American woman he has married, with him. Mya is shortly afterward taken to join the harem of Sultan Moulay Ismail. Though it seems chaotic at first, the most organized action sequence in the whole book is the plot Peri hatches to free Mya from the Sultan with Ayoub’s help. They also wind up bringing out Rowtag, who was taken to care for the Sultan’s horses, Reverend Mayhew, who turned up among the slaves at the palace, and Jaata’s love, Miriam, who, it turns out, has another bodkin.

All this time, Peri has been hoping and praying for Daniel’s return. But when did the course of true love ever run smoothly? Daniel has been having troubles of his own. He has been captured by the Mohawks and chosen to marry one of their women (as opposed to dying). But his wife and children have died of one of the many sicknesses that have plagued the Native Americans since the arrival of the white man. Afterward, when he attempted to run away from the Mohawks, he became embroiled in King Philip’s War, one of the conflicts known collectively as the French and Indian Wars. With the tattoos and hairdo of the Mohawks, he couldn’t even safely return to his own tribe. Ultimately, he was captured and later sold by the English as a galley slave, which is how he lived for a couple more years until Ayoub and his pirates attacked the galley he was in.

Finally, they have everything they need to return to 2019. But when they get there, the situation they find themselves in convinces them that they don’t want to live in the present either.

[M. K. French · Rating 4 out of 5]

Following the events that left Peri and Daniel stranded in the past, Peri is left behind and gives birth to a daughter. Daniel and Ayoub have gone to the New World, and Peri winds up in the court of the ruthless sultan Moulay Ismail. As a slave, Peri has no rights, so her rescue will be a dangerous one.

The Sultan's Court is the second book in the Pirates and Puritans series, after The Alchemy Thief. You absolutely have to read that one to understand this one. All three of our main characters had been transported to the past thanks to a mysterious bodkin that they all came across in our present day, sending them back to the 1600s. Ayoub arrived as a boy and worked his way up to captain of a ship. Peri and Daniel arrived at different times, paths crossing with Ayoub as they all sought the book or the bodkin as a means of bringing them back to tour present.

As with the first book, there is a lot of detail, which means I had to read this more slowly to absorb all of it. We open with Peri giving birth in 1659 Morocco, a Christian slave within an Islamic nation. Daniel is considered a Native American slave on loan to Ayoub, who pillages ships of all nations. The two are left behind when Ayoub talks a lot about establishing a Muslim colony in the New World or taking over New Amsterdam. Despite creating a life in the New World, Ayoub quickly gives it up for his original plans. Peri has a place and friends in other slaves, all of whom help her raise her daughter, who is ultimately taken by the Sultan to be one of his five hundred concubines. In the future, Liam is still working to help his teacher and the Islamic State, though he must do so under an assumed identity.

The book progresses with three main threads: Daniel in the New World, getting caught up in the building tensions between colonists and Native tribes; Peri pretending to be a eunuch to find and rescue her daughter, with Ayoub trying to talk to that same sultan to establish a Muslim colony in the New World; Liam working with his teacher and a kidnapped man to recreate alchemical formulae. There is a lot of detail in each portion of the novel so that we get to see and experience everything that the characters do. Years have passed, and original goals are lost due to maturity. The time apart is eventful, and they still think of each other over the years. The ending of the book is satisfying and opens up the possibility of a third novel in this series.

[Bob Moran · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Book 2 of the Pirates and Puritans series, you quickly find the author’s style of melding adventure, drama and change of direction to be enticing and page turning once again. Drastic changes of fortune, broken hearted failures, and a relentless pursuit of freedom and relief highlight this journey.

The Sultan’s Court follows Peri Fuller into adulthood and motherhood, while her husband is forced to leave for the open seas of pirating with the ever impulsive and self obsessed Ayoub. Several omnipresent themes emerge throughout the book such as bravery against all odds, massive failure, redemption, forgiveness, love, devotion, perseverance, suffering and the immeasurable faithfulness of God even when we are not faithful. The roots of Peri’s Christian upbringing ultimately carry her, but it’s far from anything resembling an easy road.

When gut wrenching experiences put us in what seems to be a no win set of circumstances, we see the human will prevail when faith and bravery collide with this never quit attitude. Peri found herself in that unenviable place where life didn’t fit in that little box we sometimes create, and where the lines of right and wrong or black and white suddenly become blurred. As a result, Peri makes some unholy alliances and chooses to forge compromises she’d never make when viewing life from 30,000 feet.

Sultan’s Court takes you on an emotional rollercoaster that carry the full gambit of human experiences and will deliver another thrilling ride leaving you with questions to ponder such as:
1) Even if I could, do I really want to change the past?
2) Isn’t my current state (good, bad or indifferent) a product of all past experiences and decisions?
3) Do I live in the present or do I live for the future? Isn’t God the Great I am – not the great I will be or the great I was?
4) Can I trust and believe when I don’t see?
5) What do we do when our choices are bad and terrible? Don’t we make some of those unholy alliances often in our daily life's decisions?

Once again Rhonda Denny delivers a 5 star must read creative adventure that challenges you, while at the same time has you enjoying and sometimes enduring the trials and challenges of Peri Fuller.

[Susan Walt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The Sultan's Court continues the story of Daniel and Peri in the 17th century. Shortly after getting married, Daniel joins Ayoub on his pirate ship as a slave to try and recover Peri's bodkin from Jaata. Without the bodkin, Peri can't return to the future. He doesn't know that it will take him seventeen years to return to her.

Meanwhile, Peri discovers she is pregnant and gave birth to a daughter. She grows up to be a beautiful girl, and Sultan Moulay Ismail selects her as his concubine. Peri comes up with a daring plan to rescue her daughter.

Liam joins Islam and participates in a plan to kidnap Professor Prospero. They need him to create ball lightning which they want to use for time travel. But Liam doesn't know they are playing him and will hold him for ransom.

R.A. Denny uses hypnotism in the book. Peri uses it to gain favour with the Sultan's wife and rescue her daughter.

Readers who enjoy history will enjoy the information about the various tribes and historical figures and the famous King Phillip's war - the bloodiest war in American history.

The Sultan's Court can be read as a standalone novel, but you will enjoy it better if you read the prequel The Alchemy Thief first.

I am already looking forward to the next book, The Paradise Tree, where the characters will travel further into the future.

Trigger Warnings: Violence | War | Slavery | Death | Kidnapping

Would you please read the complete review on my blog: https://readorrot.com/the-sultans-cou...

[Tamara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Title: The Sultan’s Court
Author: R.A. Denny
Genre: YA, fantasy, historical
Rating: 4.0

I really like the premise of this series: time travel to the time of the early Puritan settlements in America. In the first book, I enjoyed getting to know Peri and Daniel. This takes their story further…but not their story together, as they are separated for almost two decades in this novel. I didn’t enjoy that aspect as much as I enjoyed the first book.

There’s a lot going on here: Peri’s story, Daniel’s story (in several different locations and cultures), things set in the future (where Peri’s from), and even scenes from their enemy’s point-of-view. The author weaves these threads together to make a coherent whole, but don’t let the POV switches make you miss out on the nuances of this well-rounded adventure.

(Galley courtesy of the author in exchange for an honest review.)

[Susan Lundy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok..so I'm now hooked on this series. I forgot to add my "read" before but I've actually finished the first three, and I'm waiting for the remaining six or seven (I hope). Well researched history which includes fantasy and mystery and goes from Puritan to Dystopian Future in the course of three books is a big bite and an overview that just makes me think of these as the appetizers; now I want to eat the meal of each of the main character's stories as the series progresses. Again, hopefully!