The Judas Cross

by Charles Sheffield, David Bischoff

In France during the First World War, Marquis Louis Villette is Guardian of the Cross--made of the silver Judas earned for betraying Christ. The Cross holds captive the soul of the fallen disciple and has unspeakable powers. To save France, Villette can use the Cross, but in exchange the Cross demands the slaughter of innocents and the souls of those Villette has sworn to protect.

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Charles A. Sheffield (June 25, 1935 – November 2, 2002), was an English-born mathematician, physicist and science fiction author. He had been a President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and of the American Astronomical Society.

His novel The Web Between the Worlds, featuring the construction of a space elevator, was published almost simultaneously with Arthur C. Clarke's novel about that very same subject, The Fountains of Paradise, a coincidence that amused them both.

For some years he was the chief scientist of Earth Satellite Corporation, a company analysing remote sensing satellite data. This resulted in many technical papers and two popular non-fiction books, Earthwatch and Man on Earth, both collections of false colour and enhanced images of Earth from space.

He won the Nebula and Hugo awards for his novelette "Georgia on My Mind" and the 1992 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for his novel Brother to Dragons.

Sheffield was Toastmaster at BucConeer, the 1998 World Science Fiction Convention in Baltimore.

He had been writing a column for the Baen Books web site; his last column concerned the discovery of the brain tumour that led to his death.

He was married to writer Nancy Kress.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collaboration by Charles Sheffield and David Bischoff set during the first world war. It's an historical adventure horror novel told as a political suspense thriller with a strong religious flavor, nothing at all like the high-tech futurity that comes to mind when one hears Dr. Sheffield's name. The titular cross is made from the silver that Judas was paid for his betrayal and perhaps contains his captive soul. It's not a bad story, but not one that I ever considered re-reading.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those books you go back to read every 4-5 years. It follows the "Haunted Castle" genre in the tradition of The Keep. I enjoyed the artifact element of the story and the WWI issues along with the WWII foreshadowing. The suspense created was very well done.

[Edenation ArtnBooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a good book. Go ahead.