JUST ONE RED SWORD COULD DEFEAT AN ARMY — AND THE ENEMY HAD A WHOLE ARSENAL!
Every schoolboy knows that Mordred the Great defeated King Arthur the Tyrant in the twelfth century, and Mordred's heirs had preserved the British crown through the Age of Crisis, and extended its reach halfway across the globe. By the 17th century, much of Europe, Asia and the New world was ruled from Londinium by the the kings of the Pendragon dynasty, protecting the Crown against the still-powerful Holy Roman Empire as much as the onset of the Dar Al Islam. The ragged band of outlaws that had been created as Mordred the Great's bodyguards had, over the centuries, become the paladins of the Order of Crown, Shield, and Dragon, dedicated to the Pendragons, each one taking the vow of ''Service, honor, faith, obedience. Justice tempered only by mercy; mercy tempered only by justice.''
But knights of the Order had more than vows to preserve the Crown. During the Age of Crisis, the Great Wizards had forged live swords to be weapons of the Order knights. Weapons of such power that could be trusted to no lesser mortals, because White swords held the souls of saints, while the Red swords imprisoned the souls of those who were anything but saints, and in the wrong hands, Red swords were capable of unspeakable destruction.
The art of making live swords had perished with the Great Wizards at end of the Age of Crisis.
Or so everyone thought.
But now, as the Crown, the Empire, and the Dar Al Islam sit astride the world in a precarious balance, three knights of the Order have discovered a brand new, previously unknown Red sword which has been very recently forged.
Worse, the tortured soul imprisoned in the sword remembers that it was only one of many which were cached in the hold of a mysterious sailing ship, origin unknown, and destination uncertain....
At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (DRM Rights Management).
Description:
JUST ONE RED SWORD COULD DEFEAT AN ARMY —
AND THE ENEMY HAD A WHOLE ARSENAL!
Every schoolboy knows that Mordred the Great defeated King Arthur the Tyrant in the twelfth century, and Mordred's heirs had preserved the British crown through the Age of Crisis, and extended its reach halfway across the globe. By the 17th century, much of Europe, Asia and the New world was ruled from Londinium by the the kings of the Pendragon dynasty, protecting the Crown against the still-powerful Holy Roman Empire as much as the onset of the Dar Al Islam. The ragged band of outlaws that had been created as Mordred the Great's bodyguards had, over the centuries, become the paladins of the Order of Crown, Shield, and Dragon, dedicated to the Pendragons, each one taking the vow of ''Service, honor, faith, obedience. Justice tempered only by mercy; mercy tempered only by justice.''
But knights of the Order had more than vows to preserve the Crown. During the Age of Crisis, the Great Wizards had forged live swords to be weapons of the Order knights. Weapons of such power that could be trusted to no lesser mortals, because White swords held the souls of saints, while the Red swords imprisoned the souls of those who were anything but saints, and in the wrong hands, Red swords were capable of unspeakable destruction.
The art of making live swords had perished with the Great Wizards at end of the Age of Crisis.
Or so everyone thought.
But now, as the Crown, the Empire, and the Dar Al Islam sit astride the world in a precarious balance, three knights of the Order have discovered a brand new, previously unknown Red sword which has been very recently forged.
Worse, the tortured soul imprisoned in the sword remembers that it was only one of many which were cached in the hold of a mysterious sailing ship, origin unknown, and destination uncertain....
At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (DRM Rights Management).
From Booklist
Distinguished fantasy writer Rosenberg launches a new series, set in an alternate seventeenth century in which magic works and gunpowder was never discovered. The titular paladins are Bear, Gray, and Cully, knights (Cully is also a priest) of the Order of Crown, Shield, and Dragon, founded by Mordred in the wars against King Arthur that led to Mordred becoming king of England, which his heirs still rule. In the course of investigating an outbreak of living swords (into which human souls have been placed at the moment of their bodies' deaths), the paladins recruit Greek fisherboy Niko to be the latest knight of the order. They also take readers on a tour of a remarkably imaginative fantasy alternate world, one including a well-drawn Patrick O'Brien-style navy, minus gunpowder but doughty at fighting, for all that. The almost too numerous characters are well drawn, and Rosenberg's usual expertise on weapons, serious concern for the ethics of violence, and brisk pacing are in evidence. Classic Rosenberg, which is to say outstanding. Roland Green
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Review
"Joel Rosenberg tells a great story and each time you see his name on the cover of a new book, it's time to sit down and be royally entertained."