THE RELIGION

Author: Tim Willocks ISBN: 0374248656 3/2007 HISTORICAL FICTION Publisher: SARAH CRICHTON BOOKS
Time Period: 1565

May 1565. Suleiman the Magnificent, emperor of the Ottomans, has declared a jihad against the Knights of Saint John the Baptist. The largest armada of all time approaches the knights’ Christian stronghold on the island of Malta. The Turks know the knights as the “Hounds of Hell.” The knights call themselves “The Religion.” In Messina, Sicily, a French countess, Carla La Penautier, seeks passage to Malta in a quest to find the son taken from her at his birth twelve years ago. The only man with the expertise and daring to help her is a Rabelaisian soldier of fortune, arms dealer, former janissary, and strapping Saxon adventurer by the name of Mattias Tannhauser. He agrees to accompany the lady to Malta, where, amid the most spectacular siege in military history, they must try to find the boy—whose name they do not know and whose face they have never seen—and pluck him from the jaws of Holy War.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Don't let the daunting size of this book have you turning the other way. Even at 600 plus pages, trust me, the pace will flow so fast that the volume's thickness won't matter. But be forewarned, THE RELIGION is not a slow starter. As a matter of fact, the action-filled beginning is about as graphically violent as any book I've ever read. But it's necessary to the telling of how the story's characters evolve, become who they are, and once the story pulls you in you'll overcome your qualms. Mind you, it won't get prettier or any easier to read the more graphic parts of this book, but you will come to see how elemental they are in the formation of Tannhauser, Carla and all the other characters you'll develop a close affinity with.

I must admit that I finished this book a couple of weeks ago, but the amazing thing is it's just as fresh in my mind now as it was when I closed the back cover. Anyone who is a fan of Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond Chronicles as I am, will immediately read into the similarities between Tannhauser and Lymond. Both slip between two worlds, both inhabit a world of fanatics and cultures at war with each other. Suspense, intrigue and non-stop action are what make them standouts on my keeper shelves, where THE RELIGION has promptly been set beside my revered first-edition Dunnetts.

Tannhauser is such an enigma, a character who should repel me more than attract me, but doesn't. This is a man who kills without thought, seemingly without conscience most times, and yet has a heart capable of caring. He's also in a love triangle involving two women—he cares for them both, they both love him and these women happen to love each other (in a familial/friendship way). It's a love triangle composed of the ruthless, the pious and the simple, adding the flare of romance to what would have otherwise been a historical fiction book simply about war, men and the conflict of religions as the Knights of The Religion battle the Turks for control of Malta.

Absorbing, compelling, and emotionally gripping, THE RELIGION will hurl you deep into a world where men—and women—are willing to sacrifice all for the god they worship and religion they practice. I've never read a story where I felt so much a part of it and felt so close to so many of the characters—I'm not a voyeur looking in from the outside, but a bystander witnessing firsthand man's inhumanity to man. It's disturbing, uncomfortable and emotionally draining, and yet made me love THE RELIGION and Tim Willock's storytelling all the more.

This is book one of the Tannhauser Chronicles, and I so hope I'm on the list to get the second for review when it is released. I highly, highly recommend it, even though I do have to add that it won't be for everyone, especially for the faint of heart.

Nancy Davis