"1310 AD. The Knights Hospitaller rule the Aegean from Rhodes—but one ambush changes everything.
Thomas Schwyzer, loyal brother-sergeant and captain of the Order's deadliest war galley, the Wyvern, patrols the waves hunting Turkish slavers and Barbary pirates. The Order's black knights and sergeants are his family, his friends. Without them, he has no place in the world.
But when a cunning trap hurls Thomas overboard, he's captured by merciless Berber corsairs. Chained to a slave bench, enduring unimaginable horrors below decks, he must summon untapped strength to survive.
And he must fight. But for the first time in his life, without his brothers at his back.
'Of every one-hundred men, ten shouldn’t even be there... but the one is a warrior, and he will bring the others back.'
***
Publisher's Note: Brother Sergeant is Book 4 in J. K. Swift's bestselling Hospitaller Saga, but also a gripping standalone story. For full context, read after Hospitaller (Book 3). Perfect for fans of Bernard Cornwell's gritty battles and Robyn Young's knightly intrigue."
"Trained in the warrior arts of the Furusiyya since children, the very meaning of the word Mamluk is 'to be owned.'
They have defeated their Muslim enemies, crushed the unstoppable Mongol horde, and now the Mamluks turn their full attention to the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Only the port city of Acre remains in the hands of the Crusaders. The boys in Brother Foulques de Villaret's Hospitaller Army of Children are approaching manhood, but their training is far from complete. Foulques needs more time. The Hospitallers, Templars, and Teutonics all need more time.
Before preparations can be made, the Mamluks are at the gates of Acre. And in their midst, is a man Foulques knows only too well: a terrifying Mamluk warrior named Badru Hashim, the Northman.
Mamluk is the second book in the Hospitaller Saga, a series of action-packed adventure novels perfect for fans of Bernard Cornwell's The Last Kingdom."
"What hope does an army of children have against the might of the Mamluks?
Brother Foulques de Villaret just wants to stay in Acre and perform his sworn duties. Instead, the young Hospitaller Knight of Saint John must undertake a dangerous journey from the Holy Land to a remote village nestled in the Alps, the 'Spine of the World'. His mission: buy 500 peasant boys and return them to Acre to be trained as Soldiers of Christ.
Pursued across the Mediterranean Sea by slavers, Brother Foulques and his Army of Children are about to be thrust into a confrontation with the greatest warriors the East has ever known: the Mamluks.
To survive, Brother Foulques must turn to risky alliances… and pray that his choices do not lead them all to destruction.
With over 1,000 GOODREADS 5-Star Ratings, Swift's Hospitaller Saga is not to be missed. Action-packed adventure perfect for fans of Bernard Cornwell and Sharon Kay Penman."
"This action-packed conclusion to The Forest Knights series picks up where ALTDORF left off.
A small force of peasants from the forest regions surrounding Lake Lucerne, rise up against their Austrian overlords in the 14th century. Outnumbered seven-to-one by the battle-hardened Habsburg army, they have little hope.
Young Noll Melchthal has managed to take the Altdorf fortress away from Leopold of Habsburg with a daring moonlight raid. But his army consists of boys and old men, with only enough swords to arm half of them. How long can he hope to hold off the combined might of the Habsburgs and the elite troops of the Holy Roman Empire? He needs help, and the only people he can turn to are an ex-Hospitaller captain and a Priestess of the Weave."
"End of the 13th century: Five hundred orphans and second sons are rounded up from villages in the Alpine countryside and sold to the Hospitaller Knights of St John. Trained to serve as Soldiers of Christ, they fight in eastern lands they know nothing about, for a cause they do not understand.
Thomas Schwyzer, released from his vows, returns to the land of his birth a stranger. Once a leader of men, and captain of the Order’s most famous war galley, he now settles into the simple life of a ferryman.
Seraina, considered a witch by most, a healer by some, is a young woman with a purpose. A Priestess of the Old Religion, and the last druid disciple of the Helvetii Celts, she has been gifted by the Great Weave to see what others cannot. Her people need her guidance and protection now more than ever. For Duke Leopold of Habsburg builds a great Austrian fortress in Altdorf. Once finished, the Habsburg occupation will be complete, but the atrocities visited upon her people will have just begun.
Set against a backdrop of the majestic mountains, wild forests, and clear, glacier-fed lakes of medieval Switzerland, ALTDORF is the first book in The Forest Knights series.
With over 1,000 5-Star ratings on Goodreads, Swift's Forest Knights series is destined to be a classic."
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