A medieval crusade...
Since the dawn of civilization, one can find few chapters in mankind’s past as exhilarating or ominous as the saga that weaves its strands into the First Crusade. The Byzantium Saga is a culturally and geographically sweeping adventure staged on a majestic scale in far-off, exotic lands. It depicts the epic clash between the Christians of the West and the Moslems of the East that changed forever the course of history. Nine centuries before the devastation of the 9/11 attacks, the first “holy war” between these two great faiths raged, devouring everything in its path.
The Byzantium Saga reaches back into the shadowy mists of medieval Europe and the windswept deserts of the Holy Lands to breathe life into a fascinating era richly colored by religious piety and pagan superstition, beauty and brutality, loyalty and treachery, love and hate. It is a world just emerging from the shroud of the Dark Ages, where nobles and vassals, warlords and peasants, bishops, soldiers, brigands, and courtiers all struggled to survive.
From the everyday lives of common people who were caught up in the storm to the towering ambitions of the mighty, the Byzantium Saga chronicles the great deeds and infamous misdeeds of unforgettable men and women. All of them, even those whose names cannot be found in history books, were driven by their own extraordinary passions. Each in their own way offers a profound and compelling look into the birth of the world we know today.
-Jon Anthony Hauser
"A beautiful, enriching, transcendent adventure."
Road to Byzantium is Jon's debut novel, and a winner of the American Author Contest. It is the first in a four-part series which chronicles the First Crusade. Part two is entitled Beyond Byzantium, and is in final edit, followed by Siege at Antioch and Destiny in Jerusalem.
"Jon has the remarkable ability to bring sweeping historical events into focus with carefully created fictional characters and their stories. Road to Byzantium makes the struggles, horrors, and triumphs of the Crusade more real and ultimately offers a fresh perspective."
-Candace Denning, literary editor
"Intrigue, politics, brutal warlords, a star-crossed love affair, blood-and-guts battles... Hauser loves his history and his enthusiasm for it leaps off the page. For him, history is a living thing. His unique approach to historical fiction will delight lovers of the time period."
-M. L. Rigdon, author of Prophesy Denied
"The plot is fascinating, and the characters are colorful and realistic. This is a real page-turner. In addition, while I'm not usually interested in history, I found that the setting contributed a profoundly valuable aspect to the story. It's a beautiful, enriching, transcendent adventure."
-Diana Lelonek
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