Historical Fantasy, The Third Crusade

Sioned, illegitimate daughter of Henry II of England, has escaped from her royal destiny in Wales and joined the Crusade of her brother, Richard the Lionheart. She finds that evil forces are feeding on the bloodletting of the Crusade. An old and powerful sorcerer is enticing armies into acts that strike horror into civilized viewers.

Sioned is descended on her mother’s side from a line of magical princesses and on her father’s side from the witches of the House of Anjou. This makes her one of the few people who can sense the hungry darkness. There is another who possesses this power, Saphadin, the brother of Arab leader Saladin. He recognizes the force: Sinan, the master of the invulnerable Assassin cult.

Sioned and Saphadin are a perfect match, to anyone with the eyes to see magic. Their brothers lead opposing forces in a war, but they find a way to combine love with loyalty. The author has an inkling what it must be like to share love when souls are this open to each other, and she shows it temptingly to us. By the time they find themselves facing a common enemy, Sioned and Saphadin are a powerful combination indeed.

In DEVIL’S BARGAIN, author Judith Tarr presents Eleanor of Aquitaine, Richard’s mother, to us in a new guise. Here Eleanor is a powerful magician without conscience. It is her alliance with Sinan that is twisting the Crusade into an evil that is meant to bring victory to Richard no matter what it takes. It falls to Sioned to put an end to Sinan. Now here’s the snag. You would think that Sioned and Saphadin together would be able to find a way to defeat him. However, the number of specious reasons Sioned can find to avoid joining forces with her beloved is astonishing. If she had applied herself so imaginatively to a union with Saphadin, Sinan would have lain sizzling at their feet in short order. Her determination to stay apart from him is out of character and credence, and is the flaw in this otherwise engaging story.

In DEVIL’S BARGAIN, Tarr has given us a fantasy with an alternative history twist. She asks two main questions. What would have happened if, when Richard left on Crusade, he left his brother John securely confined instead of free to indulge himself? And, what would have happened if the French had not deserted the Crusade? Don’t look into your history books to find out how this story turns out. Changing events at these two turning points in history leaves Tarr free to provide a plot line more satisfying for a novel.

Judith Tarr combines outstanding storytelling and vital writing in all of her books. DEVIL’S BARGAIN is the third in a series of historical fantasies. KINGDOM OF THE GRAIL creates a new tale for the mythic hero Roland, and PRIDE OF KINGS is an earlier story starring Richard. My personal favorite of her books is THE LORD OF THE TWO LANDS, about Alexander the Great and a princess of Egypt who befriends him, one of the best fictional heroines I have ever read. Reading it hooked me on this author for life.