Pagan's Crusade: Book One in the Pagan Chronicles

Description

Wham! So here I am, standing in a sea of dirt, with a big mad Templar lobbing rocks at my head. Wham! Like some kind of martyr. Wham! He throws like a catapult. 'All right, Pagan, that's enough.' (I should damn well think so.) 'Do you see what your problem is?' Wait - don't tell me. You are. It's twelfth-century Jerusalem, the time of the Crusades. Shrewd and scrappy Pagan has been plucked from the streets to work for Lord Roland, a Templar knight. Set against a background of mounting tension as Saladin's infidels close in on the Holy City, Pagan's Crusade is an exciting and exuberant tale of medieval adventure. Catherine Jinks masterfully intertwines thrilling action with a deeply personal story as Roland emerges as both mentor and friend for the orphaned Pagan. An engaging, moving and thoroughly satisfying experience. 'What a romp! Not since Don Quixote took up with Sancho Panza has a knight had a squire like Pagan Kidrouk.' -- Voice of Youth Advocates

CATHERINE JINKS is a scholar of medieval history and a prolific author for teenagers, children and adults. Her books have been published to wide acclaim in Australia and overseas and have won numerous awards. She loves reading, history, films, TV and gossip, and says she could write for eight hours straight every day if she had the chance. Catherine lives in the Blue Mountains of NSW with her husband and daughter.

'Jinks's alternately hilarious, often poignant novel turns medieval history into fodder for both high comedy and allegory...' Publisher's Weekly'Shrewd and scrappy, with an instinct for self-preservation and a strong sense of loyalty, Pagan Kidrouk makes an engaging and spirited narrator. From the beginning of Pagan's Crusade, I found myself plunged into the thick of medieval Jerusalem...A grand adventure!' Nancy Bond'Who would have thought that the crusades could have been funny and irreverent as well as violent?'travelbeat.com.au, 25/5/07