Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9780099457954
ISBN number: 0099457954
Label: Arrow Books Ltd
Manufacturer: Arrow Books Ltd
Page Count: 624
Printing Date: August 05, 2004
Publishing house: Arrow Books Ltd
Sale Popularity Level: 470169
Studio: Arrow Books Ltd
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Product Description:
From the cruelty of the slave markets of Algiers to the majesty of Topkapi, the sultan's seraglio in Istanbul, to the convent of the noble Knights of St. John in Malta, this is a novel of the timeless struggle between the religions and cultures of the east and west. Nico and Maria, Maltese brother and sister, are separated when young Nico is abducted by Moorish slavers. Taken to Algiers to be the personal slave of a wealthy merchant, he becomes a pawn in household politics and sets out to escape. Extraordinary events lead him to the court of Suleiman, the magnificent Sultan of the Ottomans. Maria, stranded in Malta with unsympathetic parents, makes her own plans to escape the island and find her brother. She joins a group of Jews - forced by their Christian rulers to renounce their faith - who continue their rituals clandestinely. French aristocrat Christien de Vries yearns to prove himself as a surgeon in the Order of St John, to which he was pledged as an infant but joined only as a result of a life-altering oath. These unforgettable characters find themselves caught up in the sweep of history as the Ottomans confront the Knights in the historic Siege of Malta, and the fate of Europe hangs in the balance.
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Rated by buyers 
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This is really one of the best books I ever read. Ball has succeeded in mixing the themes together brilliantly: romance and gallantry.
He captures the lives of the Maltese, Gozitans, Turks and the Knights magnificently. The people who we read about in history books, beginning from the Sultan and La Vallette and ending with the peasants, are now real.
Ball explores the different cultures and the different lives which the people lead. This makes up more than half of the book. The rest describes the Great Seige of 1565 where the futures of the large powers lay in the hands of the tiny Maltese Islands.
I recommend this book to everyone: those who like historical fiction and not, those who like to read about wars which changed the world and those who like a romantic story. Really, this fascinating read has everything a reader could wish for.
Rated by buyers 
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Appears that this is the same novel as Ironfire, with a different title.
So I'm repeating what I said in a review of Ironfire, under the heading, "Some readers are easy to please."
After reading Ball's Empires of Sand, which I loved and gave 5 stars, I gave it to my mother, who also loved it. So I bought her a copy of Ironfire, which I also read. I have to say that, although I finished this book, I was shocked that it was so much worse than Empires. The book is more about love lost and found than the battle for Malta - fully three-quarters of the book passes before the battle starts. But when it does, it goes on, and on, and on. Every day the assaults are more horrible than before (or so says the author). How could the Knights Hospitaler and the people of Malta possibly last another day? But they do, and this happens day, after day, after day. It just gets tiresome after a while. And boring. This book is not in the same league as Empires of Sand.
If you haven't read Empires of Sand, and you are considering Sword/Scimitar, head for the desert.
Rated by buyers -
The same novel by the same author was also titled under the novel name of "Ironfire."
If you like:
the Mediterranean history, the Crusades, the Ottomans & Bernard Cornwell, then surely you will enjoy this book.
It is a story of 3 main protagonists: Nico Borg, Maria Borg & Christien deVries with a background of historical places in the Mediterranea, mainly in Malta. Circling around the romances and conflicts between these protagonists and between the Church and Islam, the author deftly manipulates the plot in a way one cannot put down the book.
The main plot evolved around the Crusaders, i.e., the Hospitalers, last stronghold in Malta with its arch-nemesis Ottoman empire in the East, i.e., in Turkey, to be precise. During the last few decades of the Crusade spirit, the last bastion of the Roman Catholic empire was challenged by the Ottomans. In the tick of this intrigued, Nicolo Borg was stuck between his European decendant-Christian belief and his newly found future in the Ottomans.
Barbarossa was even discussed in quite some details by the writer, since during many European-Ottoman clashes involved the Mediterranean sea battles, piratings, hijackings and kidnappings. Many parts of the plot involved locations situated on or nearby the sea.
There was also a steel-hearted girl-lady, Maria Borg. She endured a lot since childhood all the way to her adult years, even during the Malta besiege and war between two entities she hated the most, the Crusaders/the Church and the Ottomans.
The historical representation is amazingly acute, for I am an avid history buff myself. Do not judge this book by its cover or title, read it by yourself! Leaking more plots in this book I cannot do, for reading it is a must. I hope David Ball writing finesse will continue in his future endeavours. A must read book for history fanatics. Bravo!
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