Robert Shea has given his full time to writing novels since 1977. He is
the co-author of the science-fiction novel ILLUMINATUS!, which won the
Hall of Fame Award of the Libertarian Futurist Society and was produced
as a play in the United States and in Europe. His historical novels are
SHIKE, set in medieval Japan, and ALL THINGS ARE LIGHTS, which, like THE
SARACEN, takes place in the era of the Crusades. He was a magazine
editor for twenty years and is also a prolific magazine writer. He lives
with his wife and son near Chicago.
IN THE SWEEPING FIRES OF THE
THIRTEENTH CENTURY,
A BOLD NEW WORLD
IS FORGED....
Into the furious whirlwind of war set off
by the bloody Crusades, one man dares
to step. His legacy belongs to the
Mamelukes, legendary warrior-slaves of
Egypt. His arsenal consists of no more than
a sword and a bag of jewels. His mission is
to enter Europe's powerful and treacherous
realms of king and pope, conspirator
and courtesan--and to single-handedly
turn the tide of battle between
continent and continent.
The man is the one they call the White
Emir, the blond assassin and spy skilled
in combat and sorcery, who moves
adeptly and lethally through the worlds
of both East and West. Against him
stands Simon de Gobignon, a proud,
young nobleman from one of the great--and
accursed--houses of France. Each
fights gallantly and desperately for the
civilization he serves--and for the love of
the ravishing Sophia, whose powerful
erotic allure no other mortal woman can
surpass, and no man alive can resist.