The Pawns of Sion (The Magdalen Cycle, Book Two)
Scott Rezer follows up his excellent The Leper King, the first book in his Magdalen Cycle, with The Pawns of Sion, in which Countess Sibylla, the sister of medieval Jerusalem’s fallen “Leper King” Baldwin IV, is struck by a second tragedy in rapid succession: the sudden death of her son, which forces Sibylla to take up the rule of Jerusalem herself in conjunction with her husband Guion de Lusignan.
The tensions between the city and Salehdin, the Muslim ruler of Egypt and Syria, are on a razor-edge, and into this mixture Rezer adds a mystical religious element centering around a squire named Ernoul (and the Holy Cup of Jesus Christ, and other mystical artefacts), as well as a variety of confidently-done plot twists.
The novel’s historical research lends a rich atmospheric texture to the storyline, and Rezer’s sharp ear for dialogue adds to the vivid portrayal of his characters. All the multifaceted politics and faiths of the Holy Land during the late 12th Century are brought wonderfully to life in this intensely enjoyable book, which can be read independently of its predecessor.
Recommended.
