Most readers who are stuck on Historical Fiction know the name Ken Follett. He wrote one of the best novels about the Middle Ages in recent memory, Pillars of the Earth.
For those readers we humbly suggest George Steger’s thrilling series called Sebastian’s Way, not because it’s as good as Pillars of the Earth – after all Follett’s work is an all-time classic - but critics say the two volumes of Sebastian’s Way are excellent reads and do present, like Follett’s work, an authentic fictional window on the medieval world. Both Book I, The Torchbearer and Book II, The Paladin represent a colorful medieval stew filled with the authentic stock of the times: savage warriors, groundbreaking clergy, salty peasants, and plenty of memorable maidens for those who like a good romance.
Sebastian inhabits an early time, late 8th and early 9th centuries. It is the era of the greatest monarch of the Early Middle Ages, the incomparable Charlemagne. To be sure, the story is set amidst the seemingly incessant wars the king waged against his pagans foes as he strove to bring Christianity to all Europe. But it also sends our hero Sebastian far afield from his Rhineland home to pursue the king’s business in such exotic places as Constantinople, Jerusalem and Baghdad.
Through both novels winds a tale of dramatic perplexity, of characters and of politics, even of love as a full-fledged epic of forbidden romance swelters throughout the plot in both novels.
So… if Ken Follett’s medieval world is your cup of mead, have a good look at Sebastian’s Way: The Torchbearer and The Paladin. You may find some intriguing similarities.
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