The Religion (Tannhauser Series #1) » (Reprint)

Tim Willocks is a novelist and filmmaker. He is the author of the novels Bad City Blues, Green River Rising, and Blood-Stained Kings. He lives in Ireland.

This is what we dream of: To be so swept away, so poleaxed by a book that the breath is sucked right out of us. Brace yourselves.

The New York Times - Susann Cokal

Religious wars have rarely been exclusively about religion, a point Willocks s novel drives home. As Tannhauser trades drugs for favors, takes vengeance on his enemies and deals with heroes and villains on both sides of the conflict, it becomes clear that the fight isn t over church and mosque but the ground they stand on and the taxes that are collected when merchants stop to take on supplies, sell their wares and, incidentally, say a few prayers. The Religion has few pretensions to high literature, but it delivers a timely sermon in the midst of its surround-sound entertainment.

Contents

Maps....................ix
PROLOGUE: The Devshirme....................x
PART I: A World of Dreams....................19
PART II: Maltese Iliad....................159
PART III: The Winnowing Winds....................339
PART IV: By Dens of Lions Encompassed....................421
PART V: Bloodred Roses....................537
EPILOGUE: The Grace of God....................603
Glossary....................615
Acknowledgments....................619