As you may have guessed, the Crusades are a favourite period of mine. So I enjoy finding new (and old) titles that feature the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Here are a few more fictional titles for your reading pleasure:
Shadow of the Swords by Kamran Pasha
An epic saga of love and war, Shadow of the Swords tells the story of the Crusades—from the Muslim perspective.
Saladin, a Muslim sultan, finds himself pitted against King Richard the Lionheart as Islam and Christianity clash against each other, launching a conflict that still echoes today. In the midst of a brutal and unforgiving war, Saladin finds forbidden love in the arms of Miriam, a beautiful Jewish girl with a tragic past. But when King Richard captures Miriam, the two most powerful men on Earth must face each other in a personal battle that will determine the future of the woman they both love—and of all civilization. Richly imagined, deftly plotted, and highly entertaining, Shadow of the Swords is a remarkable story that will stay with readers long after the final page has been turned.
Note: there may be another book prior to this, however, cannot find any details.
Crusader King: A Novel of Baldwin IV and the Crusades by Susan Peak
A new historical novel about the unusual life of King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, the leper crusader king who - despite ascending to the throne at only 13, his early death at 24 and his debilitating disease - performed great and heroic deeds in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Teenagers and avid readers of all ages will be amazed at this story and be inspired by a faith that accomplished the impossible!
Note: aimed at younger readers
The Magdalen Cycle by Scott Rezen
Book 1: The Leper King
King of Jerusalem and Defender of the Holy Sepulcher, Baldwin IV walks the sword s edge between the intriguing barons of his own Court and the jihad of Islam. Between the two, however, a sinister presence lurks a heretical society called the Order of Sion that will stop at nothing to see its own dark designs come to fruition. Baldwin is young, innocent, and a military strategist of no small measure. And, he is a leper. In the midst of mounting political tensions and war, a mysterious woman unexpectedly befriends the lonely sick king a woman who claims she is Mary Magdalen.
Book 2: The Pawns of Sion:
The Leper King is dead. His sister, Countess Sibylla, longs to return to the convent and leave the crown in the hands of her young son. But when the boy suddenly dies, the Order of Sion forces Sibylla to become queen and crown her estranged husband, Guion de Lusignan as king. Meanwhile, a squire named Ernoul discovers that a woman attending his sick mother in the Hospital of Saint-John is the beloved saint, Mary Magdalen, and that he is the illegitimate son of a powerful lord. As the Order of Sion regains strength and the kingdom moves ever closer to war with Salehdin, Mary seeks out the hiding place of the lost Cup of Christ... but is it the end of a long quest or a trap set by the enemy to destroy her?
The Last King of Legends Series by Serafia Cross
Book 1: The Kingmakers
Principled people, crucial events and overwhelming afflictions build legendary kings such as the thirteen-year-old leper boy, Baldwin, who inherits a kingdom at war - the Kingdom of Jerusalem. This is the first book in The Last King of Legends series, based on the true story of King Baldwin IV of Latin Jerusalem, who reigned from 1174 to 1185.
Book 2: In the Face of Trials
Sixteen-year-old King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem continues his journey as Protector of the Holy City despite his ailing physical condition as a leper. His army disobeys his direct command and accompanies a proud pilgriming prince on a battle campaign leaving only 675 knights with the king to defend Jerusalem. Saladin emerges from the south to invade the Kingdom of Jerusalem with 30,000 men, and King Baldwin rides out to meet him in battle with his insignificant army and great faith in God.
Books 3: The Sovereign Gambit
Though the leprosy of King Baldwin IV robs him of his hands, feet, face, and his strength, it does not rob him of his mind--and the eighteen-year-old king decides to play a gambit to force Saladin's hand. A torrent of events--that will mark the beginning of the end for the Kingdom of Jerusalem--is unleashed. Baldwin struggles to save the kingdom from absolute ruin and preserve its future, yet, sometimes, all he can do it watch.
Note: For more on Baldwin IV Of Jerusalem, I recommend "The Leper King & His Heirs" by Bernard Hamilton
Crusader by Elizabeth Laird
Two boys, two faiths, one unholy war—two boys from opposing worlds come face to face in a thought-provoking historical fiction adventure set in the era of the Third Crusade.
The Crusader by Michael Alexander Eisner
A knight possessed by demons, an ambitious monk skilled in exorcism, and a bloody Crusade that ends in a terrible siege lie at the heart of Michael Alexander Eisner’s action-packed medieval adventure of Christian warriors and Muslim infidels in the Holy Land.
Francisco de Montcada, the young Spanish heir to a vast family fortune, returns from the Crusades a gaunt shell of a man, rendered speechless by the horrors he has witnessed. As his friend Brother Lucas draws out his story, Francisco relates a gripping tale of fierce battles, cruel betrayals, and religious zealots.
A Booke of Days by Stephen J. Rivele
A critically acclaimed recreation of the first papal crusades, in 1096, focuses on one man who undergoes a spiritual crisis amid the fury and mindless greed of the pilgrimage.
The story is related as the journal of Roger of Lunel,a duke of the Provence area of southern France. His story evolves from his joining the First Crusade, and follows him through to the taking of Jerusalem, and home again, focusing on his growth as a man, and as a Crusader.
If you are looking for a series then I can recommend the following:
The Celtic Crusades Series by Peter Lawhead
The Iron Lance; The Black Rood; The Mystic Rose
An epic trilogy of Scottish noble family fighting for its existence and its faith during the age of the Crusades—and of a secret society whose ceremonies will shape history for a millennium.
Crusader Series by Kathryn Le Veque
The Crusader; Kingdom Come
Premise: A Biblical Archaeologist by degree, her target is a holy relic of unimaginable power. But what she discovers instead is the tomb of a long-buried Crusader, one of the thousands who came to this desert land in search of glory and riches.
The Knight Templar / Crusades series by Jan Guillou
The Road to Jerusalem; The Knight Templar; The Kingdom at the End of the Road
The hero is a Templar crusader named Arn Magnusson, so the focus is on him and medieval Sweden.
Note: there is possibly a fourth in the series (but my Swedish is non-existant)
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