Synopses & Reviews
From the Court of Jerusalem to the battlefields of the Crusades to the glorious city of Byzantium, here are the pageantry and the danger of twelfth-century Europe's greatest advantage.
Melisende was the oldest daughter of Baldwin of Jerusalem, a princess of the Franks and, since she had no brothers, heir to the Crusader Kingdom. The crown would go to the man who married her, and after to her son.
But Melisende was a strong woman; the law that forced her to marry instead of taking the crown in her own name was a thorn in her side. It was she who ruled the City and who juggled the politics of church and court. The knights of Jerusalem fought in her honor, many of the best sworn to her personal service. She would not submit easily to a husband's rule, nor for long.
Review
"This is a sumptuous work, bristling with action, intrigue and more than a little subterfuge."--
Washington Post Book World"Tarr excels at bringing historical events to life."--Publishers Weekly
"Tarr weaves a spellbinding tale of two women confident enough to defy convention in order to fulfill their remarkable destinies . . . . [Queen of Swords is] a richly textured tapestry steeped in history and fraught with romance, adventure, and intrigue."--Booklist
About the Author
Judith Tarr is the author of more than twenty widely praised novels, including
The Throne of Isis, White Mare's Daughter, and
Queen of Swords, as well as five previous volumes in the Avaryan Chronicles:
The Hall of the Mountain King, The Lady of Han-Gilen and A Fall of Princes (collected in one volume as Avaryan Rising),
Arrows of the Sun, and
Spear of Heaven. A graduate of Yale and Cambridge University, Judith Tarr holds degrees in ancient and medieval history, and breeds Lipizzan horses at Dancing Horse Farm, her home in Vail, Arizona.