The Cult: A Novel of Two Norman Kingdoms (The Abraxas Chronicles) (Volume 1)

Set in the era of the Third Crusade, The Cult: A Novel of Two Norman Kingdoms follows the fates of Elise, Edmond, and Martin, three pupils of an English scholar who become caught in a web of deceit and threatened by an ancient Gnostic cult reincarnated in a new and monstrous form. One by one, each for a different reason, they come to Sicily, a rich and brilliant realm composed of many peoples. In cosmopolitan Palermo, minarets rise beside church towers, the Norman king keeps a harem, and Muslim scholars work with Christian clerics to recover pagan texts. As their imperiled lives and loves unfold, the three friends struggle against both the evil of the cult and the oppressive mores of their time. Their intimate stories bring to life an epic age whose conflicts closely parallel our own.The Cult is the first historical novel to explore the close connection between Arab-Norman Sicily and the England of Richard I and Eleanor of Aquitaine. In this carefully researched and and innovative book, the author takes a fresh look at a storied time, presenting the lives of a handful of those who, in various ways, resisted the roles imposed on them. While all three friends are united in their desire to defeat the cult, it is their awakening to a new world that makes this historical novel a moving tale of moral transformation.

• | Author: Richard Devlin
• | Publisher: Richard Devlin
• | Publication Date: April 19, 2015
• | Number of Pages: 354 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Paperback
• | ISBN-10: 0990919404
• | ISBN-13: 9780990919407