Edge of Armageddon
"This absorbing tale deftly brings to life momentous military events of the 13th century... A fierce group that is too often generalized as a faceless horde is skillfully illuminated." --Kirkus Reviews
Set during the 13th century, Edge of Armageddon is the stirring climax in the Brotherhood of the Mamluks trilogy. The story brings together characters from Books I and II: Duyal, the enslaved nomad boy who rose to command a reconnaissance unit; Leander, the French soldier who abandoned the Crusades to join the devout Islamic warriors he admired, and Baybars, a Kipchak from the Eurasian steppe who is now the charismatic leader of the elite Bahri Mamluks of Egypt.
The novel introduces us to Esel, a respected bowmaker in her nomadic tribe who is seized, enslaved, and sold to a wealthy arms merchant in Syria. Overhearing her master plotting against Baybars, a nephew she has not seen since his adolescence, Esel risks her life to flee Damascus and warn Baybars of the coming betrayal.
Embraced in Baybars’ camp, Esel plunges into the hazard and intrigue surrounding her ambitious nephew. Soon, she is aiding Baybars in his quest to win the sultanate and countering the efforts of a female spy who stalks the roving Bahri.
Tension builds as the Mongol army slashes a bloody path through Mesopotamia and northern Syria, eyeing Cairo as its prize. In a fateful battle on the wide plain just east of the biblical site of Armageddon, Egypt’s Mamluks come face-to-face with the seemingly unconquerable Mongols, who sacked their Kipchak tribes twenty-four years prior. At stake for Esel and the Mamluks is the survival of their people, preservation of their fledgling empire, and the continuance of Islam itself.
A gripping tale of betrayal and love, retribution and mercy, and abandonment and redemption, Edge of Armageddon is also a compelling account of the historical Battle of Ayn Julut—an unheralded clash whose outcome leaves crucial repercussions still felt today.
* Selected March 14, 2022 as a finalist for a 2021 Foreword Reviews Award in the Military Fiction genre
* Awarded a Gold Medal in the Historical Fiction genre by the Military Writers Society of America
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