Ironfire: A Novel of the Knights of Malta and the Last Battle of the Crusades

by David Ball

Book Overview

From the acclaimed author of Empires of Sand comes a mesmerizing new adventure that Jean Auel cites as "crowded with events that both forecast and mirror the conflicts of today." Sweeping from the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385336012
• ISBN13: 9780385336017
• Release Date: December 2003
• Publisher: Delacorte Press
• Length: 688 Pages
• Weight: 2.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

One of the best I have ever read.

I read David Ball's Empires of Sand when I was traveling through the Andes mountains in Peru. And now I had the chance to travel through Turkey, so I stopped at the local bookstore and picked up a copy of Ironfire. This is truely one of the best novels I have ever read. Please, don't read anymore reviews or summaries of this book. Let the story unfold around you clearly and do not bring any preconceptions about what to expect. If you love reading about real humans, then read this book. Real people are not evil or good, deceitful or arrogant, brave or cowardly. Real humans are a complicated mix between many things. That is what this story is about and I guarantee that it will bring tears to your eyes several times, both joyful and sad tears. And sometimes emotions will rise within your throat just from the sheer weight of it all.

One of the best books I've read in the past few years

What irony that the fate of empires should rest on such a tiny island that holds few resources and little of value. Strategically located between Sicily and the African coast, Malta and its inhabitants live their daily lives, soon to be engulfed in one of the largest battles of the 16th century between the Ottoman Empire and Christian kingdoms of Europe. Two young peasants, Nico and Maria, skirting their chores for the day, playfully dig through old ruins in search of treasure. Unknown to them, Turkish corsairs have landed on the beach below them to re supply their ship. The brother and sister try to escape the corsairs, but Nico is taken into slavery. Nico is thrown into the bilge of the ship, along with several other prisoners from prior raids. The small space is a living hell where there is little food and they wade and sleep in their own waste. Several of the prisoners have died and if Nico survives, the best he can hope for is a life of slavery. Nico is very intelligent and he strives to match the fight and fire that his sister has within her. He fuels his will with thoughts of seeing her again, and thoughts of revenge against the corsairs who have stolen his life from him. Nico soon realizes that the Ottoman Empire is a land where men earn their fortunes and birth means little. Men of low birth and even slaves can rise to high places within the Empire. On Malta, Maria is furious that the Hospitallar Knights of St. John will not sail after Nico. It is the harsh rule of the sea, where Muslim boats are oared by Christian slaves and Christian boats are oared by Muslim slaves. Nico is a casualty of the ongoing war at sea and the knights have given him up. Maria's father will not stand up to the knights, and he accepts his son's loss in a stoic manner. Maria keeps Nico in her thoughts daily and isolates herself from her family. She soon makes a new friend who fills her head with dreams of a life in France, away from the cursed island of Malta. Maria discovers that her friend and her family in Malta hold a secret that could get them all killed, but Maria is accepted into their trust. Maria and her friend formulate their plan to eventually leave the island and Maria spends several years of her life implementing it. Maria grows into a beautiful young woman, and faces terrible life-changing challenges along the way. On Malta, the peasants answer to the Church and the Knights, the Church answers to the Pope, and the Knights answer to no one. Justice is hard to find in the murky political intrigue between the Knights and the Church. In France, a proud count looks on as his newborn son is accepted into the future order of the Knights of St. John. Under his father's watch, Christien grows, trained in the arts of war and knighthood. Christien's true desire is medicine and surgery, and his father will have nothing to do with it. Whether their desires agree or not, they both eventually lead him to Malta. Christien's vows be

one of the finest books i ever read

This is really one of the best books I ever read. Ball has succeeded in mixing the themes together brilliantly: romance and gallantry. He captures the lives of the Maltese, Gozitans, Turks and the Knights magnificently. The people who we read about in history books, beginning from the Sultan and La Vallette and ending with the peasants, are now real. Ball explores the different cultures and the different lives which the people lead. This makes up more than half of the book. The rest describes the Great Seige of 1565 where the futures of the large powers lay in the hands of the tiny Maltese Islands. I recommend this book to everyone: those who like historical fiction and not, those who like to read about wars which changed the world and those who like a romantic story. Really, this fascinating read has everything a reader could wish for.

The Siege of Malta: Mediterranean History & Fiction at Its Best

The same novel by the same author was also titled under the novel name of "The Sword and the Scimitar." If you like: the Mediterranean history, the Crusades, the Ottomans & Bernard Cornwell, then surely you will enjoy this book. It is a story of 3 main protagonists: Nico Borg, Maria Borg & Christien deVries with a background of historical places in the Mediterranea, mainly in Malta. Circling around the romances and conflicts between these protagonists and between the Church and Islam, the author deftly manipulates the plot in a way one cannot put down the book. The main plot evolved around the Crusaders, i.e., the Hospitalers, last stronghold in Malta with its arch-nemesis Ottoman empire in the East, i.e., in Turkey, to be precise. During the last few decades of the Crusade spirit, the last bastion of the Roman Catholic empire was challenged by the Ottomans. In the tick of this intrigued, Nicolo Borg was stuck between his European decendant-Christian belief and his newly found future in the Ottomans. Barbarossa was even discussed in quite some details by the writer, since during many European-Ottoman clashes involved the Mediterranean sea battles, piratings, hijackings and kidnappings. Many parts of the plot involved locations situated on or nearby the sea. There was also a steel-hearted girl-lady, Maria Borg. She endured a lot since childhood all the way to her adult years, even during the Malta besiege and war between two entities she hated the most, the Crusaders/the Church and the Ottomans. The historical representation is amazingly acute, for I am an avid history buff myself. Do not judge this book by its cover or title, read it by yourself! Leaking more plots in this book I cannot do, for reading it is a must. I hope David Ball writing finesse will continue in his future endeavours. A must read book for history fanatics. Bravo!

Novel Worthy of Titanic Siege -- Wonderful Characters!

David Ball's "Ironfire" is officially a novel of the infamous siege of Malta, where the massive Ottoman army and navy fought valiantly but was unable to unseat the outmanned Maltese defenders, led by the Knights of St. John. Fortunately for the reader, "Ironfire" is about much more than the siege - it's about the people, both "big" and "little," who lived, loved, and died on both sides. "Ironfire" generally tracks four main characters. Two are the Maltese brother and sister, Nico and Maria Borg. Nico is kidnapped by Islamic slavers as a small child, but through courage, daring, and vast amounts of luck ends up a captain of a war galley in the Ottoman navy. Maria remains on Malta, a cultural backwater that is as dedicated to its cro-magnon sexist culture as it is to its Christianity. Maria is not the kind of woman who will be content to be seen but not heard, and her boldness and beauty make for several compelling passages. Unfortunately for Maria, her beauty and her brains bring her to the attention of Dun Sulvago, a priest who, in his wilder days was one of the biggest womanizers on the European continent and now strives to save souls (and pursue his own ambitions) on the island of Malta. While generally a decent sort, a fatal weakness earns him the undying hatred of Maria. But fortunately for Maria, the same beauty and brains who brought Dun Salvago to her life also bring her Christien deVries. Christien is fated to join the soldier-monks of the Order of St. John, but his spirit calls for him to become a surgeon rather than a soldier -- and surgeons were pretty low on the sociological food chain at the time. Christien pursues his studies with zeal and in secret, for dear old dad just ain't a fan o'that book learnin' -- a good son doesn't care about sewing up Christians, he cares about chopping up infidels in the name of Christ. These "major" characters are surrounded by well-rounded, fully developed "minor" characters whose tales tug at the heartstrings and beat at the funnybone . . . although "Ironfire" is definitely more weighted towards the sorrowful than the joyous, all things considered. Ball has a complete command of the daily life on Malta, the life of a page in the Sultan's service, and the perils of battlefields both on land and on water. He writes clearly, but movingly, and several passages demand to be reread thanks to their sheer power and beauty. Never flowery, always accessible, yet never dumbed-down, "Ironfire" is one heck of a novel, and is a must-read for fans of historical fiction. Five stars, without question.