The Crippled Angel

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The world that the former monk Thomas Neville knows is crumbling about him. The Holy Mother Church of Rome is losing its power and men are coming to question the nature of religion and the role of those who rule them by sword and cross.

Thomas knows that it is not merely the dawning of a new time for men to try to think and judge for themselves but it is a direct result of the rift in the fabric of the world, where demons have escaped their prison and are trying to breach the very gates of heaven. The great archangel Michael gave Thomas the task to find the demons who now dwell in human form and expose their evil natures.

To accomplish this he had to turn his back on one set of vows and return to his once lofty noble connections. In doing so, his life is caught up with his childhood friend Harold Bollinbroke, the fair young "Prince Hal"-who might be more (or less) than he seems. And he meets the fair young Margaret, an enigmatic beauty who he takes to wife--not out of love, but as a means to discover if she is one of those who would destroy mankind.

Old friends, a new love, and temptations that will try his conscience. And his very soul.

For Thomas is beginning to think that all that he knows may not be true. Faced with mortal love and friendships that he desperately wants and fears, he knows that time is growing short.

And the choice that he makes will reshape the world.

Reviews

“With a keen eye for detail and the nuances of medieval Europe, Douglass begins a new multivolume fantasy set on alternate, 14th-century Earth. Filled with the intricate weave of religious and political history that made up an era when church and state were not yet divided, this powerfully written tale belongs in every fantasy collection and has strong appeal for fans of historical fiction.” —Library Journal on The Nameless Day (Book One in the Crucible series)

“This is an extraordinary novel,…meticulously researched for an authentic 14th century atmosphere, not just in terms of aesthetic details, but in terms of the character’s beliefs and philosophies of life.” —SFX Magazine on The Nameless Day (Book One in the Crucible series)

“Historical fantasy aficionados should not miss this compelling multilayered series.” —Romantic Times (4 stars) on The Wounded Hawk (Book Two in the Crucible series)

“Douglass seamlessly fuses the period’s class struggle for freedom against tyranny with a disturbingly vivid look at the ambiguous battle between good and evil.” —Publishers Weekly on The Wounded Hawk (Book Two in the Crucible series)

About the Author

Sara Douglass was born in Penola, a small farming settlement in the south of Australia, in 1957. She spent her early years chasing (and being chased by) sheep and collecting snakes before her parents transported her to the city of Adelaiden and the more genteel surroundings of Methodist Ladies College. Having graduated, Sara then became a nurse on her parents' urging (it was both feminine and genteel) and spent seventeen years planning and then effecting her escape.

That escape came in the form of a Ph.D. in early modern English history. Sara and nursing finally parted company after a lengthy time of bare tolerance, and she took up a position as senior lecturer in medieval European history at the Bendigo campus of the Victorian University of La Trobe. Finding the departmental politics of academic life as intolerable as the emotional rigors of nursing, Sara needed to find another escape.

This took the form of one of Sara's childhood loves - books and writing. After she spent some years practicing writing novels, HarperCollins Australia picked up one of Sara's novels, BattleAxe (published in North America as The Wayfarer Redemption), the first in the Tencendor series, and chose it as the lead book in their new fantasy line with immediate success. Since 1995 Sara has become Australia's leading fantasy author and one of its top novelists. Her books are now sold around the world.

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Book Details

Imprint: Tor Books

Genre: Fantasy

ISBN: 9780765375056

Page Count: 368

On Sale:

January 1, 1900

Books By Sara Douglass