Anamnesis
Active Member
Mattias Tannhauser, once a soldier for Moslem armies after getting kidnapped by raiders from the East, is now living as a merchant in Sicily. Countess Carla la Penautier wants to find her son and is told Tannhauser can help her achieve that goal. The two set off to Malta, where Carla believes her son is currently living. The search for the boy is complicated when Tannhauser and the countess get embroiled in a battle between the Knights of St. John and the armies of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.
Willocks' behemoth of a novel is gory, sexy, and brimming with fight scenes. It reads like a cross between Robert E. Howard and James Clavell. I did find the characters to be one-dimensional. Countess la Penatier, for instance, never moves beyond the kind-hearted, virginal female. Then we have Tannhauser, who is too larger-than-life. A skilled fighter, businessman, lothario (every female expresses their attraction to him) and theologian? I think Willocks was definitely indulging in some wish fulfillment here. This is billed as the first in a trilogy of novels about Tannhauser's exploits. So far Book II hasn't been published yet, but don't worry: the novel doesn't leave any major plot threads dangling.
Willocks' behemoth of a novel is gory, sexy, and brimming with fight scenes. It reads like a cross between Robert E. Howard and James Clavell. I did find the characters to be one-dimensional. Countess la Penatier, for instance, never moves beyond the kind-hearted, virginal female. Then we have Tannhauser, who is too larger-than-life. A skilled fighter, businessman, lothario (every female expresses their attraction to him) and theologian? I think Willocks was definitely indulging in some wish fulfillment here. This is billed as the first in a trilogy of novels about Tannhauser's exploits. So far Book II hasn't been published yet, but don't worry: the novel doesn't leave any major plot threads dangling.