Kirjahaku

Eleanor of Aquitaine seized hold of life in the 12th century in a way any modern woman would envy 1151: As Duchess of Aquitaine, Eleanor grew up knowing what it was to be regarded for herself and not for her husband's title. Now, as wife to Louis VII and Queen of France, she has found herself unsatisfied with reflected glory-and feeling constantly under threat, even though she outranks every woman in Paris. Then, standing beside her much older husband in the course of a court ceremony, Eleanor locks eyes with a man-hardly more than a boy, really- across the throne room, and knows that her world has changed irrevocably... He is Henry D'Anjou, eldest son of the Duke of Anjou, and he is in line, somewhat tenuously, for the British throne. She meets him in secret. She has a gift for secrecy, for she is watched like a prisoner by spies even among her own women. She is determined that Louis must set her free. Employing deception and disguise, seduction and manipulation, Eleanor is determined to find her way to power-and make her mark on history.

Of the women in King Richard's life, she is the least known-and the most powerful. During the Third Crusade, deaths from fever and starvation are common, but King Richard the Lion-Hearted has a secret ally against these impassable enemies-a mysterious healer by the name of Edythe. She was sent to him by his mother Eleanor, and Richard first assumes that Edythe is a spy. But when her medical knowledge saves his life, she becomes an indispensable member of his camp-even as his loyal soldiers, suspicious of her talent for warding off death, call her a witch.

A seminal feminist SF novel of the highest literary quality, comparable to the works of Joanna Russ and Ursula K. LeGuin.

Where the Cape of Winds juts into the endless sea, there is Castle Ocean, which is either haunted or simply alive. There in dwells the royal family that has ruled from time immemorial. But there is an empire growing in the East, and its forces have reached the castle. King Reymarro is dead in battle and, by the new treaty, Queen Marioza must marry one of the Emperor's brothers. She loathes the idea, and has already killed the first brother. A second arrives, escorted by soldiers. While Marioza delays, her youngest son, Jeon, goes on a journey in search of his mute twin, Tirza, who must be present for the wedding. As Jeon and Tirza return, their ship is attacked by a powerful dragon. Thrown into the water, Tirza clings to the dragon, and finds herself alone with the creature in an inland sea pool. Surprisingly, she is able to talk to the beast, and understand it. So begins a saga of violence, destruction, and death, of love and monsters, human and otherwise.

a woman in norman sicily makes her way by marriage, guile, courage and love. reprinted from the original.

In the far future, an Earth-born woman must negotiate with a fearsome mutant race: “On a par with Ursula LeGuin or Arthur C. Clarke” (Chicago Tribune). Two thousand years into the future, runaway pollution has made the earth uninhabitable except in giant biodomes. The society is an anarchy, with disputes mediated through the Machiavellian Committee for the Revolution. Mars, Venus, and the moon support flourishing colonies of various political stripes. On the fringes of the solar system, in the gas planets, a strange, new, violent kind of human has evolved. In this unstable system, the anarchist Paula Mendoza, an agent of the Committee, works to make peace and ultimately protect her people in a catastrophic clash of worlds that destroys the order she knows.

With a young king facing death, a warrior of the Knights Templar struggles to maintain Christian control of the Holy Land in this “masterful . . . great read” (Publishers Weekly). Non nobis, Domine, non nobis, sed Nomine Tuo da gloriam. “Not to us, O Lord, but to Your Name give glory.” This motto highlights the vows of chastity and humility taken by the Knights Templar. But, it also speaks to their role as ferocious warriors, passionately and bloodily seeking out glory for their God. Set in the Holy Land in 1187 A.D., Cecelia Holland’s historical novel masterfully explores the conspiracies and political maneuvers leading up to the Third Crusade. Following a stunning victory at the Battle of Ramleh, Norman Templar Rannulf Fitzwilliam must negotiate a truce with the enemy and determine the order of succession to the throne of Baudouin, the young Christian king dying of leprosy. However, Rannulf’s instincts are for battle, not diplomacy. Temptation and betrayal await him around every corner. The question is not whether he can survive on the battlefield, but whether he can survive the politics and protocol of the royal court. “Holland's masterful layering of subplots, historical detail and multiple perspectives makes for a great read.” —Publisher’s Weekly “She brings as much suspense to political intrigue as to the sprawling battle scenes at which she excels.” —The New York Times Book Review

A novel set during the reign of Genghis Khan and his Mongol Empire from the acclaimed author of Ghost on the Steppe, “a master storyteller” (Houston Chronicle). Cecelia Holland’s historical fiction is well known for its immersion in exotic cultures, and Until the Sun Falls, one of her most successful books, takes the reader into the heart of the Mongol horde during the conquest of Russia and eastern Europe in the thirteenth century. Genghis Khan had told his people they were destined to rule the world, and by his death they had made an impressive start. His four sons followed him to the leadership of the enormous new empire and continued the expansion. His eldest son, Batu, launched the conquest of the West—Russia and Europe. In a few years of devastating warfare, the Mongols reached as far as Vienna, mowing down every army that dared face them, like an irresistible force of nature. Until the Sun Falls stars a Mongol general, Psin, whose battles against the enemies of the Kha Khan sometimes seem easier than his struggles with his wives and his son. Wise, brave, and bloody-minded, Psin embodies the passions and dreams of the greatest conquerors the world has ever seen, at the height of their power.

From the acclaimed author of Pillar of the Sky: “A great study of a character in conflict and a recommended read for lovers of Irish history.” —Historical Novel Society Set in Ireland during the eleventh century, The Kings in Winter follows the life of a clan chief torn between opposing factions in his own land while war with the Danes looms on the horizon. The chief of the Ó Cullinanes, Muirtagh is a man of short stature but great heart. Though his father was killed and his whole clan wiped out by the mac Mahon twenty years ago, he took an oath when he was anointed chief that he would not seek revenge. His younger brother, a renowned warrior known as the Danekiller, is barely in control of his own lust for vengeance and rails against Muirtagh’s decree. As the High King faces threats from his nemesis, who has allied himself with the Danes in his quest for power, Muirtagh is maligned for his neutrality. Although he refuses to resurrect the feud with the mac Mahon, Muirtagh will defend what is his against the Danes. But when the mac Mahon finally strikes, slaughtering someone close to him, Muirtagh chooses his fate as an outlaw and oath-breaker without a clan or a name—untamed by both king and country.

a retelling of the Viking myth of the end of the world