The Emperor Strikes Back:

Emperor Frederick II has re-established Christian control of Jerusalem, but the Sultan brags that he will "purify" the Holy City and drive the Christians out as soon as the ten-year truce expires. The common people of the Holy Land show their contempt for the Emperor by pelting him with offal, while the barons resist Frederick's absolutism and demand rule of law. Filled with resentment and bitterness, the Emperor vows to destroy the family that embodies the independent spirit of Outremer: the Ibelins. The Emperor's minions will stop at nothing, and Balian's marriage soon becomes a spiritual weapon turned against his father. 

"Schrader’s  prose manages to summon the  culture and time period of the Crusader states while remaining light and  readable...."

"From  central  actors  to  more  minor characters,  each  individual  has  a  depth  that  will  leave readers  highly   invested  in  the  story’s  outcome.”  

"Schrader imagines a rich and  intricate novelistic universe in which historical fact blends with  fiction to create a compelling narrative. Set against the backdrop of  the Christian struggle to retain the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the early  13th century, the novel offers both an engaging and informative read.”

 “Schrader’s detailed rendering of  the ill-fated first marriage of Bailin, d’Ibelin’s eldest son  to Eschiva de Montbéliard, a cousin by marriage, will capture readers hearts."

" ...the reader can almost smell the  offal and blood, feel the pain of wounds, the effects of hunger,  hardship, and fear, the taste of stale bread and sullied water, and the  bittersweet taste of victory."   

"The author is brilliant in her writing  and ... continues to offer the most exciting historical series that  mesmerizes the reader."