Product Description

Malta, in May 1565 - From the shores of the Golden Horn, Suleiman the Magnificent, Emperor of the Ottomans, has sent the greatest armada since antiquity to wipe out Islam's most implacable foe, the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem, in their stronghold on the island of Malta. To the Turks the knights are known as 'The Hounds of Hell'. The knights call themselves 'The Religion'. Meanwhile, in Sicily, a disgraced and exiled Maltese noblewoman, Carla La Penautier, has been trying to return to the doomed island in an attempt to find the bastard son who was taken from her at his birth. The Religion have refused her every plea and a tormented Roman Inquisitor, Ludovico Ludovici, seeks to imprison her. But Carla recruits a notorious adventurer and arms merchant - Mattias Tannhauser - to help her evade the Inquisition and to escape on the last galley to run the Turkish blockade. As the ensuing apocalyptic conflict between Islam and Christianity becomes the most brutal and harrowing siege in military history, Tannhauser and Carla must survive the bloody inferno and track down a twelve-year-old boy whose face they have never seen and whose name they do not know. And neither of them reckon on the return of the avenging Inquisitor, Ludovico Ludovici..."The Religion" is an epic and exuberant tale of love and war, of intrigue and obsession, of politics and faith and high adventure. Against a rich and meticulously detailed historical backcloth, it tells of a small band of intrepid men and women who defy the madness of Holy War to realize their own vision of God and Eternity.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #51938 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 784 pages

Brian Martin in Literary Review
‘a novel of high adventure, blood, guts and romantic love…as master craftsman, [Willocks] tells his story with extraordinary pace.’

Times Literary Supplement
'a griping story with reliable factual underpinnings.' - Jane Jakerman

John Williams, Mail on Sunday
"the ideal man to do justice to the conflict...gripping...a classic of its kind"

Customer Reviews

Brutal, Realistic and Gritty
After being sent a proof copy of this book I must admit to looking forward to reading it. There had been a lot of positive buzz on this book and I could not wait to see what the fuss was about.

Set in 1565 this novel revolves around the fact that Suleiman the Magnificent, Emperor of the Ottomans would like nothing better than to wipe the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem from the face of the earth. With this in mind he dispatches the largest flotilla in time immemorial to accomplish this task and so the scene is set for one of the most vicious sieges the world has ever known. Whilst this is going on a noblewoman desperately wants to return to the Island, to the Fortress of the Knights, to search for her lost child, an attempt that has been in vain until she requests the help of infamous fortune-hunter to help her run the blockade in set in place. Meanwhile a member of the Spanish Inquisition seeks to imprison her and will do anything in his sadistic grip to capture her.

This is all set around one of the most harrowing and epic sieges in antiquity. A word of warning this book is not for the faint of heart, from the gory prologue to the end of the book there is a lot of violence and blood. Tim Willocks captures the very essence of what it was like to live and breathe in this time and he brings this to the page perfectly which makes for a gripping read. Once I reached the Siege sequence I was very hard put to leave the book. That was possibly one of the greatest parts of any novel I have ever read creating scenes so epic that I was hard put for a comparison to anything I have ever read. Tim Willocks must have put a huge amount of time into researching the time as well as the Siege of Malta as he grasps every historical detail drawing the reader in. There are elements of religion as the events in this book resonate in today's world as much as they did 500 years ago.

What I loved most was the set of characters that drive the story forward from Mattias Tannhauser who really is a product of circumstances beyond his control to the vile and evil Inquisitor Ludovico Ludovici. Each one of these characters has had a lot of time and effort put into them which really sums up the whole book. Tim Willocks has worked hard to create a gripping and very realistic tale set around a brutal time where it was survival of the strongest.

A humdinger of a Book
I admit I was sceptical. I have always been suspicious of novels surrounding the Great Siege of Malta, possibly because it is the story of my own homeland. For such a significant episode in history, it has been largely passed-over in favour of others. Knowing the background and the places in which the events occurred, so well, I was anxious as to what I might find within the pages of "The Religion".

I was therefore pleasantly surprised. As a writer Willocks grips you straight into the first chapter. He combines high-flown poetic imagery with desciptions of the basest of human emotions and vices. The juxtaposition of the two make for a roller-coaster ride with very few pauses along the way.

The story follows the exploits of one Mattia Tannhauser, a Saxon-born ex-Janissary turned adventurer based in 16th century Sicily, who is persuaded by the Grand Master of the Order of St. John, via the palpable charms of the Maltese Contessa Carla and her fey companion Amparo, to lend his aid to the Order in the fight against the might of the Ottoman Empire. The Contessa engages him to help her find her illegitimate son left behind in Malta when she was forcibly married off. Their search, compounded by the siege and the malevolent presence of Ludovico Ludovici, representative of the Inquisitor General and father of Carla's bastard son, is only the main thread that weaves through a whole tapestry of events.

Willocks' account of siege warfare, the glory, the honour, the desperation, savagery and gore, place the reader forcibly in its midst. His main character, due to his background, is uniquely able to cross the lines of battle allowing the reader to observe the behaviour of both sides. He uses this perspective to voice the eternal duality of human nature, that while admitting to revel in the violence, he raises us up through love, philosophy and music and continually points out the futility of it all, a message as relevant then as it is now. There is no black or white in this book, both sides are painted realistically warts and all.

If you are looking for a book that you will find unable to put down and characters that engage you with their trials and tribulations, look no further.

Blood Red Rose
THE RELIGION by Tim Willocks.

Picture this.

It is the year 1565. The Emperor of the Ottomans has despatched a huge armada. They set sail to Malta. Where they will face the Christian Knights of St John of Jerusalem. What follows is a huge fictional account, penned by Tim Willocks. The Island of Malta is besieged. Against this mighty struggle between these two opposing armies, enters Mattias Tannhauser.

THE RELIGION is a powerhouse historical novel. The best I have ever read. The seven hundred plus pages, just raced.

Mattias Tannhauser is the central character. He is completely unique. He can be brutal. He can be as barbaric as the enemy he is fighting. Yet he possesses an amazing and deep sincerity. He would rate well, with many modern day fictional heroes. He can be and occasionally is, manipulating. He can be as ferocious as the occasion dictates. Perhaps, even more so to those he considers his enemy. But to his friends, to his comrades in arms, he is a man to be relied upon. To be trusted with their lives.



The battle scenes are, in parts, horrendously graphic. This is not a book for the squeamish. Yet again, the love that blossoms between Mattias and Carla, and his `blood red rose`, Amparu, reveal the deeply passionate and emotional side of his character.

The story is a quest. Carla, has asked Mattias, to locate her young son. He is currently on the island of Malta, shortly to be besieged by the Turks. The Christian Knights of St John, are determined never to let the Island fall, to the followers of Islam. Through this mayhem, at times fighting for the Christians, and other times, having to fight against them, Mattias endeavours to locate the boy.

I do end this review with some warnings. The first, be prepared to be utterly caught up in the exploits of Mattias, and his comrades and of the two women he loves. The second, be ready to be shocked at the way in which warfare in the 16th century was conducted. The third, Be prepared to shed a tear through parts of this book. I did. The last two chapters, especially, will stay with me a long time.

This is an enthralling novel.