REVIEW: Against a Crescent Storm: The Balkan Legends, Book 3 by A. L. Sowards
The Serbs defied the world’s most powerful ruler, and now Danilo and Maja must fight to save their people and their newly forged love before the sultan exacts his revenge.
The Balkans, 1389
Three years ago, Danilo’s people won their freedom from the hated Ottoman Empire, but with enemies on every side, the Serbs’ hard-earned peace remains fragile. Knowing the sultan will soon come for revenge, Danilo sets out to gain key allies for the coming war—and to escape the haunting grief of personal loss.
War has orphaned Maja and her brother, but they’ve moved forward from the turbulent aftermath of battle by crafting religious mosaics. Yet after being cheated and robbed, they are desperate for help. Rescue comes from Danilo, the man who once saved them from slavery to the Turks. What begins as an offer for safe escort is soon complicated by threats from a Hungarian noble who suspects them of conspiracy and from Iskandar, an Ottoman spy consumed by a vendetta against Danilo and a dangerous obsession with Maja.
As their journey grows more perilous, Danilo and Maja are drawn together by shared grief and affection. Yet upon returning home, Danilo finds that his župan, unaware of Danilo’s growing emotional entanglement with Maja, plans to use Danilo’s hand in marriage as a tool to forge a crucial alliance. Danilo is soon torn between love for Maja and loyalty to his family and people.
As tensions escalate, sabotage and vicious rumors weaken Christian unity, and hope of victory in the Balkans grows dim. Allies and enemies converge on the fields of Kosovo, where an epic battle will shape the destiny of nations for centuries to come.
CW/TW – attempted sexual assault, death/injury of war horses in battle, mention of past death of mother and child during childbirth, mildly graphic battle scenes
Dear Ms. Sowards,
Ooo-eeh, wow. That was some Old Skool historical fiction with romance. Class differences, sworn enemies, revenge, a massive battle, personal vendetta, working class heroine, political machinations, and the destiny of a nation all packed into one final book in this series. The pace is non-stop all through the book and I’m glad I read it but I need something happy to read after this one.
Three years ago some of the Serbian vassals of Sultan Murad threw off their chains when the Serbs beat the Turks in battle. Maja and her young brother Luka became fans of Danilo, the half Serb/half Turk cousin of two Serbian Zupans when he freed them from the evil Turk Iskandar who had immediately become obsessed with Maja when he captured her. Now the Serbs are gathering allies for the battle they know is coming, Maja and Luka are seeking employment as mosaicists, and mustache twirling Iskandar is out for revenge. It’s all going to come down to the fateful Battle of Kosovo to determine who is left standing at the end.
Tough things happen in this book. Lots of fights, lots of drama, lots of political maneuverings, and given the fact that you aren’t scared of killing your darlings, I’m never quite sure who is going to be alive in the end.
I’ve been waiting for Danilo’s story since the start of the series. He’s such a great hero and he needed a great heroine. Maja is tough but she’s a nineteen year old trying to look after her younger brother and earn enough to support them in a world that is more than willing to take advantage of a woman alone. At first Maja still hero worships Danilo but his kindness to her and young Luka soon have her wishing for more. Danilo has been a widower for over a year and at first is not sure he’s over his grief at the death in childbirth of his wife and daughter. In Maja he starts to see a possible future and way past his sorrow.
However, remember the political machinations? One of them is an arranged political marriage for Danilo with an ally who promises a large contingent of troops for the battle everyone knows is coming. Dama Helena, heroine of “Beyond the Crescent Sky” knows all about marrying where you don’t want to for the sake of your people but to protect the people her husband rules and whom she’s come to love, she will ask it of Danilo and Maja. Honestly, I can’t blame her given her history and responsibilities. And yet, it kills both Helena and her husband Ivan to ask this of Danilo. However, there might be a way out with some more political deal making.
But then there is the Ottoman threat complete with a villain who has a lustful obsession with the heroine. Yeah so this is the second book in a row with not only this villain being an asshole but with a(nother) villain feeling the same immediate fixation on a woman he’s just met. Please, enough. I know Maja and Helena are great women but enough.
The battle is horrific and though things aren’t too graphically described, there is still death and wounding for both men and horses. Many characters who have been in the entire series are in danger and some don’t make it. Even after the fighting is over, things are still happening all the way to the epilogue which is a bit syrupy but after a book which had me on tenterhooks the whole way, I needed some sugar. B
~Jayne
“And if you survive, live a life full enough to make those of us who don’t survive proud.”
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