There is a war coming. Suleiman the Magnificent, the Ottoman Emperor has sent an armada west to try and eliminate the greatest enemy of Islam – the Christian Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem. The Knights, based in a stronghold on Malta, refer to themselves as The Religion and believe that they are carrying out the word of God. Similarly, the Turks are willing to fight and die in the name of their religion.

Mattias Tannhauser walks the line between the two sides. Born into a Saxon family he has trained as a metal worker under the tuition of his father, Kristofer. But when the family home is attacked by a group of Turks it is only Mattias's skills as a blacksmith that keep him alive. At twelve years old he is taken away from everything that he knows to become a devshirme: a Christian boy taken in the Gathering and trained within the Ottoman ranks becoming a member of the brotherhood of the janissaries.

Carla La Penautier was born into a noble family on Malta. However she brought disgrace upon herself as a young women when she gave birth to a bastard son – a child who was taken from her at his birth. Living on Sicily, she turns to Tannhauser to help her evade the Turkish blockade and return to the besieged island of Malta to track down her lost son.

The Religion is a stunning new novel from author Tim Willocks and is set in the middle of the 16th Century, a time when the Islamic East and Christian West are at war. The two main characters, Carla and Mattias, find themselves in the middle of the conflict as they try to discover the fate of Carla's son.

In choosing to set his story at this point in history Willocks has challenged himself to write a story of two warring factions, following different religions, each of whom believe they are doing the work of god. It would have been very easy for the author to side with one of the groups but, instead, Willocks has walked an even line between the sides, telling the story from both points of view. To emphasise this, the main character, Tannhauser, was brought up Christian then, at the age of 12, was adopted into a Turkish household and educated in the Muslin religion. He respects each side equally and moves seamlessly between the two camps.

There is no good and bad in this book. This is the story of war. Nothing more, nothing less. Willocks looks to examine the whole concept of religious fundamentalism through the experiences and reactions of his characters. One thing that is abundantly clear when you read this book is the extent of the research that the author must have carried out when writing The Religion. The historical accuracy of the story added to the sheer skill of the writing makes this one of the most compelling and thought provoking stories I have ever read. It is not often that you come across a book that is this good! This is historical fantasy at its very best.

Synopsis
May 1565. Suleiman the Magnificent, emperor of the Ottomans, has declared a jihad against the Knights of Saint John the Baptist. The largest armada of all time approaches the knights' Christian stronghold on the island of Malta. The Turks know the knights as the "Hounds of Hell". The knights call themselves "The Religion."

In Messina, Sicily, a French countess, Carla La Penautier, seeks passage to Malta in a quest to find the son taken from her at his birth twelve years ago. The only man with the expertise and daring to help her is a Rabelaisian soldier of fortune, arms dealer, former janissary, and strapping Saxon adventurer by the name of Mattias Tannhauser. He agrees to accompany the lady to Malta, where, amid the most spectacular siege in military history, they must try to find the boy--whose name they do not know and whose face they have never seen--and pluck him from the jaws of Holy War.