Soldier of Fortune (II): The Heretic

By: David Pilling

Narrated by: Nick Denton

Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

"Ye who are God's warriors and of His law..."

Constantinople, AD 1453: Sir John Page, English knight and mercenary captain, has been taken prisoner by the Ottoman Turks. To avoid execution, Page is forced to entertain the sultan with stories of his adventures as a soldier in France, Bohemia, and Italy.

In this, the second tale, Page describes his time among the fanatical Hussites in Bohemia. Condemned by the Pope as heretics, the Hussites dared to defy the might of the Catholic church and the Christian princes of Europe. In response, the Pope ordered their destruction, down to the last child, and the brutal subjugation of their country.

Page joins the Hussites just as another crusade is launched against Bohemia. Led by the merciless King Sigismund, known as the Dragon of Prophecy, the crusaders will drown the land in blood rather than let heresy prevail.

Bohemia's only hope lies in Jan Zizka, a blind soldier of genius, and his army of peasant soldiers. Caught up in a savage war of religion, Page struggles to earn the trust of his new comrades, who regard the Englishman as a potential spy. On bloody battlefields fought in nightmarish conditions, with his life and immortal soul at stake, Page is faced with a stark choice: win or perish....

©2016 David Pilling (P)2018 David Pilling

More Medieval Battlefield Action

Sir John Page returns, this time pointing his sword east to Bohemia and the Hussite Wars, where he takes service with Jan Žižka. More well-researched, gritty and real historical fiction.

AWESOME ADVENTURE!

I haven't read the first book in the series, but I have reviewed the summary, so I have a general idea going into listening to this book, the second in the series.

If you're looking for a great, entertaining historical story packed with action and adventure, this will certainly fit the bill. Creatively written, great characters, and the narration was great!!

Follow the adventures of Sir John Page, you'll be glad did :) Definitely recommended!


I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
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A Good read / listen

Soldier of Fortune (II): The Heretic. This is not my normal reading genre but it proved to be excellent, great story line, superb characters, and packed full of action.
Up there with the best in the genre. A good entertaining listen that grips you early on and never lets go.
Narration is good and all characters are distinguishable.
I was given a free copy of this audiobook at my own request, and voluntarily leave this review.

Amazing to see how brutal Medieval warfare was

an amazing tale and experience in being within one of the "forgotten" wars in the middle ages. a war that made so much misery.

Great reading but needs to work on accents

This is the fourth book I’ve read/listened to by this author. I prefer his Leader of Battles series (it seems to have more depth), but this series is entertaining and educational. Sir John Page allies himself with the Hussites as they are lead on a crusade against Bohemia. He again has chosen to fight on the side he believes is right. Since he is English, his true intents are always questioned. Through Page’s experience we get some insight into the different factions of Hussites (Ultraquists, Taborites, Orebites, etc). Enough was eluded to that I was encouraged to do some research on my own to gain more understanding of the Hussite Wars.

This is the third book I’ve listened to by this narrator ( Nick Denton ) and a guy in beginning sounds like a caricature accent of Arnold Schwarzenegger. It was uncomfortable to listen to. He also used, essentially, the same voice for several of the characters that were German. The characters were not in the story at the same time, but it still took a bit for me to adjust and recognize it was a different character. His other character voices were good and his reading is otherwise well done. He brings out the action in the story.
There were a few technical/editing errors (a few sentences repeated), but nothing overly disruptive.

There are no explicit sex scenes, there is fighting but it is not detailed or excessively violent. There is minimal swearing.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and voluntarily left this unbiased review.
Please feel free to comment on whether you found my review helpful.