This is my first book published via Sea Lion Press: https://www.sealionpress.co.uk/ I approached them in the summer of 2017 with 'Eve of the Globe's War' (2017): https://rooksmoor.blogspot.com/2017/09/eve-of-globes-war-what-if-novel-of.html but very foolishly pulled out of the arrangement, I am not certain now why I did that. However, I was glad that Tom Black, head of Sea Lion, gave me a second chance with this book. I had always been interested in having a story about what if, in 1242, the Mongols had not simply turned back from Europe following the death of their great khan, Ögedei Khan. This had been stimulated, as had the title, by the non-fiction book, 'The Devil's Horsemen' (1979; revised 2003) by James Chambers. I had picked up a copy remaindered in the mid-1980s though it was not until many years later that I read it, as is often the case with non-fiction books I buy.
My first shot at a story along these lines had been with a novella which is now encompassed as 'Facing the Devil' within 'Déviation: What If? Stories of the French' (revised 2015): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L45ATYC/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i12 That story covers events later than 'Against the Devil's Men' being set in 1272 and based in northern France. The story was not well received especially by one reviewer who is an advocate of the medieval Mongol expansion and feels that any story of the time which is shown from any perspective that is non-Mongol, must be like a project for primary school children. However, I thought, for myself, it highlighted how western European states might have dealt with the Mongols if they had continued progressing farther west. I envisaged that trying to cling on to the European enclaves in Palestine and Syria would have to be abandoned, but that the various crusading orders would have turned their focus on fighting the Mongols. I also saw that the Papacy, under threat in northern Italy and with southern France at risk too, would have withdrawn to the Iberian Peninsula. Given that the threat would have involved numerous Christian states, and indeed Muslim ones too, I imagined that the Papacy would have 'weaponised' much of western European society with both religious and military orders focused on repelling the existential threat.
Thus, from these ideas, I began to decide how I could make a full novel. I settled on three characters to enable me to give different perspectives on what was happening. I wanted to emphasis just how cruel the Mongols were and how unlike other enemies European soldiers had faced, were so destructive no matter whether their victims were Christian, Muslim or Pagan. Thus, I came to include a Cuman horseman, Captain Braçayda 'Barc' Ulas. The Cumans are interesting people who were pushed westwards by the Mongols and received somewhat of a warm reception in Hungary. The Magyars themselves had been a similar nomadic people who had previously settled on the Hungarian plains and become what we know as Hungarians. I also wanted someone who could fight to give action for the story. I also wanted to show the impact of the Mongols on the people in the areas in which they settled, so this led to Sister Aurea of the Mercedarians. She is a half-Mongol, half-Italian woman born as a result of rape who fled into 'France' from Mongol held northern 'Italy'. The Mercedarians were a bold order that were willing to risk their lives for imprisoned Christians; she also provided a way in for what I saw as an undercover mission among the Mongols. Then, finally, to represent how the weaponised clergy was used, I included Brother Cataldo, a Trinitarian friar originally from Venice. The states of Venice and Genoa were known to be flexible in relations with the Mongols and I saw that as liable to grow as the invaders' power extended.
All that remained was to determine what these Papal agents would do and this led to lots of exploration of diseases among horses and how these could be spread. With all these factors in place, my trio - though the story is primarily seen through the eyes of Cataldo - were ready along with a band of soldiers and later some sickening horses to go on their mission. Their journey allowed me to show the complexity of society at the time, especially the multiple states in what is now southern France. There is room for jealousies of both secular and clerical authorities and to look at some of the stunning towns in the region though those in northern Italy, as happened elsewhere the Mongols went, have been reduced to ruins. Along the way the characters encounter people showing what impact the grim threat of people many genuinely believed to be demonic, would have, so there are heretics and millennial cults arising. The Cathars were strong in the region even in our version of the history and have continued when an even greater threat to Christendom has taken priority.
I hope readers appreciate all the details, of food, clothing, weapons, horses, towns and different groups. I was pleased with what I felt was a rich experience with numerous points of tension and scenes of action as well as reflections on the political and religious developments of the time. Some pressed me to include things like sex between Cataldo and Aurea, despite an 18 year age difference between them and both being sworn to chastity. However, I am glad I resisted this and that one reviewer has picked up on the fact that I have been careful to show characters following the views of the time rather than me including anachronistic attitudes from my own. This includes showing people, whether in religious orders or following a heresy or simply fearful of the Mongols, sincerely believing the views of the time; accepting the supernatural and the reality of the Devil and his agents. As such, I hope that while providing an interesting exercise in alternate history story-telling, readers can also enjoy exploring a rich historical context based on extensive research. Of course, if you spot some error, please let me know first before emblazoning them across Amazon reviews.
