First of an exciting new trilogy from the author of Byzantium, The Iron Lance is set at the time of the first Crusade in 1099. Amidst visions of the ancient past, a 19th century Scottish lawyer glimpses the harrowing pilgrimage of an ancestor... In the year 1095, Pope Urban II declares war on the infidel. Kings, princes, and lords throughout Europe take up the cross and rush to join the Crusade. Murdo Ranulfson is left behind to guard his family's interests in the remote Orkney Isles while his father and brothers join the fight to win Jerusalem. But when all the family's lands and possessions are confiscated, Murdo follows the Crusade with the hope of finding his father and redeeming their land. His epic journey leads him to the heart of the civilized world, where the Emperor Alexius and the Lords of the West are engaged in a battle of wills that threatens the survival of the Holy Roman Empire. Steeped in heroism, treachery and the clamour of battle, The Iron Lance begins an epic trilogy of a Scottish family fighting for its existence and its faith during the age of the Great Crusades.