Blood Rock

Christian Hardy #1

by James Jackson

1565, Malta – and the greatest siege the world has ever known…

The legendary Hospitaller Knights of St. John stand alone on the small Mediterranean island of Malta against the tide of Islam. The Ottoman emperor, Suleiman the Magnificent, has sent the greatest armada ever to set sail to wipe them off the face of the earth. And there is a traitor among them. Time is running out and Matla’s doom is sealed. But one man will never yield. Englishman Christian Hardy will stop at nothing to save the island. With a band of close companions – the Moor, genius inventor of demonic weapons; Hubert, the would-be warrior priest; the young orphan Luqa and Maria, the beautiful noblewoman who risks all to be with him – Christian must unmask the spy within, take a stand against an unbeatable foe, and change the course of history.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Fiction

512 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Previous books published under the name of James H. Jackson.

James Jackson has a postgraduate degree in Military Studies and is a consultant in military risk. He is the author of The Counter-Terrorist Handbook and lives in London.

Reviews

[Shatrujeet Nath · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a frustrating and patchy read, exhilarating in its promise of action, but disappointing in its over-reliance on Dei ex machina, and its uneven narrative. The prospect of reading about the clash between the Order of St. John and the Ottoman Turks had me salivating, but very early on in the book, I got the sense that I would be less than satisfied with the narrative. For one, the book's pacing was off, for another, the characters were stilted and uni-dimensional. The battle scenes were well-conceived, particularly the protracted Turkish assault on the fort of St. Elmo. But the author also has habit of cutting away from an important battle scene and coming back to it post-action, so one never knows how the outcome was actually achieved by the combatants. For me that was just bad writing, especially when the author seems to possess the talents to write good action.

The biggest weakness in this was the absence of well-fleshed out characters with dreams and agendas of their own. I was never invested in any of the characters, so I didn't care when they died horribly in battle... which is really sad. And the book's hero, Christian Hardy, is cast in the Arnold Schwarzenegger mould of the 1980s, where he is virtually indomitable in spirit and invincible in the flesh. At no point did he feel vulnerable, which doesn't make for an interesting hero or story. Another sore point was the hidden traitor in the midst of a Order, working for the Turks. That entire angle was handled so poorly - with such a limited array of suspects - that anyone could guess it was one of two options. And because one was so obviously slimy and the other was so clearly noble, you know who is who and which is which. Is that a spoiler? Nah, any reader would figure it out a third of the way in.

Lastly, the dialogues! God, everyone spoke in an odd, tit-for-tat repartee manner where every conversation sounded stagey and off-putting. It felt as if no one could have a normal conversation, and every question had to be topped by a clever/cool sounding retort. Care for some lunch? > Lunch is a feast for the slothful > As prayer is feast for the pious > The pious are blessed with a promise of paradise > Paradise is what we make of of life on earth... Get the drift? Now imagine pages and pages of this. It gets tiring after a while.

There are portions of the writing that I liked, and I think the book's structure in sound the way it builds through the early stages of the invasion into the bloody standoff in the middle to the crumbling and combusting end. I just wish it had been written with greater consistency and a lot more attention to nuanced character development. All in all, 2.5 stars.

[Beorn · Rating 2 out of 5]

As this is far from the only piece of historical fiction set around the sixteenth-century siege of Malta by the Ottoman Empire against the beleaguered Knights Hospitaller, comparisons with the other portrayals are inevitable.

Personally speaking, I am usually far and away more interested in historical periods from the Romans through to roughly around the time of the Hundred Years War and don't generally hold much interest in the time periods afterwards, especially Tudor.
It was only in fact down to the quality of writing in both William Napier's Clash of Empires: The Great Siege and later Simon Scarrow's Sword and Scimitar that I became interested in this particular event in history.

I find it fortunate that I didn't have this book as my first historical fiction introduction to the event as it would have been strongly soured any future attempts at reading a novel based on this event.

In comparison to the deeply human unfolding of events which play out in both Scarrow and Napier's interpretations, this on the other hand feels distinctly lightweight, almost clichéd.
You have your token one-dimensional anti-hero who isn't popular amongst the leading knights because he's lowborn and doesn't stand on ceremony; the old yet defiant and majestic La Valette; and the decidedly flimsy & utterly limp pretense of there being a traitor in their midst which never really develops into any tangible feeling of suspense or intrigue.
The battle scenes lack any particular sense of urgency, danger, dread or mortal peril and actually leave you thinking the guy you're supposed to be rooting for - often Christian Hardy, the lead - is really just a bit of a dick that you wouldn't mind coming a cropper.


The only previous book of Jackson's that I've read, Pilgrim: The Greatest Crusade, I found overly reliant on pomp and pretentious wording to convey any real sense of atmosphere or do itself any favours.
Likewise, this novel seems to be also immured with a sense of it's own self-worth and when combined with the distinctly clichéd characters and lack of atmosphere, what you feel you're left with is a wooden slightly wonky timid rehash of history that wouldn't feel out of place as a utterly unremarkable documentary for kids.

Overall, distinctly average, predictable and notable only for just how unremarkable it is.
If you're interested in the events of the Siege Of Malta in 1565, the last great engagement between the Ottoman Empire of the East and the infidel West, go straight to the books listed above by Simon Scarrow or William Napier and leave this book in the dust.

[Winifred · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent historical novel based on the First Great Siege of Malta in 1565.

The knights of St John are under siege from the great Ottoman armada of Suleiman the Magnificent who intends to wipe them out. There's a traitor amongst them and their identity is hidden until the very end.

It's a brutal story based on fact and fictional characters are intertwined with the historical ones like The Grand Master of The Knights, John Parisot de la Valette and Mustapha Pasha, commander of the Turkish land forces.

The hero, Christian Hardy is a bit of a cliche and on occasions more of a superhero than a soldier but nevertheless he's an interesting one.

I have to say the book makes history come to life and would make quite a good film. For anyone contemplating a visit to Malta, it gives you a good insight into the geography of the country as well as the appalling hardships the people of this island have endured.

[Natasha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not sure how you can take one of the best war stories and make it so boring and cringeworthy. There’s little creativity and the writing reads like a high school report. Basically 400 pages of ooh I have a crush on my main character and so all the other characters will bow down to him 🩷🩷 (siege parts are worth the read but save yourself some time and just Wikipedia it🇲🇹)

[Ted · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having just returned from Malta, I enjoyed reading this book. I had low expectations from a literary point of view, but I thought it captured the guts and gore pretty well. I presume the facts were broadly accurate, although most of the main characters (particularly the romantic couple) imagined. That didn't really bother me, although there may well be other historical fiction novels that focus more accurately on the people involved.

[Andrew Carroll · Rating 3 out of 5]

Epic and grand but rarely inventive or interested in straying far from archetypical characters.

[Ben Starling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most of the novels I start lie abandoned - such pointless felling of trees. So, in a time of poor scholarship, loose editing and meandering plot it's an inspiration to discover an author who can lift the colours, smells and heroics of an ancient time into the reader's imagination; who can do with sentences what others struggle to achieve with paragraphs.

Jackson's style is never heavy or show-offy as again and again I went back to savour a phrase, to marvel at how many ways Christian Hardy could dismember an Ottoman. Like all good authors, Jackson provides only the canvas, leaving the reader to fill in the detail. He achieves more: the characters repel and mesh convincingly, the love story/ies is/are sensitively and unsentimentally handled; the subplots compelling; the whole works as an insight into human nature in its rawest state.

But Jackson's allegorical trump card didn't reveal itself until the completed novel had replaced some drivel about Christ's bloodline and albino monks on my bookcase: as we stress and complain over our mundane problems, Blood Rock adds a sense of perspective. More importantly, it inspires. Even the trees say thank you.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

The historical basis of the novel provides a solid basis for a story that provides an, at times, powerful insight into living through a siege. The characters are at times a bit thin and the Christian Hardy, the main character stretches belief by having a major role to play in every aspect of the siege defense.[return][return]It's an understandable twist of facts, but there's only so many close calls / heroic victories that a single person can go through before you feel that maybe, just maybe, things are being pushed a tad too far.[return][return]Even with the need for more solid character building and perhaps with more characters taking on some of the more core roles, Blood Rock is an entertaining read and well worth a go.

[Guy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love historical fiction but get disappointed when historical fact is changed to suit the story. Though a fun read, this is what happened here. Every great act of the Siege of Malta was the doings of our hero. What a guy he must have been. However, the Siege is reflected reasonably accurately and if you knew little about the Siege you would enjoy the book... if historical novels are your thing.

Amongst it all, in the ruins of the wrecked Fort St Elmo, there was romance. The Ottomans must have been looking the wrong way that night!

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite the blood and gore, I loved this book. It takes the reader on a fast paced journey, who grows to love the adorable characters. Christian Hardy, an English pirate with a solution for each dilemma, time again and again fights back the Ottoman invaders, and brings relief to the island of Malta. This page-turner kept me hooked from beginning to end.

[Ernest · Rating 3 out of 5]

Other than an interesting side plot about the poisoning of he Grandmaster, this is a mediocre historical action tale. Had a better sense of the locales because I've just visited Malta, but I would rate this book as simply readable, but good enough if you want history mixed with action.

[Ruth · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately, I found the pomposity of style really tough and just could not push through although I think I gave it a good try. I think I know why the author used this style but, for me, it slowed down the entire story and made it so dry. Unfortunately, unable to recommend at this stage.

[Dayat]

Novel baru terima.
Sulaiman the Magnificent as the antagonist? Ah pilihanmu memang tak terduga! Anyway Thanks Dikti! Akan dibaca.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

Would have been 3 stars however the conversations in the book were cheesy and cringeworthy. The story itself was fast paced and interesting.

[Ian Rees · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cracking yarn with a bit of history.