Sword of Damascus : Independently Published : 9798767364510 : 14 Nov 2021 : 687 AD. Expansive and triumphant, the Caliphate has stripped Egypt and Syria from the Byzantine Empire. Farther and farther back, the formerly hegemonic Empire has been pushed. All that has saved it from destruction is the invention of Greek Fire. Is it a liquid? Is it a gas? Is it a gift from God or the Devil? Whatever its origin, all know it has broken the Islamic advance and restored Byzantine control of the seas. But what is all this to old Aelric, now in his nineties, and a refugee in the remote wastes of northern England? Nothing-until one band of northern barbarians turns up outside his monastery, and then another. Almost before he can draw breath, Aelric is a prisoner and, headed straight back into the snake pit of Mediterranean rivalries. Will age have robbed Aelric of his charm, his intelligence, his resourcefulness, or of his talent for cold and homicidal duplicity? Praise for the Novels of R