“Use their ignorance. It will be infinitely more powerful than any other weapon you could possible possess.”

Excerpt… Between the Hindu Kush and Baghdad, summer, 1323 Johanna was no match for Firas in upper body strength, but he made her practice with a heavy wooden practice sword for a month before he found a small sword in another market which weighed half of what the practice sword did. She discarded the first…

Read more “Use their ignorance. It will be infinitely more powerful than any other weapon you could possible possess.”

“I beg you, please rid yourself of the habit of calling me Alaric the Templar.”

Excerpt… On the Road, summer, 1323 “TELL ME ABOUT the Templars,” Jaufre said. Alaric sighed. To Jaufre’s ears it sounded a little theatrical. “First, I beg you, please rid yourself of the habit of calling me Alaric the Templar,” the older man said. “Ram will have his little joke, but the farther west we travel,…

Read more “I beg you, please rid yourself of the habit of calling me Alaric the Templar.”

We should not start our work by imagining we have the answers; we need to seek them out.

Marty Baron is the Forest Gump of modern day journalism. He was with the Miami Herald during the 2000 election, with the Boston Globe during 9/11 and spearheaded the Globe‘s investigation of the Catholic Church’s coverup of pedofile priests, a story that inspired coverage of the same story to wherever in the world the Catholic Church had a footprint. As…

Read more We should not start our work by imagining we have the answers; we need to seek them out.

One was a victim, the other a villain, but Keefe never forgets that they were also both human beings

I’ve spent a lot of time in Ireland, enough to have what I consider to be extended family there. I’ve spent a lot of time listening to stories (Irishmen tell stories as well as any Bush pilot or Alaska state trooper, which is saying something). The thing about Ireland is best exemplified by the Faulker…

Read more One was a victim, the other a villain, but Keefe never forgets that they were also both human beings

Driftwood tripods stationed at regular intervals, with reflectors nailed to them to show the mushers the way into Nome

Absolutely no seal oil is permitted in the vehicle, or an extra charge of up to $200 may apply. —Car rental agreement, Nome FRIDAY WE PICK UP Peggy Fagerstrom, who describes herself as “our trusty Native guide” to everyone she introduces us to, to the great hilarity of all, and we drive east down the…

Read more Driftwood tripods stationed at regular intervals, with reflectors nailed to them to show the mushers the way into Nome

“Go ahead. Take him.”

Balkh, summer 1323 A scream from the hollow below spun her around. She leapt down the loose scree of the knoll and slid into camp in a scatter of loose gravel, barely managing to stay upright. There she found Hayat and Alma clinging to each other as they watched two young men, ragged and dirty,…

Read more “Go ahead. Take him.”