In the year of our Lord 1036, the world is full of evil spirits, witchcraft and miracles-an underlayer of reality but just as real…
Welcome to a malevolent time, when Normans, Lombards, Saracen pirates, and Byzantines struggle for dominance and trample on the people of the earth. Amidst the chaos, and nestled in the mountains of Southern Italy, Basilian monk Father Nicholaos has built an orphanage and made his peace with God. In shielding his orphans from the harrowing world that has ushered in the Crusades, Father Nicholaos has restored his life and theirs. His love for his orphans keeps the demons from stirring within—demons he thought he had left behind in Panormos, the ancient city of Palermo, ruled by Muslims and the place of his birth. But these demons, shared only by his prodigy pupil Iohannes, still linger as one takes to the sword and the other struggles in his spiritual quest. Will they prevail? Find out in this groundbreaking saga of love, faith, and the endurance of the human spirit.
Nicholaos was forced to leave his true love and becomes a monk to deal with the pain. He sets up an orphanage in Calabria to protect Greek culture and Christianity from the devastation of the times. In the meantime, Helena, his one-time fiancée, shows up at his relatives’ home, creating moral conflicts within both their hearts. Also, one of his orphans, Alphaeus, relentlessly pursues another of his orphans, Flavia, who is in love with Iohannes. Iohannes comes to the rescue after returning from the war in Sicily.
Fiore Cianflone’s Where the Earth Meets the Heavens: A Clash of Cultures is an exciting, action filled, page-turner that unfolds in a small corner of the Byzantine world. Love, hate, and treachery play out in the war-torn period that marshals in the Crusades, marginalizes the Muslims and Byzantines and most of all solidifies the demise of the Basilian monks.
