
The Religion
A Novel
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $33.74
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Simon Vance
-
By:
-
Tim Willocks
About this listen
May 1565. Suleiman the Magnificent, emperor of the Ottomans, has declared a jihad against the Knights of Saint John the Baptist. The largest armada of all time approaches the Knights' Christian stronghold on the island of Malta. The Turks know the Knights as the "The Hounds of Hell." The Knights call themselves "The Religion."
In Messina, Sicily, a French countess, Carla la Penautier, seeks a passage to Malta in a quest to find the son taken from her at his birth twelve years ago. The only man with the expertise and daring to help her is a Rabelaisian soldier of fortune, arms dealer, former janissary, and strapping Saxon adventurer by the name of Mattias Tannhauser. He agrees to accompany the lady to Malta, where, amidst the most spectacular siege in military history, they must try to find the boy— whose name they do not know and whose face they have never seen—and pluck him from the jaws of Holy War.
The Religion is Book One of The Tannhauser Triology, and from the start of epic account of the last great medieval conflict between East and West, it is clear we are in the hands of a master. Not since James Clavell has a novelist so powerfully and assuredly plunged listeners headlong into another place and time. Anne Rice transformed the vampire novel. Stephen King reinvented horror. Now, in a spectacular tale of heroism, tragedy, and passion, Tim Willocks revivifies historical fiction.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Master of War Boxset
- Books 1-3
- By: David Gilman
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 53 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
England, 1346: For Thomas Blackstone, the choice is easy - dance on the end of a rope for a murder he did not commit, or take up his war bow and join the king's invasion. As he fights his way across northern France, Blackstone learns the brutal lessons of war - from the terror and confusion of his first taste of combat, to the savage realities of siege warfare.
-
-
Master of War (1-3)
- By teejay spina on 02-13-23
By: David Gilman
-
Act of Oblivion
- A Novel
- By: Robert Harris
- Narrated by: Tim McInnerny
- Length: 15 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1660 England. General Edward Whalley and his son-in law Colonel William Goffe board a ship bound for the New World. They are on the run, wanted for the murder of King Charles I—a brazen execution that marked the culmination of the English Civil War, in which parliamentarians successfully battled royalists for control.
-
-
I've loved Robert Harris' Books; but...
- By Lucy on 10-16-22
By: Robert Harris
-
Agincourt
- By: Bernard Cornwell
- Narrated by: Charles Keating
- Length: 16 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bernard Cornwell, the New York Times best-selling "reigning king of historical fiction" (USA Today), tackles his most thrilling, rich, and enthralling subject yet - the heroic tale of Agincourt. The epic battle immortalized by William Shakespeare in his classic Henry V is the background for this breathtaking tale of heroism, love, devotion, and duty from the legendary author of the Richard Sharpe novels and the Saxon Tales.
-
-
What is WITH that music?
- By Lois on 08-26-15
By: Bernard Cornwell
-
Genghis
- Birth of an Empire
- By: Conn Iggulden
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 16 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Genghis Khan was born Temujin, the son of a khan, raised in a clan of hunters migrating across the rugged steppe. Shaped by abandonment and betrayal, Temujin endured, driven by a singular fury: to survive in the face of death, to kill before being killed, and to conquer enemies who could come without warning from beyond the horizon. Through a series of courageous raids, Temujin's legend grew until he was chasing a vision: to unite many tribes into one, to make the earth tremble under the hoofbeats of 1,000 warhorses, to subject all nations and empires to his will.
-
-
Simply Extraordinary
- By TR Jensen on 05-17-22
By: Conn Iggulden
-
Ciaphas Cain: The Anthology
- Ciaphas Cain: Warhammer 40,000
- By: Sandy Mitchell
- Narrated by: Stephen Perring, Penelope Rawlins, Emma Gregory, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This audiobook brings together 13 uproarious short stories and one novella, focused on Ciaphas Cain, Hero of the Imperium. His stories are celebrated as heroic propaganda pieces, but he’s simply trying to stay alive in a hostile galaxy.
-
-
Essential for Cain Fans. Read After the 1st Book!
- By James Y Glass on 10-08-23
By: Sandy Mitchell
-
Essex Dogs
- A Novel
- By: Dan Jones
- Narrated by: Ben Miles
- Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
July 1346. Ten men land on the beaches of Normandy. They call themselves the Essex Dogs: an unruly platoon of archers and men-at-arms led by a battle-scarred captain whose best days are behind him. The fight for the throne of the largest kingdom in Western Europe has begun. Heading ever deeper into enemy territory toward Crécy, this band of brothers knows they are off to fight a battle that will forge nations, and shape the very fabric of human lives. But first they must survive a bloody war in which rules are abandoned and chivalry itself is slaughtered.
-
-
Mixed feelings, but a wonderful first!
- By Matthew K. on 03-17-23
By: Dan Jones
-
Master of War Boxset
- Books 1-3
- By: David Gilman
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 53 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
England, 1346: For Thomas Blackstone, the choice is easy - dance on the end of a rope for a murder he did not commit, or take up his war bow and join the king's invasion. As he fights his way across northern France, Blackstone learns the brutal lessons of war - from the terror and confusion of his first taste of combat, to the savage realities of siege warfare.
-
-
Master of War (1-3)
- By teejay spina on 02-13-23
By: David Gilman
-
Act of Oblivion
- A Novel
- By: Robert Harris
- Narrated by: Tim McInnerny
- Length: 15 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1660 England. General Edward Whalley and his son-in law Colonel William Goffe board a ship bound for the New World. They are on the run, wanted for the murder of King Charles I—a brazen execution that marked the culmination of the English Civil War, in which parliamentarians successfully battled royalists for control.
-
-
I've loved Robert Harris' Books; but...
- By Lucy on 10-16-22
By: Robert Harris
-
Agincourt
- By: Bernard Cornwell
- Narrated by: Charles Keating
- Length: 16 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bernard Cornwell, the New York Times best-selling "reigning king of historical fiction" (USA Today), tackles his most thrilling, rich, and enthralling subject yet - the heroic tale of Agincourt. The epic battle immortalized by William Shakespeare in his classic Henry V is the background for this breathtaking tale of heroism, love, devotion, and duty from the legendary author of the Richard Sharpe novels and the Saxon Tales.
-
-
What is WITH that music?
- By Lois on 08-26-15
By: Bernard Cornwell
-
Genghis
- Birth of an Empire
- By: Conn Iggulden
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 16 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Genghis Khan was born Temujin, the son of a khan, raised in a clan of hunters migrating across the rugged steppe. Shaped by abandonment and betrayal, Temujin endured, driven by a singular fury: to survive in the face of death, to kill before being killed, and to conquer enemies who could come without warning from beyond the horizon. Through a series of courageous raids, Temujin's legend grew until he was chasing a vision: to unite many tribes into one, to make the earth tremble under the hoofbeats of 1,000 warhorses, to subject all nations and empires to his will.
-
-
Simply Extraordinary
- By TR Jensen on 05-17-22
By: Conn Iggulden
-
Ciaphas Cain: The Anthology
- Ciaphas Cain: Warhammer 40,000
- By: Sandy Mitchell
- Narrated by: Stephen Perring, Penelope Rawlins, Emma Gregory, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This audiobook brings together 13 uproarious short stories and one novella, focused on Ciaphas Cain, Hero of the Imperium. His stories are celebrated as heroic propaganda pieces, but he’s simply trying to stay alive in a hostile galaxy.
-
-
Essential for Cain Fans. Read After the 1st Book!
- By James Y Glass on 10-08-23
By: Sandy Mitchell
-
Essex Dogs
- A Novel
- By: Dan Jones
- Narrated by: Ben Miles
- Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
July 1346. Ten men land on the beaches of Normandy. They call themselves the Essex Dogs: an unruly platoon of archers and men-at-arms led by a battle-scarred captain whose best days are behind him. The fight for the throne of the largest kingdom in Western Europe has begun. Heading ever deeper into enemy territory toward Crécy, this band of brothers knows they are off to fight a battle that will forge nations, and shape the very fabric of human lives. But first they must survive a bloody war in which rules are abandoned and chivalry itself is slaughtered.
-
-
Mixed feelings, but a wonderful first!
- By Matthew K. on 03-17-23
By: Dan Jones
-
River God
- Ancient Egypt, Book 1
- By: Wilbur Smith
- Narrated by: Mark Meadows
- Length: 28 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Taita is a humble slave, an expert in art, poetry, medicine and engineering as well as keeping important secrets. He is the most treasured possession of Lord Intef. Yet when Intef's beautiful daughter, Lostris, is married to the Pharaoh, Taita is commanded to follow her and swiftly finds himself deeper than he ever could have imagined in a world of deception and treachery. But outside the palace, the great kingdom of Egypt is divided and in even greater danger. Enemies threaten on all sides, and only Taita holds the power to save them all....
-
-
Abridged
- By LM on 04-01-19
By: Wilbur Smith
-
The Winter King
- By: Bernard Cornwell
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 19 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The tale begins in Dark Age Britain, a land where Arthur has been banished and Merlin has disappeared, where a child-king sits unprotected on the throne, where religion vies with magic for the souls of the people. It is to this desperate land that Arthur returns, a man at once utterly human and truly heroic: a man of honor, loyalty, and amazing valor; a man who loves Guinevere more passionately than he should; a man whose life is at once tragic and triumphant.
-
-
Might be my favorite take on Arthur
- By Allen Young on 06-12-16
By: Bernard Cornwell
-
Medicus
- A Novel of the Roman Empire
- By: Ruth Downie
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gaius Petrius Ruso is a divorced and down-on-his-luck army doctor who has made the rash decision to seek his fortune in an inclement outpost of the Roman Empire, namely Britannia. After a 36-hour shift at the army hospital, he succumbs to a moment of weakness and rescues an injured slave girl, Tilla, from the hands of her abusive owner. And before he knows it, Ruso is caught in the middle of an investigation into the deaths of prostitutes working out of the local bar.
-
-
Took Me by Surprise
- By Lehua of Pacifica on 03-29-08
By: Ruth Downie
-
Barrowlands
- Iconoclasts, Book 0
- By: Mike Shel
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 1 hr
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No one enters the doom-haunted Barrowlands without royal sanction. But Hesk Atterley has. Accompanied by seedy companions and a hunger for riches, what he finds may change his life forever...if it doesn't kill him first.
-
-
Short but Interesting
- By Michael on 02-01-21
By: Mike Shel
-
The Face of Battle
- By: John Keegan
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this major and wholly original contribution to military history, John Keegan reverses the usual convention of writing about war in terms of generals and nations in conflict, which tends to leave the common soldier as cipher. Instead, he focuses on what a set battle is like for the man in the thick of it.
-
-
Amazing! But probably better in print.
- By D. Martin on 04-20-13
By: John Keegan
-
The Road to Jerusalem
- Crusades Trilogy Series, Book 1
- By: Jan Guillou
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 15 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born in 1150 to a noble Swedish family and coming of age at a monastery under the tutelage of a Cistercian monk and a former Knight Templar, young Arn Magnusson is sent to fulfill his destiny beyond the cloister walls. But the world awaiting him is a place at odds with his monastic ways. And when the murder of a king engulfs Western Götaland into a whirlwind of intrigue and ruthless power plays, headstrong and naive Arn is forced to leave the woman he loves behind and take up arms to battle infidels in the Holy Land.
-
-
Went looking for trashy historical fiction...
- By Anonymous User on 02-01-22
By: Jan Guillou
-
The Accursed Tower
- The Fall of Acre and the End of the Crusades
- By: Roger Crowley
- Narrated by: Matt Kugler
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Accursed Tower, Roger Crowley delivers a lively narrative of the lead-up to the siege and a vivid, blow-by-blow account of the climactic battle. Drawing on extant Arabic sources as well as untranslated Latin documents, he argues that Acre is notable for technical advances in military planning and siege warfare, and extraordinary for its individual heroism and savage slaughter. A gripping depiction of the crusader era told through its dramatic last moments, The Accursed Tower offers an essential new view on a crucial turning point in world history.
-
-
Another great book by Roger Crowley
- By tp on 03-13-20
By: Roger Crowley
-
For Whom the Bell Tolls
- By: Ernest Hemingway
- Narrated by: Campbell Scott
- Length: 16 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1937, Ernest Hemingway traveled to Spain to cover the civil war there for the North American Newspaper Alliance. Three years later he completed the greatest novel to emerge from "the good fight", For Whom the Bell Tolls.
-
-
Don't "Clean Up" Hemingway
- By John W. Aldis, MD on 08-13-09
By: Ernest Hemingway
-
Ironfire
- A Novel of the Knights of Malta and the Last Battle of the Crusades
- By: David Ball
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 31 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Best-selling author David Ball has won widespread critical and popular acclaim for his sweeping novels, including Empires of Sand. With Ironfire Ball delivers a stirring historical epic of the Crusades. In the 16th century, only the Knights of Malta stand against the Ottoman Empire of Suleiman the Magnificent and his 40,000 brutal warriors.
-
-
The fiction part of the book is full grotesque.
- By Mountain-man on 08-18-19
By: David Ball
-
Many Are the Dead
- A Raven's Shadow Novella
- By: Anthony Ryan
- Narrated by: Steven Brand
- Length: 3 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For decades, the brothers of the Sixth Order have fought a savage war against the Lonak clans amid the frozen peaks of their dominion. When word reaches the North of a fresh outbreak of the dreaded Red Hand, Brother Sollis, the finest swordsman in the Order, leads a small band to a long-abandoned castle in search of a potential cure but discovers a far greater threat lurking in the mountains. Enemies become allies as Sollis leads an increasingly desperate fight against an inhuman enemy steeped in the power of the Dark.
-
-
Rather matter of fact for the horror theme
- By 🔥 Phx17 🔥 on 12-19-21
By: Anthony Ryan
-
Across the Nightingale Floor
- Tales of the Otori, Book One
- By: Lian Hearn
- Narrated by: Kevin Gray, Aiko Nakasone
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A tour-de-force novel set in ancient Japan filled with passion, fantasy, and feuding warlords. The first volume in the highly anticipated Tales of the Otori trilogy.
-
-
Wonderful epic story
- By Jody R. Nathan on 10-04-03
By: Lian Hearn
-
Eight Pointed Cross
- By: Marthese Fenech
- Narrated by: Simon Hester
- Length: 21 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The violent clash between the Ottoman Empire and the Knights of St John on the island fortress of Malta serves as the backdrop to Eight-Pointed Cross. Young siblings Domenicus and Katrina Montesa live under constant threat of raids by the Ottoman Turks, the staunchest enemies of the Christian knights. All the while, hundreds of leagues away in Istanbul, Demir's dream of becoming an imperial horseman in the Sultan's cavalry is his only salvation against relentless torment by his cruel brother.
-
-
A masterpiece
- By erdem kerschlager on 11-19-23
By: Marthese Fenech
Critic reviews
“The ideal man to do justice to the conflict...gripping...a classic of its kind.” —The Mail on Sunday
"A novel of high adventure, blood, guts and romantic love...as master craftsman, [Willocks] tells his story with extraordinary pace.” —Literary Review
“An epic in which we can see the seeds of our all our modern woes.” —The Times (of London)
What listeners say about The Religion
Highly rated for:
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lynda Rands
- 04-18-13
Boring
This book starts out pretty well - action filled first scene. Then there's about an hour of waiting for something to happen. Another scene. More waiting. I stopped before I got through the first third.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Peter Cameron
- 01-09-22
incredible
Tim Willocks is exquisite in his style and prose. This is a story of love, bravery, and beauty juxtaposed against a backdrop of the unimaginable horrors of midevil war.
The reader is more a performer than a narrator and is exceptional.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Silenced Majority
- 01-25-23
Painfully Ignorant of Islam
With all the research that went into this book, one would think the author could at least try to get the Islam and the Arabic right. Otherwise, a very engaging read. I purchased the book in hard copy.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Amy Andrews
- 01-07-09
Excellent narration
This is an interesting, adventure story that exposed me to a period in history I had not previously explored. I agree with previous reviewers that character development is somewhat lacking and I found the "love scenes" to be quite unimaginative, despite the detail. Like others, I too tired of the overly long and gory battle scenes. I understand that this is the first book of a trilogy and I hope that future volumes are a bit more fully realized and not so bloody.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Jason
- 02-19-09
Ups and downs
This a great way to tell a historical tale. A man split between two worlds, and his adventures. But there were times that I could barely stay awake. Too much of something, i just can't put my finger on it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- John
- 06-05-12
Not for the squeamish
"The Religion" is at first glance a classic action-adventure novel on a grand scale. The kind of story like those of Samuel Shellabarger or Thomas Costain that I read as a teen and which captured my imagination. Stories where the heroes were larger than life, defeated the villains and always got the girl. The difference here is that "The Religion" is written with a screenwriter's eye for imagery and a historian's passion for accurate detail that the aforementioned authors were never encumbered by. It's that imagery and detail that makes the author's scenes of battle and battle's aftermath so viscerally vivid and, for some I'm sure, disturbing. The Siege of Malta was fought in an age when steel blades overlapped with gunpowder and the author does not flinch when describing the horrific effects of edged weapons and low velocity firearms on the human body. Nor does he spare us scenes of the human suffering resulting from the virtually nonexistent medical care available to the wounded at the time. In that respect. the novel often reads like an extension of John Keegan's book "The Face of Battle".
What is also remarkable is the author's evenhandedness in his portrayal of the two combatant sides. There are many things to admire in both the Christian and Muslim camps but religious fanaticism, of which both sides are guilty, is portrayed as the unreasoning and frightening force it can be. All in all it makes for some intense and, I found, thought provoking listening.
That aside, students familiar with the history of the Great Siege of Malta will recognize all of the key actions of the struggle and the author can be forgiven the device of having his main character present at, or even the instrument of, most of them.
As always, the narration of Mr Vance breathes life into the text and makes for a throughly enjoyable experience.
Highly recommended.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Adam
- 08-04-19
More please?!?!?
I hear there's a Tannhauser trilogy! I pray Audible get the other books!!! I LOVE this one!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kerstin
- 04-28-22
Incredible!
One of the best books i have had the fortune to read and listen to Shame no other books are available on Audible from the author. Worth 10 credits.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- John Gates McKibbin
- 05-27-08
Great Characters
I thouroughly enjoyed this book tape. It grabbed me from the beginning. The reader is fantastic and the characters are very well developed. I can't wait for the second book in the trilogy.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Thomas
- 06-28-15
Awesome
One of the best books I have ever had the pleasure of reading.
The background of Malta was a perfect place to learn about the characters, and the tale of love, friendship and honor was well done.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!