The Stronghold

by Albrecht Behmel

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Pub Date May 01 2015 | Archive Date Aug 02 2016

Description

A compelling reinvention of the William Tell legend blends myth and fact to craft a compelling historical page-turner full of love, honor, adventure, and revenge

“It hissed as it cut the air. Thell could not see it well. But he felt it. A wicked point flying at speed toward his son's head. The bolt flew in a flat arc, higher first, then descending. It hit the apple and split it in two. The bolt flew on and dug itself into the ground about the same time the halves of the apple touched the ground.”

Altdorf, November 1307 and Gessler would have obedience. He hung his hat on the pole at the center of the square, the newly constructed fortifications looming over the populace. Every citizen was ordered to pass the pole and bow as they did so, proving their allegiance, their serfdom. But one man would not bow, would not scrape, would not bend—William Thell. In that moment a legend was born, and a nation found its courage and its honor.

A compelling reinvention of the William Tell legend blends myth and fact to craft a compelling historical page-turner full of love, honor, adventure, and revenge

“It hissed as it cut the air. Thell...

Advance Praise

A young boy, in an act of showing off, strikes the spark that places himself, his father and the entire countryside in danger. For his father is William Tell – or Thell, in this tale – and his punishment for his son's 'crime' is to shoot an apple from the boy's head. This act takes place in the newly built castle of Altdorf by the governor, Guessler. Thell had drawn two bolts and when asked by Guessler the reason why, Tell replies that, had he killed his son with the first, the second was for Guessler. This angers the governor who immediately imprisons Thell and takes his daughter as a hostage.

Thell escapes, determined to rescue his little girl, but the farmers are drawn to him and he finds himself the reluctant leader of a growing revolutionary army, reinforced by a band of Italian mercenaries.

Albrecht Behmel has written a fast paced and easily believable novel about a man whose name is known the world over. The action comes thick and fast as Thell is thwarted in his attempts to rescue his daughter and Guessler continues to evade Thell's revenge.

I thoroughly enjoyed the tale and recommend it to anyone who likes stories of legendary heroes.

History Society

A young boy, in an act of showing off, strikes the spark that places himself, his father and the entire countryside in danger. For his father is William Tell – or Thell, in this tale – and his...