The Last Christian King of Jerusalem - an Editorial Review of "Blood and Faith"

Book Blurb:

On July 4, 1187, Guy de Lusignan led twenty thousand men into the desert and lost everything.

His army was annihilated at the Horns of Hattin. Jerusalem fell within months. The most sacred relic in Christendom was captured. History remembers Guy as the king who destroyed the Crusader States. But that is only half the story.

Blood and Faith follows Guy from his arrival in the Holy Land as an ambitious younger son from France through his marriage to Princess Sibylla, his coronation in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the catastrophic decision that shattered his kingdom. Then it follows him further — through captivity in Damascus, the death of his wife in a plague camp, and his unlikely reinvention as the founding king of Cyprus, where he discovered that the meaning he sought in holy war could only be found in the unglamorous work of building something that would last.

At Guy's side stand three companions: Alain de Roucy, a priest whose faith is tested to breaking point and rebuilt from the wreckage; Bertrand de Montaigu, a soldier whose loyalty is absolute and inarticulate; and Sibylla herself — queen, political strategist, and the woman whose belief in Guy outlasts everyone else's, including his own.

The historical cast includes Saladin, Baldwin IV the Leper King, Richard the Lionheart, and Balian of Ibelin — rendered not as archetypes but as complex men navigating impossible choices in a world where God's will and political reality refuse to align.

This is a novel about what happens after the disaster. About the decisions no one sees and the work no one celebrates. About a man who lost a kingdom and built another — and in doing so, found something more durable than glory.

Book Buy Link: https://geni.us/gfh1fM9

Author Bio:

Collin Vaness writes across genres readers rarely see from a single author — military techno-thrillers, post-collapse science fiction, prehistoric epics, and historical fiction. The throughline is deep research, characters under real pressure, and worlds built to hold up under scrutiny.

A professional engineer by day, Collin leads a consulting practice working on healthcare, education, and civic infrastructure projects. The same instincts that drive that work — stress-testing assumptions, mapping consequences, building things that survive contact with reality — shape every page he writes.

When he isn't writing or engineering, he is usually with his family or buried in research for the next book.

Editorial Review:

Title: Blood and Faith: The Last Christian King of Jerusalem

Author: Collin Vaness

Rating: 4.4

"He turned his head as he walked. The landscape was apocalyptic. Broken lances jutted from the ground at odd angles, some still bearing pennants that hung limp and colourless in the dead air. Bodies lay in heaps where the lines had broken, Frankish knights still in their mail, faces turned upward to the merciless sky. Many had died of thirst before the swords reached... He had not had water since the night before. None of them had. That was the trap, and he had walked his army into it. He had been warned."

"In Blood and Faith: The Last Christian King of Jerusalem," Collin Vaness has offered the world a sweeping historical fiction that tells the story of Guy de Lusignan, King of Jerusalem and commander of the army of Christendom, who loses everything, including his army, kingdom, and family, on July 4, 1187 at Horns of Hattin, near the Sea of Galilee. The scene above reveals him walking through guilt and the wreckage of his decisions, having ignored a warning that marching into the waterless hills was suicidal. The reader is primed for a story that's grounded in historical reality, one that begs the question of whether redemption is possible, and one that asks whether a mistake of that magnitude can ever be forgiven.

"What the morning had taught him was that this court was not a place where a man rose by proving his worth. It was a place where a man rose by being chosen, and the people who did the choosing were playing a game whose rules he had only begun to learn."

This passage informs the reader that the novel is about the politics of survival in Jerusalem. The reader, just like Guy, begins to learn the rules of the corridors of power where one must win the favor of the right people in order to rise. The realization comes shortly after Guy arrives as a minor knight from Poitou, a region where one rises by proving their worth through skill and achievement. In Jerusalem, his brother Amaury has devised a plan that will position Guy for the throne, and by extension, control of the kingdom itself. The reader watches to see whether he is a villain or a strategist and why he is committed to his brother's ascent. It is a small passage, but the foundation on which everything is built.

“My brother is dying, but he is not dead. His mind is sharp, and he still holds the authority to shape the succession. If he decides that the regency should pass to Raymond — if he issues a decree before he dies —we will be in a significantly weaker position.”

Through these words, the reader learns that Guy's position is neither secure nor guaranteed. It is a complex contest and a race against time and a credible alternative- Raymond of Tripoli, who is one of the most powerful lords in the kingdom and a man who has spent decades navigating the politics of the region. His faction calls Guy a Poitevin upstart and an adventurer who married into the crown. The reader sees Raymond as wise, but they also know that wisdom is not enough to lead a kingdom that does not operate on merit.

"Blood and Faith: The Last Christian King of Jerusalem" by Collin Vaness is a story that generates deep-seated suspense through a well-layered succession cricis. The king is dying but no one knows when the succession is coming. The hawks- those who want war, and the doves- those who seek peace and diplomacy- argue constantly, and any moment, either side could tip the balance. Their struggle keeps the reader on edge, because they know the wrong choice will cost the kingdom itself.

Vaness is a master at taking what could be dry, tedious political moments and transforming them into high-stakes drama. He makes the reader feel the weight of every decision, even as he builds towards a known disaster, one he makes the reader hope that it won't happen. He has designed a book with a cinematic feel and quality, visual richness, dramatic pacing, sharp dialogue, and the emotional depth of a great historical film. His novel will resonate with history lovers who enjoy meticulously researched real events, readers who love political intrigue, as well as readers who believe in second chances.

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