Historical Novel by AMU Student is Published

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Published on Monday, 21 December 2009 23:18

For many high school students, just reading a three-volume trilogy set in during the Crusades might be a challenge. Nathan Sadasivan wrote one.

Now a junior at Ave Maria University, Mr. Sadasivan was inspired by stories of the Crusades that he read in high school, and at age 15 began writing a novel about the period. Three years later, he had completed an epic that will be published as a trilogy. The first volume, Crown of the World -- Knight of the Temple, was published by Arx Publishing in the summer of 2009.

"The story is more than history," Mr. Sadasivan said in a recent interview. "It's about knighthood, heroic situations --  what it means to be a hero in real life."

Crown of the World introduces readers to Godfrey de Montferrat, a young Templar knight. The story takes place between the first and second Crusades -- after the Christian victories but before the fall of Jerusalem that is to come.

"The trilogy paralells Godfrey and Malik, a Muslim warrior, during this epic struggle," Mr. Sadasivan said. The second volume will be published in the summer of 2010.

Mr. Sadasivan wrote the entire triology over the course of three years, as he was homeschooled through high school in Michigan. "Being homeschooled definitely helped," he said, as it gave him a more flexible schedule for writing.

After completing the work, Mr. Sadasivan sent it to several different publishers and the book ws picked up by Arx Publishing, which publishes a number of books with Catholic themes.

"I meant it as one book," he said, "but it would have been well over 1,000 pages as a single volume, so the publisher suggested publishing it in three parts."

Crown of the World will likely not be Mr. Sadasivan's last volumes. Although he says he does not intend to write full time, "I have ideas for a couple more novels but no time yet to start them."

Now 20 years old, he's majoring in Literature at AMU, with minors in Classics and Politics, and plans to go to law school after he graduates in 2011.

Crown of the World -- Knight of the Temple is available at By Way of the Family in the Ave Maria town center, the Ave Maria Bookstore and online at By Way of the Family, Amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com.