Fortune's Soldier, December 2018
It is 1744, and Nicholas Ballantyne, a young Scotsman dreaming of a life as laird of his ancestral estate finds himself quite unexpectedly on the Winchester, a ship bound for Hindustan, seeking to begin a new life as a ‘writer’ on the rolls of the British East India Company. On board, he meets the spirited and mercurial Robert Clive, determined – at whatever cost – to make a fortune in a land of opportunity.
Over the years that follow, their friendship sees many twists and turns as Clive’s restless hunger for wealth and power takes him from being a clerk to a commander in the Company’s forces, masterminding plans to snuff out rival French interests in Hindustan and eventually leading the company forces to victory at Plassey, the prelude to nearly two centuries of foreign rule in Hindustan.
Brilliantly crafted, and bringing to life the momentous events that shook India in the mid-eighteenth century, Fortune’s Soldier is an epic tale of a fascinating era by a master storyteller.
Review
'A totally absorbing narrative filled with authentic historical characters and sweeping action set in an age of horrifying but magnificent savagery. The writing is as compelling as the events described and kept me eagerly leaping from one page to the next' - Wilbur Smith
'Fast-paced, full of intrigue, politics and violence as befits the era' - Deccan Chronicle
'If the first two books of the Empire of the Moghul series are anything to go by, the next three, dealing with the lives of Akbar, Shah Jehan and (Aurangzeb) should be zingers' - Asian Age
'These books transform the card-board figures of the Mughal emperors ... into human beings' - The Week
'A bloody saga of strife and loss ... The author has done a great job of building up the drama and tension of the conquests and defeats of Babur' - Indian Express
'A rip-roaring adventure story' - Sunday Midday
'A must-pick with all the makings of a bestseller' - Hindustan Times
'Extremely readable... and Rutherford... has mined the rich historical material to tell a cracking tale' - Times of India
'Like the first book, this one also reflects Rutherford's amazing talent for recreating history as fiction ... he manages to create well-rounded characters, breathtaking battle scenes, and exotic background' - Tribune
'In his depiction of 16th-century Asia, Alex Rutherford has set the bar high for his sequels' - Daily Mail
Over the years that follow, their friendship sees many twists and turns as Clive’s restless hunger for wealth and power takes him from being a clerk to a commander in the Company’s forces, masterminding plans to snuff out rival French interests in Hindustan and eventually leading the company forces to victory at Plassey, the prelude to nearly two centuries of foreign rule in Hindustan.
Brilliantly crafted, and bringing to life the momentous events that shook India in the mid-eighteenth century, Fortune’s Soldier is an epic tale of a fascinating era by a master storyteller.
Review
'A totally absorbing narrative filled with authentic historical characters and sweeping action set in an age of horrifying but magnificent savagery. The writing is as compelling as the events described and kept me eagerly leaping from one page to the next' - Wilbur Smith
'Fast-paced, full of intrigue, politics and violence as befits the era' - Deccan Chronicle
'If the first two books of the Empire of the Moghul series are anything to go by, the next three, dealing with the lives of Akbar, Shah Jehan and (Aurangzeb) should be zingers' - Asian Age
'These books transform the card-board figures of the Mughal emperors ... into human beings' - The Week
'A bloody saga of strife and loss ... The author has done a great job of building up the drama and tension of the conquests and defeats of Babur' - Indian Express
'A rip-roaring adventure story' - Sunday Midday
'A must-pick with all the makings of a bestseller' - Hindustan Times
'Extremely readable... and Rutherford... has mined the rich historical material to tell a cracking tale' - Times of India
'Like the first book, this one also reflects Rutherford's amazing talent for recreating history as fiction ... he manages to create well-rounded characters, breathtaking battle scenes, and exotic background' - Tribune
'In his depiction of 16th-century Asia, Alex Rutherford has set the bar high for his sequels' - Daily Mail
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