A novel of intrigue, love, mystery, betrayal, and the world's oldest terrorist organization. This is a novel which draws on the magic of A Thousand and One Nights and the realism of history and political life. The hero-warrior, minstrel and poet, Nureddin-is divided between his commitment to sultan Saladin and his love for the beautiful enchantress Laila. Saladin aims at uniting the fragmented Arab world against the Crusaders; Laila is queen and supreme houri of the artificial paradise set up by the terrible Old Man of the Mountain, who terrorizes his enemies and reduces his followers to a...