'That's as may be, yet what else in this world compares? Money? Fame? Power? The love of women?' He snorted. 'Glory is a moment that can only be known in Hell.' Deny it if you will and I'll call you a liar.' That is Glory.' He filled his throat with wine and swallowed and wiped his lips. “Not praise or honors or grand renown-but rapture, and a foreshadow of the Divine. 'All mortal chains broken, all moral debts waived,' continued Bors. He looked at Tannhauser and Tannhauser's heart lurched with an unexpected sadness at the wild gray eyes and the gnarled Northern face. 'It's a paradox,' said Tannhauser, 'that men committed to dying should cling with such tenacity to life.' All of the defenders have sworn to hold the fort against the Turkish forces or die where they stand… : Tannhauser and his best friend, Bors, are watching the beleagured defenders of Fort St. 'The Englishman is more crafty than I gave him credit for.' 'He said that, above all, you were a man of your word.' 'His letter said you were a man of remarkable ability, who feared nothing and held all authority-moral, legal and religious-in outright contempt.' Why this should flatter him she wasn't sure, but she believed it would. It is Starkey’s intent to get Tannhauser to Malta before the Siege, one way or another… : The beauteous Lady Carla is telling Tannhauser-the Conanic protagonist of The Religion-of the letter sent to her by Sir Oliver Starkey of the Knights Hospitaller. My method-I'm doing this as I type at this moment-will be to open The Religion at random and then turn back five pages so as not to hit my most-read parts of the book.

So, my spare time being scanty at the moment, I thought-rather than spend time I don't have laying some 'deep thoughts' about the book on y'all-that I would type out three passages at random from The Religion in honor of Tim's nativity.

The Religion by Tim Willocks