Before the Fortress Falls
A. L. Sowards
Category: Action/adventure, Drama, Romance
When an Ottoman army lays siege to Vienna, Katja, Toby, and Xavier will each have roles to play if they are to survive. In the overcrowded hospitals, below ground in the countermines, and on the ramparts defending the city walls, the three will fight for love, for family, for faith, and for the survival of their city and everyone inside.
1683.
When rumors reach Vienna that an attack by the Ottoman army is imminent, Wilhelm von Schor, one of the emperor’s courtiers, prepares to evacuate his family—including his sister, Katja. But Katja’s reluctance to leave the city and the people she loves so well grows the farther the family carriage gets from her childhood home. When she learns that another brother, Xavier, is returning to Vienna with his musketeers, she decides to remain behind and face the shadow of war.
Katja soon reunites with Xavier and also with Toby, a dear friend from childhood. As Katja and Toby renew their friendship, an element of attraction builds on the comradery of their youth, and they quickly realize they have found something worth fighting for: love. But all too soon, the Ottomans encircle the city, blanketing its inhabitants in fear. Katja, Toby, and Xavier must each fulfill their new roles if they are to survive. In the overcrowded hospitals, below ground in the countermines, and on the ramparts defending the city walls, the three must fight for love, family, faith, and the survival of their city and everyone inside.
“Before the Fortress Falls has become one of my all-time favorite novels. I felt as though I was there during the siege of Vienna in 1683 as I lived the story through the main characters . . . This amazing story will whisk you away and stay with you long after you finish reading it.” (Kathi Oram Peterson, award-winning author)
