Navigator - Stephen Baxter

Stephen Baxter's new series is full of page-turning action, intriguing mystery and awe-inspiring scientific speculation. Full of evocative historical detail and characters who jump of the page this is history lived by people who's future is not yet locked as our past.

Navigator is the third of the series, and delves deep into the discovery of America. And the roots for this lie deep in the history of Spain and the middle east. Navigator unfurls over four centuries as the wars of conquest and opression between Christian and Moor sweep back and fourth and a prophecy is passed down through the ages. But as well as the prophecy come designs for terrifying advanced machines of war. As Christian and Moor fight over who will control the machines the finest minds of the times including Francis Bacon struggle to build them.

This is a fast moving thriller of conspiracies and plots, a novel about science and war, an SF novel about an attempt to change the past and a loving look at Spain and the Moors. It casts a new light on the crusades and the real reasons behind the discovery of America.