The Champion Books in Order

The Champion is set in late thirteenth-century Iberia, where Christian and Muslim kingdoms compete for land, money, and influence. Its narrator and hero is En Pascal of Valencia, known as the Adalid, or Champion, a professional soldier whose skills make him valuable to rulers with very different ambitions.

He is a fighting man, but never just a fighting man.

Blood and Steel introduces Pascal in a world where war is both a livelihood and a trap. Campaigns against rival kingdoms, dealings with nobles, and the constant need for pay or patronage shape his decisions. The series is interested in what military service asks of a person long after the battle is over.

The following books, including Blood and Gold, Blood and Faith, and Blood and Battle, widen the conflict around him. Pascal moves through a divided Hispania while the political struggle between England and France also reaches toward the peninsula. Alliances are useful until they become dangerous, and religious language often sits beside very practical hunger for territory and power.

Sword of Aragon works as a prequel, offering earlier context for the people and rivalries behind the main sequence. It can be read before the series if you prefer chronological background, though Blood and Steel remains the clearest introduction to Pascal’s adult life.

The tone is hard-edged historical adventure. Battles, marches, sieges, court politics, and mercenary work matter, but the series also follows Pascal’s efforts to hold on to a sense of duty in a world where honor is regularly used as an excuse for cruelty.

This is a good choice for readers who enjoy medieval warfare beyond England and France. Start with Blood and Steel, then continue through the main books in order, saving the prequel for either first or later depending on your preference.