The Crusader (Roland J Green) Books in Order

The Crusader books are historical adventures written by Roland J. Green under the pen name John Cleve. They are set against the world of the Crusades, where private loyalties, dynastic pressure, war, religion, and travel across contested territory shape the lives of the characters. The series is built for readers who want large historical stakes alongside personal drama.

Every alliance has a price.

The core sequence includes The Accursed Tower, The Passionate Princess, Julanar the Lioness, My Lady Queen, and Saladin's Spy. The titles point toward the series’ concerns: besieged places, royal courts, dangerous journeys, women and men caught between love and duty, and the shadow of larger conflicts that can overturn an entire household.

This is historical fiction in the broad, dramatic paperback tradition. The books use the medieval eastern Mediterranean as a setting for conflict between armies and states, but the stories also pay attention to individuals trying to protect a family, a claim, a relationship, or a hard-won position. Characters cannot step outside history. Their choices are shaped by rank, custom, faith, and the shifting needs of rulers.

The series does not require a reader to arrive with specialist knowledge of the Crusades. It uses the period as a living environment: roads can be dangerous, courts can be traps, cities can change hands, and a message carried across a border can matter as much as a sword in battle. The historical scale gives the stories their tension, while the personal stakes keep them moving.

Green’s background in fantasy and action fiction shows in the pace. Expect travel, political maneuvering, conflict, and a strong sense that events beyond the characters’ control are always closing in. The books are not scholarly histories. They are story-driven adventures that use a turbulent period to create pressure on people who have much to lose.

The tone is romantic and dramatic, with danger threaded through court life and military conflict. Readers who enjoy medieval settings, royal intrigue, and historical adventures with a brisk paperback feel may find this series a rewarding change from Green’s science-fiction work.

Begin with The Accursed Tower, followed by The Passionate Princess. Readers who want the early material collected together can also look for Crusader: Books I and II. Continue with Julanar the Lioness and My Lady Queen, then move to Saladin's Spy for another story set in the same wider historical world.