God's Banquet - A Tale of Muslim Spain by Cameron Kamran

Lured by treachery outside the city gates one day, young princess Noor must choose between defending her home or saving her abducted father, the ruler of the Spanish Muslim city-state of Taifa. Her decision, to ruthlessly seize power within her father’s harem and face down medieval Spain’s most brutal warlord, puts her on a collision course with invading armies, the man she loves, and the keepers of Islamic tradition itself. God's Banquet is a story about one woman’s struggle to survive in a medieval world still dominated by men. It is about a Muslim civilization long ago that brought together a rich mosaic of peoples and faiths from three continents in the heart of Europe. The setting is medieval Spain circa the 12th century, a world populated by Arabs, Spaniards, Africans and Persians; Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Muslim Taifa’s prime minister is Jewish and her libraries are the envy of humanity. Noor’s maturation revolves around the Game of Kings, the ancient court pastime, brought by the Arabs to Europe, that would become Chess. As she seizes power in Taifa, the game is a tool for her to outmaneuver her enemies. At this time, the queen is not yet a piece on the chessboard. God's Banquet illuminates a world long ago that is little understood by Western readers, a world with striking parallels to today, and the fluctuating tension and exchange between contemporary Islam and the West.