Strcov Varadnu – Dobrodrustv kapitna Bthoryho 1 ervenk Juraj (2025)

This Czech-language novel is the first part of a cycle set during the wars against the Turks in Hungary, Transylvania, Croatia and the Mediterranean between 1660 and 1664. Captain Kornelius Bthory, a swordsman, knight and poet, has proven his military abilities many times, but failed as a man when, after his wifes death, he turned away from his son and chose a military career instead. Now that twelve-year-old Michal Bthory is determined to repair their relationship and become his sons father again. Fate demands that he prove the sincerity of his repentance through great sacrifices and unimaginable suffering, however, when Michal is captured by marauding martalovci. Before his father recovers from serious injuries, the boys trail disappears into the Ottoman Empire. Has he been enslaved, or taken to one of the janissary training camps? Only one person knows where Michal was taken, and that person has just joined the Turkish invasion of Transylvania. Kornel sets out for the fortress of Varadn, already facing the advance of a vastly superior Turkish force.