Stormbringers

Name: Stormbringers
Rating: 4 (1579 reviews)

by Philippa Gregory Book 2 in the Order of Darkness series.

First published 2013

Amazon

4.0(1,579)

Luca and his companions reach an Italian coastal town where a charismatic boy called Johann is leading children on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. His followers believe that divine intervention will open a path across the sea and prove that the end of the world is near.

Luca must decide whether the movement is miraculous, fraudulent or dangerously sincere as a storm and tidal disaster threaten the town. The investigation tests the group’s loyalties and exposes how religious hope can be manipulated in a frightened community.

The children’s movement draws on the medieval tradition of popular crusading enthusiasm, where preaching and prophecy could mobilise people outside formal noble armies. Luca’s investigation tests whether Johann’s followers are witnessing genuine religious conviction, manipulation or collective expectation. The coastal setting makes faith physically measurable when believers expect the sea itself to confirm their leader’s claim.