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The Adventures of Conrad Stargard [1] is a series of time travel novels written by the Polish American writer Leo Frankowski. In them, a Polish engineer named Conrad Schwartz is sent back in time to the 13th century where he has to establish himself and cope with various crises including the eventual Mongol invasion of Poland in 1240. [2] [3]
The character of Conrad Stargard has at times been described as a Mary Sue, and some aspects of the novels can be looked at as authorial wish-fulfillment. In response to this criticism in an early draft of the first book, Frankowski modified the character to have the opposite traits as himself, such as Conrad's socialism and devout Catholicism. [4]
The series originally consisted of four books, with a fifth released shortly after to wrap up loose ends:
All of the original books were originally published by Del Rey Books, and released by Baen Books in later runs. In late 2005, Frankowski self-published Lord Conrad's Crusade after a dispute with Baen. The final book in the series, Conrad's Last Campaign, was published in 2014—eight years after the author's death.
Frankowski also wrote two books set in the same universe as the original series but not featuring the main character Conrad:
During the series Conrad Stargard, a Polish engineer, travels through time to 1231 Poland. Using his knowledge of future events and technology, Stargard creates a new timeline in which a technologically advanced Poland becomes the dominant power in thirteenth-century Europe and Stargard himself is the most powerful man in Poland (though he chooses not to dethrone the King).
The main character Conrad Stargard is a Polish engineer from the year 1986. After getting drunk and falling asleep in a time machine, he is transported back in time to the year 1231. Conrad, familiar with Poland's history, knows that in 10 years the Mongols will arrive and kill most of the population of Europe. After befriending a local monk, and a failed attempt at becoming a scribe, he takes a job as a bodyguard to a merchant. Due to his skill at arms and mercy in saving the infant of bandits he had slain, he impresses the local count, Count Lambert. It is discovered at this point that Conrad's "amazing warhorse" and "superb weapons" were all planted by his distant cousin who invented the time-machines and wished to help Conrad. However, due to causality, Conrad cannot be simply removed from the past, but he can be "assisted". After improving Count Lambert's industrial base by building a cloth factory and multipurpose windmill, Conrad is eventually granted land on which he can build his industrial base to defend Poland. [5]
This book details the travails that occur as Conrad attempts to establish the industrial base that he will need for his planned defense of Poland. He also establishes the thirteenth century equivalent to the Playboy Club, builds a new city, gains several new lovers and elevates his status in the ruling hierarchy of the country. [6]
The third book deals with Conrad's establishment of an official Polish army using 20th century training techniques he learned during his service as an officer in the Polish Air Force. By the end of the book, he has been elevated from knight to baron. [7]
This book covers the four years prior to Mongol invasion. Conrad begins a relationship with Countess Francine, the French-born paramour of the murdered Duke Henryk. He establishes a riverboat navy and an air force. Lambert tries to force Conrad to marry his daughter, threatening to strip him of his lands and title if he refuses. Disgusted, Conrad decides to leave Poland and travel alone to France. He stops to visit Francine, who convinces him to marry her and resume his position. After the wedding, a council of war is called by young Duke Henryk (son of the murdered duke). Count Conrad disagrees with the duke's battle plans, as they would require him to abandon his own lands and withdraw west to Legnica, where his infantry could not maneuver effectively without the steamboats and railroads he built. Other lords of Poland's eastern lands are likewise opposed the duke's idea, but to disobey would be high treason. Conrad ends up fighting the war by himself. After returning to the Warriors' School to finish preparations for the war, he enlists the aid of Count Lambert, the commander of Eagle Nest where they have created scout aircraft, in his treason. Lambert readily agrees, believing Conrad to be answering to a higher authority. The war starts with the battle of the Vistula and finishes with the slaughter of the Mongols at the battle of Sandomierz, apparently ending the war and also ending the book.
The fifth book serves to tie up loose ends from The Flying Warlord. Conrad has successfully defeated the Mongols, but must now piece together the various parts of Poland. Although he keeps refining his technological advances, the majority of his time is spent establishing Poland as the primary social, economic, technological and military country of the region (and soon to be the world). Political intrigue abounds as various factions (including his wife) try to chart the best course for Poland. [8]
This book is from the point of view of a new character Josip Sobieski. Josip is a young man enrolled with Conrad's "Explorer Corps" whose purpose is to explore new lands in order to find new materials for Conrad's modernization of Europe (mainly rubber). This book primarily revolves around Josip's explorations in both the Arctic Circle and the Amazon River. [9]
Prequel to the series loosely gives the story of how the time machine was invented and used.
Conrad goes on vacation, ends up shipwrecked in north Africa and enslaved. He discovers his uncle did more of a tune-up than believed when he got his "physical" and his Christian Army uses his disappearance as an excuse to invade Africa and eventually the Holy Lands and find him. [10]
The Mongols are overdue, so Conrad takes the war to them. [11]
Jan Murphy of The San Francisco Examiner praised The Cross-Time Engineer, comparing the character of Stargard to George MacDonald Fraser's character Harry Flashman. [12] The series has also received reviews from Booklist , Publisher's Weekly, and Library Journal . [13] [14] [15]
Legnica is a city in southwestern Poland, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the Kaczawa River and the Czarna Woda. As well as being the seat of the county, since 1992 the city has been the seat of the Diocese of Legnica. As of 2023, Legnica had a population of 97,300 inhabitants.
Mieszko II Lambert was King of Poland from 1025 to 1031, and Duke from 1032 until his death.
Conrad II, also known as Conrad the Elder and Conrad the Salic, was the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 until his death in 1039. The first of a succession of four Salian emperors, who reigned for one century until 1125, Conrad ruled the kingdoms of Germany, Italy and Burgundy.
The Battle of Legnica, also known as the Battle of Liegnitz or Battle of Wahlstatt, was fought between the Mongol Empire and combined European forces at the village of Legnickie Pole (Wahlstatt), approximately 10 kilometres (6 mi) southeast of the city of Legnica in the Duchy of Silesia on 9 April 1241.
Stargard is a city in northwestern Poland, located in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. In 2021 it was inhabited by 67,293 people. It is situated on the Ina River. The city is the seat of the Stargard County, and, extraterritorially, of the municipality of Stargard. It is the second biggest city of Szczecin agglomeration. Stargard is a major railroad junction, where the southwards connection from Szczecin splits into two directions: towards Poznań and Gdańsk.
Mieszko III, sometimes called the Old, was Duke of Greater Poland from 1138 and High Duke of Poland, with interruptions, from 1173 until his death.
The Principality or, from 1253, Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, also known as the Kingdom of Ruthenia or Kingdom of Rus, was a medieval state in Eastern Europe which existed from 1199 to 1349. Its territory was predominantly located in modern-day Ukraine, with parts in Belarus, Poland, Moldova, and Lithuania. Along with Novgorod and Vladimir-Suzdal, it was one of the three most important powers to emerge from the collapse of Kievan Rus'.
From the 1220s into the 1240s, the Mongols conquered the Turkic states of Volga Bulgaria, Cumania and Iranian state of Alania, and various principalities in Eastern Europe. Following this, they began their invasion into Central Europe by launching a two-pronged invasion of then-fragmented Poland, culminating in the Battle of Legnica, and the Kingdom of Hungary, culminating in the Battle of Mohi. Invasions were also launched into the Caucasus against the Kingdom of Georgia, the Chechens, the Ingush, and Circassia though they failed to fully subjugate the latter. More invasions were launched in Southeast Europe against Bulgaria, Croatia, and the Latin Empire. The operations were planned by General Subutai (1175–1248) and commanded by Batu Khan and Kadan, two grandsons of Genghis Khan. Their conquests integrated much of Eastern European territory into the empire of the Golden Horde. Warring European princes realized they had to cooperate in the face of a Mongol invasion, so local wars and conflicts were suspended in parts of central Europe, only to be resumed after the Mongols had withdrawn. After the initial invasions, subsequent raids and punitive expeditions continued into the late 13th century.
Tomasz Frankowski is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a striker. With 168 goals in 302 matches in Polish Ekstraklasa he is the league's third all-time scorer and was top league goalscorer four times.
Leo Frankowski was an Polish-American writer of science fiction novels.
The DemonWars Saga is a series of high fantasy novels by R. A. Salvatore. It is set in the world of Corona, primarily in the kingdoms of Honce-the-Bear and Behren, and amongst the nomadic To-gai-ru. The series is separated into two trilogies connected by a single book, Mortalis. The saga has an accompanying roleplaying game entitled Demon Wars.
Christopher Rowley is an American writer specializing in the science fiction and fantasy genres. He is also a former journalist and television screenwriter.
The Four Lords of the Diamond is a series of four science fiction novels by author Jack L. Chalker. Each volume of the series primarily follows a duplicate of a government agent as he lands on his prison planet and begins to both investigate the menace to the civilized worlds and find his position in his new society. The duplicates realize the stagnancy and corruption of the Confederacy, the intergalactic government in the series, and question their position as tools of the hierarchy. As the series progresses, the primary agent experiences each of his counterparts' divergent experiences and begins to question his beliefs as well. Like much of Chalker's work, the series deals with the effects physical transformations have on a character's personality.
Deryni Checkmate is a fantasy novel by American-born author Katherine Kurtz. It was first published by Ballantine Books as the forty-sixth volume of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in May 1972, and has been reprinted a number of times since. The author released a revised and updated edition of the novel that was published by Ace Books in 2005. Deryni Checkmate was the second of Kurtz' Deryni novels to be published, and also the second book in the Chronicles of the Deryni Trilogy.
The Quest for Saint Camber is a historical fantasy novel by American-born author Katherine Kurtz. It was first published by Del Rey Books in 1986. It was the ninth of Kurtz' Deryni novels to be published, and the third book in her third Deryni trilogy, The Histories of King Kelson. Just as the Histories trilogy is a direct sequel to the first Deryni trilogy, The Chronicles of the Deryni, the next Deryni trilogy to be published, The Heirs of Saint Camber, is a direct sequel to Kurtz' second Deryni trilogy, The Legends of Saint Camber. In 2000, Kurtz published her thirteenth Deryni novel, King Kelson's Bride, which is a direct sequel to the events of The Quest for Saint Camber.
Teutonic Knights, a crusading military order for the forced conversion to Catholicism in the Holy Land and the Baltics during the Middle Ages, are often depicted in popular culture.
Conrad is a Germanic masculine given name and a surname.
The Mongol Invasion of Poland from late 1240 to 1241 culminated in the Battle of Legnica, where the Mongols defeated an alliance which included forces from fragmented Poland and their allies, led by Henry II the Pious, the Duke of Silesia and High Duke of Poland. The first invasion's intention was to secure the flank of the main Mongolian army attacking the Kingdom of Hungary. The Mongols neutralized any potential help to King Béla IV being provided by the Poles or any military orders.
The Duchy of Pomerania-Stargard, also known as the Duchy of Stargard located in Western Pomerania in the Holy Roman Empire, was a feudal duchy with its capital in Stargard. It was formed in 1377, when it separated from Pomerania-Stolp. In 1395, it fell under the control of the Duke of Pomerania-Stolp, and continued to be ruled by the successive Dukes of the House of Griffins until its dissolution in 1478, when it was incorporated into a unified Duchy of Pomerania.
This is the 1028-1031 German-Polish War. For a list of all Polish-German Wars, see Polish-German Wars.