The most recommended books about Malta

Wonderful, fast-paced urban fantasy set in Dublin, Ireland. Gargoyles are former avenging angels who now watch over churches – that hook was simply irresistible to me. When some artifacts go missing from his cathedral, it’s up to the gargoyle Padraig and an elderly Knight of Malta (whose modern-day steed is a Rolls Royce) to find the sinister culprit and set things aright. The charming descriptions of Dublin, along with the witty banter of the heroes and the interesting nuggets of Celtic lore made me wish Kurtz had written a whole series of Gargoyle books. Sadly, she did not. Trigger assurance: the religious aspects are carefully handled so as to enhance the atmosphere of the story, not to insult or preach. St. Patrick’s Gargoyle is 200 of the fastest pages I have ever read.

With some similarities to Catch 22, The Jukebox Queen of Malta follows American intelligence officer, Rocco Raven, when he arrives in Malta as part of I-3, “the intelligence inside Intelligence.”

Malta’s a chaotic and desperate place, with bombs falling day and night because the Germans are trying to crush the Maltese into submission. Rocco falls for the ethereal Melita, who delivers jukeboxes to local restaurants. She embodies the spirit of Maltese people, who, astonishingly, put on a brave face as their world crumbles.

It’s a mesmerizing tale of love amidst war, a story about the resiliency of the human spirit. The book is a profoundly moving exploration of the redemptive power of love even when the world is spinning out of control around you.

Malta operated a small fleet of submarines from Manoel Island in Valletta’s north harbour. Painted cobalt for camouflage, they were kept submerged at their moorings to avoid enemy attention. Padfield’s book is a huge tour de force that details all aspects of the Mediterranean campaign together with all the other major submarine campaigns during the second world war. We learn about the submarine arms of Britain, America, Japan, and Italy, as well as the anti-submarine measures deployed by all sides. First-hand accounts, from submariners at the sharp end to the decision-makers in dusty ministry offices, are used to embellish this technically definitive account of the cloak and dagger world of underwater warfare.

Have you ever ridden a camel in the desert? I admit I have not been to Arabia, but I did ride a camel along the beach at sunset in Western Australia. I know the smell, the bumping from side to side, and the resulting aching bottom. That experience, while I did enjoy it, is not one I wish to repeat in a hurry. To read about it from a comfy chair at home is my preferred option. Amanda takes us on an unforgettable ride through history and culture, complete with intrigue, action, and drama for everyone. I tend to read adventure books with male protagonists because I have three sons and know they would prefer to read about boys, so to read a story with a female hero is delightfully refreshing. 

I’m a sucker for a good opening and this book intrigued me from the beginning. Kelly does a great job in building the tension and setting her world up in the seemingly normal reactions of her characters and it was this that kept me reading. Even though the main character is only 14, and it’s targeted at young adults, I still enjoyed it as an adult. It does some great cli-fi storytelling without being preachy, which is great! 

The Great Siege of Malta – a nearly four-month struggle in 1565, should be essential for any military historian to understand. Sadly, its treatment in fiction has been ludicrously underserved.

Enter Ironfire. Mr. Ball’s work builds slowly, showing the reader how various elements of the Ottoman Army (the Janissaries, in particular) were acquired, trained, and readied for war. Likewise, a failing legacy of crusade, as well as a decline in support for religious military orders, plague Christian leadership in Malta. Ball’s ‘slow burn’ narrative ignites into the island’s famous siege by a massive and well-equipped Ottoman army, facing a motley band of knights and Maltese locals reliant upon blades and fire to desperately hold their walls. Ironfire is a master class on premodern siege warfare in fiction.

The Religion is a harrowing, jaw-dropping narrative I think everybody should read. That the 1565 Great Siege of Malta that stopped the Ottomans in the West is so unknown is unwarranted. Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent sends an army to conquer Malta, an island owned by the Knights Hospitaller, a Catholic military order.

Mattias Tannhauser, a former janissary, ends up fighting with the Maltese Knights, against former comrades, for a Hospitaller leader he must murder, while the Inquisition welcomes the Hospitallers’ downfall: a glorious mess of cross-purposes for those who like plot twists. The Religion delivers an overwhelming immersion in a momentous event described in colorful, dramatic prose.

Clayton and Craig’s work covers the pivotal period of May to November 1942. Focussing their narrative on north Africa, they nevertheless clarify the contribution Malta’s dogged resistance made to bringing about this first British victory of the war to date. Ranging widely, this history touches on the experience of an American soldier caught up in the raid on Dieppe, RAF bomber crews flying into Europe from British airfields, and a nurse working in appalling conditions in a hospital in Malta. More than a dozen individuals, many of which will inspire your emotional investment, have their stories stitched together to present this solid and comprehensive account of a wildly dynamic theatre of war. Fittingly, each one is eulogised in the book’s short epilogue.

Oh, Kennit. What a charming, gaslighting, charismatic, manipulative, handsome, repulsive, loveless, traumatised, psychopathic, tragic, villain.

The second book in this trilogy firmly suggested Kennit as one of my favourite literary characters, and possibly even favourite literary villain. This book cements it. I've never read a villain written so well.

The book is admittedly pretty slow to get going, and some early parts I found rather dull. But the book just keeps getting better and better as it goes. Few characters came out well in the aftermath of this book's most unpleasant scene – that was all the harder to read for its expert telling, but felt horribly realistic, even if it tore down multiple protagonists in doing so.

But the primary reason I love this trilogy is because of Kennit. Admittedly it helps that he’s also a pirate.

This epic book tells the story of a brave convoy to Malta during World War II, a period and a narrative that particularly appeals to me, given my writing.

Hastings perfectly captures the terror, drama, and heroism of Allied sailors fighting their way through to the besieged island in this gripping page-turner.