Sometimes a single moment – a sentence, a glance, one too many sips – is enough to send life in a direction one never planned. Wo das Paradies beginnt by Renata Petry begins exactly like this: with warm beer, stubbornness – and an oath one would later wish to retract.
We are in February 1194, in Visby on Gotland. The young merchant Jon Skata is not just any hero who seems "called" from the start. He is one of us: ambitious, in love, a little proud. And he clashes with his future father-in-law. What follows is not a harmless promise, but a gamble on his own life: Jon wants to travel to paradise to win the hand of his fiancée – to the place where in the Middle Ages it was not only dreamed of but also marked on maps: to the source of the Euphrates and Tigris.
A medieval road trip – from Gotland to Mesopotamia
What is special about this historical adventure novel is the movement. No court intrigue unfolding over 300 pages in corridors – but a genuine journey: Visby, Germany with a focus on Regensburg, further to Austria (Innsbruck), then Venice, Akkon, Antioch, and finally the Near East up to Mesopotamia. This route is not merely a backdrop; it is a driving force: each stage brings new rules, new dangers, new temptations – and always the pressing feeling that "standing still is not an option."
Until Regensburg, everything still seems manageable. But then Matti crosses their path – a young lad who very quickly turns out to be Matilda von Elster: a young woman in disguise, fleeing a forced marriage and with her own risky reasons for wanting to reach the Holy Land. Jon takes her with him, against Palu's explicit resistance. And thus begins the second major level of tension: the constant fear that Matti's disguise will be exposed – and the growing unease that her pursuers are closer than one thinks.
Pursuers, intrigues and a mission that complicates everything
In Venice, the flight becomes a race. For Matti is involved in something bigger than personal family conflicts: in the so-called Stahleck scandal surrounding the Staufer period. Suddenly, it is no longer just indignant relatives, but henchmen from the ruler's circle who are hot on their heels. Every encounter can become a trap, every moment of hesitation a mistake.
And as if that were not enough, in Akkon a mission awaits that finally elevates the novel to the sphere of grand history: Jon is to bring the bones of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa to Jerusalem. Thus, a lover's vow becomes a mission amidst the turmoil of the Crusades, politics, and faith. One senses here how the novel imbues the "road trip" with the weight of the era – without losing its momentum. Those who read "Akkon 12th century" don't get a textbook, but a scene: harbor air, tension, decisions made in seconds.
Why the search for paradise is so captivating
Paradise here is not just a word. It is a place, a promise, a pull. In the author interview with the publisher, Renata Petry explains why this journey is necessarily more than geography: "The mysticism associated with the concept of paradise or the Garden of Eden overshadows the entire journey." This is precisely what happens in the novel: while Jon and his companions rush through cities, ports, and border regions, a second journey unfolds in the background – a mental, an existential one.
If you are captivated by the emotional side of such stories – by the longing for adventure and the search for meaning in travel stories – then "Where Paradise Begins" is almost a prime example: the goal beckons, but the path transforms. Jon wants to be worthy. Matti wants to be free. Palu just wants to survive – and yet is drawn in. And precisely therein lies this irresistible dynamic that makes one say "just one more chapter."
An ending that achieves more than just a goal
Without giving too much away: this journey finds an end that doesn't feel like "arrival," but like a reward after true probation. The novel cleverly plays with the medieval idea that the world is "readable" – that maps are still promises and the Garden of Eden actually waits somewhere. And even if paradise ultimately is more than a dot on the map, the adventure remains tangible: pursuit, rescue, surprising allies – and a finale that ends "well" in more ways than one.
If you are looking for a historical novel set in the Middle Ages that combines crusades, trade routes, humor, danger, and emotion, this opening to "Jon Skata's First Journey" is a real hit. And in many places, you realize: here is someone who doesn't just use the Middle Ages as a backdrop, but as a living world. That's what creates the pull that Renata Petry develops – until you stand at the end and think: All right, and where to next?
Note: The book is available in German language as a printed, i.e. hardcover edition (ISBN 978-3-910347-85-4) and as an EPUB (ISBN 978-3-910347-86-1) in bookstores or here in the publisher's shop.
