When starting "Devil's Lair" by David Wisehart, the first paragraph caused me to pause and reflect upon the picture the author had painted.  It is 1349 A.D., "William of Ockham walked barefoot through the carnage.  Slaughtered knights and fallen horses festered on the battlefield.  A thousand naked corpses lay broken upon the earth, and in that multitude a few unlucky men survived, weltering in their own blood, crying out for God.  The fighting was over but the dying would go on for days". The vision is surreal, and I had to think about that for a few moments before moving on.