Knights of God - Novelisation

Novelisation

Richard Cooper's novel based on the same storyline was published around the time of the UK television screenings. The narrative generally follows that of the TV serial, the major exception being that Nell is not shot during the firefight at the cottage. Instead Arthur leads her, Gervase and Julia to the Resistance HQ in the Wasteland. Since Gervase and Julia are not then tracked by Colley and his men, culminating in the death of Fenn in the ambush, Gervase is put on trial solely for having joined the Order and denounced Owen. At the climax of the story, Mordrin is shot by the mortally wounded Owen inside the Knights' chapel at the headquarters, rather than in the surrounding forest. These differences and other details - such as that the Knights wear black but otherwise conventional battledress - suggest that the book was written before production and that the television script was therefore expanded to fit the desired length.

The novel also contains much additional detail about the world of 2020 and the Civil War, such as Ireland as a whole having become an American state, and the source of much of the rebels' supplies, despite an official arms embargo. The Civil war was caused by the breakdown of law and order caused by high unemployment of ten million. The Knights launched a coup but the Royal Family fled to the North which rose in revolt against the coup and the City of York where the final battle of the war was fought. The infant Gervase was smuggled out of the burning city, while all the other members of the family were killed. It is mentioned that whilst Hugo uses his position to secure personal luxuries, and especially alcohol, Mordrin is a teetotal vegetarian, with hints that he suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder. It is also clarified that a reaction to the religious trappings of the Order has been a unification of all Christian faiths, with many believing that Mordrin himself is the Antichrist. Gervase is explicitly identified as King Edward IX, a name he finds acceptable for its similarity to his assumed surname of Edwards.