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A review by gmakstutis
The Sword of the Templars by Paul Christopher
3.0
I've always had a thing for the Templars and the Crusades, both in history and fiction. While this book fits neatly into the historical quest genre (ala Dan Brown), it has some redeeming features. The fact that it treats the Templars not as heroes, but as money-grabbing thugs during the Crusades, is rather refreshing.
The plotting of the story won't surprise anyone, but the historical asides are diverting and add some interest. The one thing that I did find absurd was the James Bond-esque habit of ending a chapter with "...we'll have to go to [insert far flung geographical location]" and then starting the next chapter with "...as they walked the dusty streets of [insert far flung geographical location]..." So, there is unlimited funds to afford international travel at the drop of hat, and we lose all sense of time (since we don't know how long it took to travel).
If you're looking for something entertaining and mildly historical, take this to the beach for an afternoon of holiday reading.
The plotting of the story won't surprise anyone, but the historical asides are diverting and add some interest. The one thing that I did find absurd was the James Bond-esque habit of ending a chapter with "...we'll have to go to [insert far flung geographical location]" and then starting the next chapter with "...as they walked the dusty streets of [insert far flung geographical location]..." So, there is unlimited funds to afford international travel at the drop of hat, and we lose all sense of time (since we don't know how long it took to travel).
If you're looking for something entertaining and mildly historical, take this to the beach for an afternoon of holiday reading.