Jan Guillou is a story-teller! He writes mainly from the Templar Knights' perspective, particularly one, Arn. However, we are drawn into the person who is doing a 20-year penance for loving a girl. He was well-schooled from an early age in all aspects of the Catholic faith with Father Henri and Father Gilbert due to a vision of his mother which she believed was given her by the Virgin Mary. However, recognizing his unusual athleticism, the Arch-Bishop together with Father Henri begin his training in the martial arts by Father Gilbert, a former Templar Knight for ten years in the Outremer. We first meet Arn with his Sergeant in Book 2, The Templar Knight, thundering past three Saracen merchant traders being pursued by ten bandits to engage them in battle, and rid the region of this menace.
Surprisingly, the Moslem merchants do not flee, but wait to thank their Templar Knight savior. When he returns, they do thank him, he directs them to good camping with fresh spring water and *surprise* assures them they do not need to fear an attack by the Templars that night. "Why?", the merchants ask. "Because they had already achieved what they had been tasked to do, and did not the Prophet say, may he rest in peace, that night was a time for rest, sustenance and reflection; and not a time for waging war on your enemies.", replied the Templar Knight flawlessly in the blessed language (Arabic). The merchants immediately invite the Templars to the evening repast, and both parties bring their own dinner. Before the end of the evening, the senior merchant asked to talk alone with El Ghoati, Arn, who had recognized the merchant as Saladin. They spoke together late into the night, both men of honor and integrity in their personal character, and both strongly influenced by their separate faiths.
Are you honestly surprised that a man of one religion would be well-versed in another religion? Or, that two prominent names from the historical record from opposing sides on the battle field, would be respectful of each other, respectful of the adherents of a religion with whom they were at war with? They would meet again.
Jan Gaillou does a fantastic job as a masterful storyteller, fleshing out the bones and myth of history, presenting the good, the bad, and the truly ugly and unreasonable errors of the crusaders - mainly against themselves. He also fleshes out key figures leading the Islamic forces opposing the Kingdom of Jerusalem. He respectfully treats both faiths, and takes you behind the curtain of the crusaders and their decisions, and out into the full clash and heat of battle!
I strongly recommend reading this trilogy in the order I did: 2, 1, 3. If action draws you in, you will be glad you did! All three books could stand alone - each is so well written! Yet the stories are woven together so masterfully you may well fall asleep while reading them late at night because you cannot bear to put them down.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2015
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Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2014
Top reviews from other countries
HCJ
A great follow-up to the first book in the series
Reviewed in Canada on October 26, 2023
Amazon Customer
Arrived before estimated delivery date
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 2, 2024
Mirza Yawar Baig
Beautiful writing about a difficult topic
Reviewed in India on August 8, 2019
