Customer Reviews
Excellent read! - By: Florian Drews, 18 Nov 2008 
As opposed to what others might have said, I think Robyn Young has not only managed to outshine her first book (the brethren - which I devoured in a few days only) but has been able to get myself fully absorbed in the history of the 13th century.
As I knew little of the time period, I found myself researching the main plots of the book & immersing myself ever more into the history of the mamluks, templars & the crusades.
As opposed to Bernhard Cornwell's taste for sometimes boring battle scenes (as they somehow seem to appear to be same over & over again in any of his books), I feel that Young puts more emphasis on developing her characters well & giving them believable non-20th-century-personalities. I guess, that this is the point, which many people might disagree about.
As a non-native English speaker, I loved once more her way of describing personalities & surroundings, which clearly arose in front of my inner eye.
I think, this book could be one of those, which I might actuallly read again after a few years, because it gave me a great deal of joy.
The only thing I didn't like was the book cover - as it looks to me like a fantasy book similar to the abominable Eragon.
Gripping read! - By: Karrie, 30 Oct 2008 I'm not going to go into detail about the plot, many reviews here already give that information, but I will say that it's a fabulous, absorbing read. In parts, the tension is so fierce & consuming that you just don't want to put it down! Having read the first book of the trilogy I was familiar with the main characters. I now can't wait to get the third & final book to discover what further trials life brings for Will & 'Co'!
what a dull read - By: joff, 25 Oct 2008 
I got so bored with this book that i'm not even going to finish it. The books callled crusade & so far i'm over half way through there hasn't been one exciting battle. The first one was average but i read though it in the hope that this one would be better but its not; & this one has the added bonus of being constantly reminded what happened in the first one. i know what happened i read it.
Good bedtime read for insomniacs - By: M. Shopland, 09 Oct 2008 
This is a poor one dimensional book. It is great to read at bedtime if you cannot relax, as this book will send you to sleep fast. I am persisting with this book on the grounds that it just has to get better! However it is hard to get stuch into more than a few pages at a time.
Both the Templar characters & the Muslim (in particular Muslims) are just so weak! None of the Muslim chracters do anything to enthralll the reader & the Templar ones reallly are not believable. The title is Crusade, but I am 3/4 the way through & I can see no sign of it happening. The implausable Garin character is a work of pure literary weakness.
Another reviewer said this is Mills & boon meets History, & I think that is rather accurate. I am a Historical fiction reader & other authors do a far better job than this.
An interesting read - By: H. Megerisi, 24 Jul 2008 
This book was interesting from the depth of research about the period he was writing about would almost be a 5/5.
Unfortunately for me, the book was let down by its story line. The characters were poorly developed, at times aspect of the story line was fantastical, & bore minimal regard to realitiy & a lack of depth. A little staid the story is 3/5.
It didn't captivate. A shame, as it was set in an intersting time, with lots to play with :(
A border line 4/5 only for the historical aspects.
