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livingawayfromreality's review against another edition
Will come back to it - just got busy and lost my rhythm with this book.
moorejb's review against another edition
3.0
I came into the book with the wrong mindset.
After having watched, and loved, the miniseries based off this trilogy, I was hoping to read more about the romance between Arn and Cecilia. But that is not the case.
This is a historical story that has little dialogue to push the narrative flow along and reads more like nonfiction.
The majority of the story focuses on a slow burn between rivaling clans with Arn as Mary Sue used as an accidental participant.
Go into this with that expectation. Jan has clearly done tireless research on the people and their lives during this time. If you’re a fan of obscure medieval history, it is worth a read.
After having watched, and loved, the miniseries based off this trilogy, I was hoping to read more about the romance between Arn and Cecilia. But that is not the case.
This is a historical story that has little dialogue to push the narrative flow along and reads more like nonfiction.
The majority of the story focuses on a slow burn between rivaling clans with Arn as Mary Sue used as an accidental participant.
Go into this with that expectation. Jan has clearly done tireless research on the people and their lives during this time. If you’re a fan of obscure medieval history, it is worth a read.
jenny_hedberg's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
eososray's review against another edition
3.0
It's an uncomplicated read. Often boring. Sometimes interesting.
The extreme naivete of Arn is not my most favorite trait in a main character. While later in the story he has a more 'in the world but not of the world' quality that stems from his religious upbringing, it wasn't enough to make up for the earlier naive innocence that annoyed me so much.
The characters had no real depth for me. They haven't been fleshed out to real people, just distant foreign historical figures thrown into a story. I did like Arn's mom, though how she magically seems to make money and be innovative with everything she does, seems a bit much at times.
The best part of the book is that the Scandinavian history is very clear. It's not just another medieval story that could technically be set anywhere, this one is very involved with it's backdrop. I think I would prefer a non-fiction work from this author though. His mix of too much fact and not enough story didn't work in this fiction setting, though I do really like the history, the location and the era.
The writing comes across as very simple, childish and choppy throughout. I'm not sure if this is from the translation alone or has been carried through from the original text.
The author has tried to create a story from medieval times, not just of medieval times and I appreciate that, but it didn't catch my imagination enough to read the next volume.
The extreme naivete of Arn is not my most favorite trait in a main character. While later in the story he has a more 'in the world but not of the world' quality that stems from his religious upbringing, it wasn't enough to make up for the earlier naive innocence that annoyed me so much.
The characters had no real depth for me. They haven't been fleshed out to real people, just distant foreign historical figures thrown into a story. I did like Arn's mom, though how she magically seems to make money and be innovative with everything she does, seems a bit much at times.
The best part of the book is that the Scandinavian history is very clear. It's not just another medieval story that could technically be set anywhere, this one is very involved with it's backdrop. I think I would prefer a non-fiction work from this author though. His mix of too much fact and not enough story didn't work in this fiction setting, though I do really like the history, the location and the era.
The writing comes across as very simple, childish and choppy throughout. I'm not sure if this is from the translation alone or has been carried through from the original text.
The author has tried to create a story from medieval times, not just of medieval times and I appreciate that, but it didn't catch my imagination enough to read the next volume.
100kg_paarynoita's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
gyttja's review against another edition
Tyvärr gillade jag verkligen inte Guillous språk vilket ledde till att jag inte hade någon lust att läsa klart boken. Det här är den enda bok jag läst av honom så har ingen aning om han använder ett likadant språk i hans andra böcker.
brents's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
1.5
I dnfed this book on page 255. It really has two things I can't get past. First is that it is incredibly slow. This is supposed to be a trilogy about the Crusades but the book starts with the main character not even born yet and instead of anyone joining a Crusade at any point of this book it instead concerns itself with medieval Scandinavian politics which is not interesting to me. Second the author's chose style us just personally something I don't like. It feels like 90 percent "tell not show" as facts and plot points are relayed to the reader like a history book about a fake person. It feels very disconnected, and even though I wanted to get invested in Arn and his story I couldn't because we aren't actually in his head very much. I know book 2 actually takes place in the Holy Land so maybe it's more interesting, but I'm guessing the style is the same. Just not for me.
thirre92's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
3.5