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theelliemo's review against another edition
2.0
Set in period between the Seventh and Ninth Crusades, Brethren purports to tell the story if the Crusades from both the East's and the West's points of view. The West's version is told through the tale of Will, training to follow in his father's footsteps as a Knight in the Order of the Templar, while the East's view is depicted through the tale of Mamluk Sultan of Egypt, Baybars.
The Templars, as usual the subject of speculation and rumours of secret societies, are here given a secret Order within and Order, the Brethren of the title, who's existence, and the existence of the while Templar order, is threatened by the theft of a book, the recovery of which is behind the main plot lines in the book.
The premise is a good idea imperfectly executed. The story itself feels overlong; when the 'hero' gets into yet another scrape, it begins to feel unnecessary, the plot being held back rather than moved forward. Having said that, there also appear to be sudden halts in narrative, tales half-told then rushed to a conclusion by moving the time of several months at the turn of a page and recounting events in the meantime in a few paragraphs; leaving me feeling short-changed. Perhaps it is not that the book is overly long, but the decisions regarding what should be left in and what taken out were poorly made.
Adding to the feeling of unnecessary length are frequent passages of superfluous detail. It is important to set a scene, and sometimes Young does this beautifully, but at others, her words do not add anything to the scene. Again, poor editing decisions.
I also had difficulty relating to the lead character. I feel he is poorly drawn, his motivation not fully explored, making his actions at time seem odd. Other Westerners are similarly hollow, almost caricature, with thought and feeling eluded to but never fully explored - Simon the groom is a prime example.
The one character who did have substance was Baybars. It is unfortunate that the balance of the book is favoured towards the West, as I would have liked to have read more of this character. Perhaps he gets more airtime in the later books in this trilogy
The Templars, as usual the subject of speculation and rumours of secret societies, are here given a secret Order within and Order, the Brethren of the title, who's existence, and the existence of the while Templar order, is threatened by the theft of a book, the recovery of which is behind the main plot lines in the book.
The premise is a good idea imperfectly executed. The story itself feels overlong; when the 'hero' gets into yet another scrape, it begins to feel unnecessary, the plot being held back rather than moved forward. Having said that, there also appear to be sudden halts in narrative, tales half-told then rushed to a conclusion by moving the time of several months at the turn of a page and recounting events in the meantime in a few paragraphs; leaving me feeling short-changed. Perhaps it is not that the book is overly long, but the decisions regarding what should be left in and what taken out were poorly made.
Adding to the feeling of unnecessary length are frequent passages of superfluous detail. It is important to set a scene, and sometimes Young does this beautifully, but at others, her words do not add anything to the scene. Again, poor editing decisions.
I also had difficulty relating to the lead character. I feel he is poorly drawn, his motivation not fully explored, making his actions at time seem odd. Other Westerners are similarly hollow, almost caricature, with thought and feeling eluded to but never fully explored - Simon the groom is a prime example.
The one character who did have substance was Baybars. It is unfortunate that the balance of the book is favoured towards the West, as I would have liked to have read more of this character. Perhaps he gets more airtime in the later books in this trilogy
ghostmuppet's review against another edition
4.0
I was a little uncertain if i would like this book. I do like the Crusades, but i have never really read anything serious from this era in Historical Fiction.
There were some areas that i was not fully fond of, and sometimes the skipping in time caught me out (mainly due to being an audiobook, rather than reading - i missed the dates occasionally).
I will continue with this series for sure - once i have cut my to be read pile a little.
There were some areas that i was not fully fond of, and sometimes the skipping in time caught me out (mainly due to being an audiobook, rather than reading - i missed the dates occasionally).
I will continue with this series for sure - once i have cut my to be read pile a little.
lnatal's review against another edition
3.0
The story of Will Campbell, a Knight Templar, entwined with the story of Amir Baybars, sultan of Egypt and Muslim leader of the Mamluk Empire. The sequel of this book is "Crusade".
wyvernfriend's review against another edition
3.0
This is the story of Will Campbell a reluctant Knight Templar, his friendship and love and his growth from a boy to a man. Will is a Templar because his father decided he should be, he lives with the guilt of having accidentally killed his sister and that his father didn't speak to him for years.
It's also the story of Baybars and his fight to rise his life from Malmuk slave to ruler. Ruthless he pursues the expulsion of Christians from the lands he regards as his with ruthlessness.
It's interesting, could possibly have done with some quite severe editing to cut out some of the info-dumping but still once I got over the first 100 pages it moved quite quickly. Nothing spectacularly new in the genre but interesting all the same.
It's also the story of Baybars and his fight to rise his life from Malmuk slave to ruler. Ruthless he pursues the expulsion of Christians from the lands he regards as his with ruthlessness.
It's interesting, could possibly have done with some quite severe editing to cut out some of the info-dumping but still once I got over the first 100 pages it moved quite quickly. Nothing spectacularly new in the genre but interesting all the same.
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