Requiem by Robyn Young

Whew, finally I’ve finished reading the last book (of a trilogy) written by Robyn Young. Not that I’m complaining because I only have good words for this book :-)
For the uninitiated, Robyn took 10years in total to research, compile and write this trilogy.
As mentioned in my earlier blog entries, the trilogy started off with the book entitled Brethren followed by Crusade and this is the last piece of the puzzle.
Initially, I felt daunted when I picked up this book based on the weight and the sheer thickness of it. But, when I read it, the story just flows forth and I felt the connection and irrepressible urge to continue reading it till the end.

In this book entitled “Requiem by Robyn Young”; Will Campbell is back in action again.
But age has crept up and he's a matured (see, I used "matured" instead of "old" here :-P) and seasoned warrior back to Europe after their horrific losses to the hands of the Mamluks, which lead to fall of Acre.

Hand picked by his predecessor to lead the clandestine organisation called Anima Templi (established to promote peace between all major religions) within The Knights of Templar, he failed miserably in his assigned tasks when he let his hatred towards King Edward of England go to his head and went fighting for Scotland (alongside William Wallace) instead.

The Templar on the other hand forged an alliance with King Edward to secure a base of their own.
His own estranged daughter, Rose grew lusty and decided to embroil herself in an unlikely affair with King Philip of France and getting pregnant in the process.

That’s not all; Robyn managed to twirl all the conspiracies, murders, revenge and whatnot ranging from assassination of Pope Boniface VIII and Pope Benedict XI; to appointment of Pope Clement V allegedly done by King Philip's implacable minister, Guillaume de Nogaret.

If these intrigues are not intriguing enough, Robyn also infused the eventual downfall of the Knights of Templar and how those warrior monks are tortured to extract confession and burnt at stake in the end.
As for our protagonist, Will Campbell, he plays mostly on supporting role this time and as all good stories go, the protagonist will live happily ever after and it is the same with this book.

Just read the review above and I’m sure you'll notice the complexities of the storyline.
So my review is not complete (not even 1%) as it provides just a small scope within the multilayered complexities.

The beauty is that Robyn managed to infuse historical events with imaginary characters seamlessly.
Thus reading thru this book is like peeking thru historical events unfurling before your very eyes.
Reading historical happenings via novels like this is much palatable than learning thru mundane and boring history books
:-P

No pros and cons needed but I would like to say that this is definitely the best serial I’ve read so far :-)

Go Go Robyn GO!
Btw, pls do leave your comment if you happen to stumble in this blog of mine ya :-P

*for those reading this entry, don't mind me. Sometimes I can be thick-skinned too :-D*


Personal rating: 10 out of 10 (for a beautiful ending on such a beautiful and memorable day :-))

Cons:
1) N/A

Pros:
1) N/A

Crusade by Robyn Young

I can be a really lazy slog at times and those who're close to me will know that by heart :-P
Case in point is the review of this superbly written book entitled Crusade by Robyn Young.
It doesn't matter that I’ve finished reading the book MONTHS ago... but the point is that I’ve finished reading the book back-to-back from the prequel book entitled Brethren.

In this Templar’s sequel, we’re brought face-to-face with Will Campbell and his band of friends yet again. In the first book, Will is still an adolescent thrust into the countless webs of intrigue but managed to survive relatively unscathed. In this book however, Will has ran out of his string of good luck. His range of trouble is diverse as exemplified by the following summaries.

· From a group of greedy merchants wanting to restart the Holy War by plotting to steal the holy Muslim relic known as the Black Stone
· The return of his childhood friend, Garin de Lyons (under the employ of King Edward I) to extort more money from the clandestine organisation of Anima Templi
· Sultan Baybars closing in to identifying Will as the person who ordered the failed assassination attempt on his life
· Courting danger by contacting his fellow Anima Templi brethren in Egypt, the high ranking Kalawun in order to avert the all out Holy War
· To the final masterstroke in finding out that the child he thought he sired is actually fathered by Garin

This is only one side of the story because on Baybars and Kalawun’s side, the strings of counterplot are equally complicated due to the fact that his subjects are itching for an all out war themselves.
Both Baybars and Kalawun had to twist and chop (really chopped!) their way to quell the fire ignited by those who seek to overthrow and flush the remaining Franks from the Holy Land.
I will not divulge too much for the sake of brevity in my book review. But let it be known that this is indeed a good read.

As what I’ve mentioned in the prequel, this book can stand equally well on its own.
So, readers need not worry about the reading sequence (though it is advisable to do so :-)).
The sequel after Crusade (yes, there’s a sequel) is entitled Requiem (I haven’t bought this book yet :-P)

So to save the trouble of reading thru mismatched sequence, here is the lineup.

*drum rolls please*
BREATHREN followed by CRUSADE followed by REQUIEM (to be reviewed)

P/S: *wishful thinking*
I adore you Robyn Young!! (In case you stumbled upon my blog :-P), you’re a real star in putting so much effort in writing the trilogy.
10years (research, plot and etc) to write a book is a real big feat. Hats off to you :-)

http://www.robynyoung.com/index.html


Personal rating: 8 out of 10

Cons:
I seriously couldn’t find any fault with this book.
Though I get a bit worn out after reading too many books about war :-P my bad... not the author :-)

Pros:
I’m too lazy to write the pros of this book (brazenly stated in the first line of the first paragraph).
Read thru the review or better, buy the book and enjoy the multi-layered complots and maze of deceits; all deliciously written and packed in an equally tasteful trilogy (I’m thinking about food now... yummy yummy :-D)

Brethren by Robyn Young

Truth to be told, I was a bit skeptical when I picked this book up amongst the rack displaying all other established authors. Even the opening acknowledgement from the author is quite humbling in the sense that she thanked the reader before anyone else.

So, I decided to flip to the first few pages and immediately I was hooked to it. It was an abrupt but firm decision. I knew I had to have this book home with me ASAP.

As shown in the cover, this book is about the Knights of the Templar in the eve of the Last Crusade in which Western powers have secured their respective bastions in the Holy Land.

The novel is written from 2 fronts. Will Campbell from the Templar and Amir Baybars from Mamluk's side. Both written on equal footings and also on their trials and tribulations to achieve their goals.

Will trying to become a Templar Knight while trying to secure the code of Anima Templi which will bring down the Templar institution if fell to wrong hands.

On Baybars' side, he had to overpower the inept administration and also bring together his people to drive the European invaders out from the Holy Land.

This is supposed to be a trilogy but each novel can stand quite well on its own without much linkage to the former or latter novels.

Next novel is entitled "Crusade" followed by "Requiem".

Personal rating: 8 out of 10 (really well written for a new author)

Cons:

1) None that I could think of.

Pros:

1) Really good descriptions of the fragile situations during the Holy War

2) Linkage between the two opposing parties and also their in-fighting are strong and story is very well developed.