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Brethren: an Epic Adventure of the Knights Templar Free FREE BRETHREN: AN EPIC ADVENTURE OF THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR PDF Robyn Young | 495 pages | 31 Jul 2007 | Plume Books | 9780452288331 | English | New York, NY, United States Brethren (Brethren Trilogy, #1) by Robyn Young Sign up for our newsletters! As a work of historical fiction, it succeeds in being both an educational read and one that simply bears a very compelling story. Will Campbell is a young man who is sworn to the Temple and eagerly wants to be knighted. He and his friend, Garin, who tend to find themselves in more trouble than they should, each follow a rough path toward knighthood. Will's father has gone to the Holy Land and is raised and mastered by Owein, who is tough but fair. Garin is mastered by Jacques, who is tough and seems to hold to the belief that to spare the rod is to spoil the child. Jacques and Owein grow more concerned when they learn that the Book of the Grail has been stolen. Within that tome lies secrets that could unravel all that the Templars have worked for and expose something they've hidden that could change the world itself. Of equal concern is the movement of the Mamluk army of Kutuz, who has successfully defeated the Mongols and driven them back from the Holy Land. The need for a new Crusade is growing more obvious, yet the one thing standing in their way is dwindling coffers. Yet all of our concern is not for Will and the defenders of Christianity. Young deftly shifts the viewpoint to that of Baybars and the Mamluk army and gives us insight into their motion, their motives and their own problems. Baybars, a victorious general for Kutuz, is angered when he is denied a requested reward for his service. Paying off members of the army, Baybars assassinates Kutuz and proclaims himself Sultan. This done, he turns his attention toward the Brethren: An Epic Adventure of the Knights Templar Christian strongholds in the Holy Land and begins to undo years of tentative peace. That Young can so easily maneuver readers from one army and one view to the next without pulling them out of the story is a great testament to her ability as a storyteller. Her characters, those of historical fact and those of her own design, are so perfectly crafted and so unique in presentation that they seem to act out on the page instead of being mere Brethren: An Epic Adventure of the Knights Templar strung together. Following Will on his quest to achieve his knighthood including his failures, Brethren: An Epic Adventure of the Knights Templar anguish, and his friendships with Garin and Elwin is intensely personal, and being able to connect with him, which is vital, is an easy success. Baybars, as the enemy of the Christians and the murderer of his own Sultan, does not come across as a mere cookie-cutter villain. He is a fully developed character, and while we would love to hate him, we come to understand his views and his desire as the story is told from his side. While we may not agree with him or Brethren: An Epic Adventure of the Knights Templar ideology, it makes us less able to hate. In a historical novel of such epic scope as this, one would fear falling into the trap of being buried beneath a tidal wave of facts. Another great credit to Young is the strength of her narrative, which continues to read at a quick and heart rate-inducing pace; while giving historical knowledge it does not do so at the expense of advancing her chosen story. There are some moments of an overload of information. One in particular takes place during a conversation between Jacques and Hasan, where conversation is used as historical bookending to make a point, but the comments Jacques makes would not need to be done were the two engaged in true conversation. It is information Hasan would no doubt have known. Readers do gain information but it seems dumped upon us in that moment. These moments are extremely few and easily can be forgiven considering the strength of the remainder of the work. The majesty, brutality and romanticism of that time are so beautifully painted on the page that it is often difficult to separate the fact from the fiction, and we as readers are dropped into the very center of history to experience the events from within. While engrossed in the Brethren: An Epic Adventure of the Knights Templar, it came as no surprise to find time also being spent in reading up on the Ninth Crusade over coffee, broadening the knowledge of the time, widening the canvas Young began painting, and giving a fuller appreciation for all she accomplished in putting together this incredible tale. The Book Report Network. Skip to main content. Be warned. Reviewed by Stephen Hubbard on December 23, All Rights Reserved. Brethren: An Epic Adventure of the Knights Templar | Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Preview — Brethren by Robyn Young. Get A Copy. Hardcoverpages. Published July 20th by Dutton first published January 1st More Details Original Title. Brethren Trilogy 1. Other Editions Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Brethrenplease sign up. Is this suitable for a 10yr old boy to read? Michelle No, I wouldn't recommend it. See 1 question about Brethren…. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 3. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Start your review of Brethren Brethren Trilogy, 1. Sep 04, Gary rated it really liked it Shelves: historical-fiction. Since the Knights Templar is a subject I know very little about, and have an interest in, this book appealed to me. The author has a good reputation for historical fact within the fiction so I thought it would be reliable. It definitely had a strong historical context. The plot follows a boy named William who is Brethren: An Epic Adventure of the Knights Templar sergeant that hopes to become a knight. The story Since the Knights Templar is a subject I know very little about, and have an interest in, this book appealed to me. The story follows Will Brethren: An Epic Adventure of the Knights Templar his friend Garin as they progress through the world of the Crusades. It shifts at times to the Saracen perspective and follows the ruthless Baybars. I found the conflict and themes interesting in light of many of our modern day struggles and conflicts both around the world and within our own borders here in America between Islam and Christianity. When the story slows down and focuses on specific characters and their individual situations, such as William the would be knight or Baybars the would be conqueror, it grabbed my attention. At times it seemed to skim the surface of events in order to Brethren: An Epic Adventure of the Knights Templar the story forward, even taking large leaps of time forward and aging characters while summarizing situations. The author does make it work in this case; however, I still felt it took a time to pull me back into the plot. The occasional fast forward style seemed to create space between the world of the characters and the one I live in which reduced the immersive feel of the read for me. Immersiveness is what I really enjoy when I read. Reading is my temporary entry into another world within my mind that allows me a complete escape from the world around me- at least when I find a good author. This author definitely does Brethren: An Epic Adventure of the Knights Templar that at times- maybe it is the limitations of the genre that force the situational detachment I felt, or maybe it was just me. She does manage to pull me back in time and time again, sometimes quickly and sometimes not for a few dozen pages. The ending left me wondering what will happen to both the individual characters as well as the groups and organizations that are involved in the story. There is Brethren: An Epic Adventure of the Knights Templar, murder, savagery and a little bit of mayhem now and again interspersed at various intervals. Nothing really intense or overwhelming- there is just enough to remind the reader that the world the characters live in is unpredictable and violent. I struggled with rating it 3 stars or 4, but settled on 4 because ultimately I did like it and I want to stick with it. View all 3 comments. It has taken me a long time to read book one in this Brethren trilogy. Which is unusual for me, seeing as Robyn Young is one of my favourite authors and I loved her Insurrection trilogy and I really enjoyed book one, Sons of the Blood, in her new trilogy, New World Rising. I think I avoided Brethren for so many years because of regular comments from fellow readers on it being more romance based than the trilogies mentioned above. Having now read Brethren, I am surprised that people say this. I di It has taken me a Brethren: An Epic Adventure of the Knights Templar time to read book one in this Brethren trilogy. I did not find it romance heavy at all.
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