The Templar Paperback – 17 April 2008

Very well written from Eleanor's point of view. Different from the usual "gung-ho Templars" tales. I like Eleanor - faithful, but not stupid. A great tale, superbly told.

Good read

Unlike the many other books that I have read by this author I found this one to be very difficult to get into and did not enjoy it at all.I felt that there were far too many main characters to try and keep track of and the storyline was confusing and disjointed.Paul Doherty is one of my favourite authors but unfortunately I don’t feel that this book is up to his usual standards.

The origins of the Templars from papal edict to the fall of Jerusalem, warts and all! The savagery and disputatious behaviour of the European Christian army left me with the decided impression that I liked the Islamists more and respected them even more so. 'Army of God?' How did they keep fooling themselves of that? Even so - a great read!

the book is obviously well researched and well written, i like this authors historical novels. However, this one did read like a history timeline with some characters added for flavour, rather than a story of people taking part in the first crusade. having already read Steven Runciman's history of the crusades it didn't bring anything new and the characters didn't hold my attention as much as other have in previous books by this author.

This is the first of the two history-based novels in Paul Doherty's Templar series. It chronicles the first crusade and the beginning of the Templars. Like the other book in the series (The Templar Magician), the Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan, and the Hugh Corbett mysteries, it's a great read. The hardships suffered by the crusaders are staggering and artfully portrayed, as is the founding of the Templars by Hugh de Payens. I highly recommend it.

a little slow

I loved this book especially as it's written from eye witness accounts to the First Crusade. Opened my eyes just to how resilient, brave and resourceful these first Crusaders were. I could not have done it.

Es ist ein nobles Vorhaben, einen wahrhaft historischen Roman zu schreiben. Ich finde, dass der Versuch hier in die Hose gegangen ist. Historisch sehr akkurat, fehlt es den Personen und dem fiktiven Handlungsstrang an Leben und Persönlichkeit. Stellenweise las sich das für mich etwa so "Alles war ganz schrecklich und furchtbar. Ach ja, Wasser hatten sie auch keins und waren kurz vorm Verdursten. " Komponenten (Der Magus, Fedawi) werden eingebracht, aufgebaut und vergessen. Kurz vor Ende fällt Doherty dann ein, dass da noch was war. Ach und die Gründer der Templer latschen mal schnell rein und holen hurtig die Reliquien ab, wie wir ein Brot beim Bäcker kaufen. Lange Rede, kurzer Sinn - keine Stimmung, keine Atmosphäre, schlampige Handarbeit.

It almost read like a documentary at times but I really enjoyed it and look forward to the next one out next month. I wish there was more character development, but the detail of the journey was well written. To cover the period is difficult without appearing historically biased and I think Doherty does it well.

Sad, Magnificent. How people make and change history - Nothing could be added to it.

The narrative is a little stilted, the plot disjointed. The characters could be developed more. The book describes a series of seiges and battles that struggle to add meaning to the inception of the Templar or to the main characters. The main player, Eleanor is both the narrator but seems remarkably naive.