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lmmountford's review
I could only make it a few pages before giving up. I'd wanted to read this for years, but began losing interest almost immediatly. I'm giving this a true rating, i'll come back to this in a couple of years and maybe i'll get more into it :/
sisasuku's review
This is the only book I remember that I did not finish. It has been 20 years, and the only thing I remember are endless pointless conversations. Don't pick it up, it's a waste of time.
littlepanda's review against another edition
2.0
https://littlepandareads.wordpress.com/2019/05/20/knights-of-the-black-and-white-review/
dutchlee's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this book. It is well-written and every chapter left me wondering what would happen next. The quick pace of the narrative leaves out details I sometimes wish were touched upon, but I see how it is necessary for covering such a large span of years without resorting to extending the trilogy into even more books. On the other hand, however, I felt that Whyte went into too much detail in some events, especially those concerning Alice.
This book reminded me a lot of "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown, albeit in the 11th century. Although I do realize that I read that book 6 years ago in high school and my memory of that book could be completely wrong.
Whyte writes with an amazing attention to detail that allows me to experience the novel in my mind. It is even more amazing how these various intricate details are not just there for description but serve a purpose in the story.
I love history and was entranced by the middle ages, the lore, and the monks. It is a world I often dream of living in and Whyte allowed me to live that dream while reading this book.
I am curious to see what will happen in the other 2 books of the trilogy.
This book reminded me a lot of "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown, albeit in the 11th century. Although I do realize that I read that book 6 years ago in high school and my memory of that book could be completely wrong.
Whyte writes with an amazing attention to detail that allows me to experience the novel in my mind. It is even more amazing how these various intricate details are not just there for description but serve a purpose in the story.
I love history and was entranced by the middle ages, the lore, and the monks. It is a world I often dream of living in and Whyte allowed me to live that dream while reading this book.
I am curious to see what will happen in the other 2 books of the trilogy.
disasterchick's review
4.0
I know very little about the Templar knights and found this to be entertaining. I do agree with other reviews that there are parts that could have been shorted or even removed. For instance, we really didn't need as much detail on the private life of Princess Alice as we had recevied. What I liked about the book is nothing is impossible.
ciannait76's review
5.0
A lot have been said about the Knights Templars, and much more has been refuted. And while this is a work of fiction, its a pretty good representation of all the theories, woven together in a believable way. It also gives you a good historical overview of the period that this book talks about. It certainly was well researched.
What surprised and delighted me too was the way the author represented the beliefs of the Knights Templars. The beliefs expressed in the book are pretty much a mixture of pagan and muslim ideas. He mixed them so well that if you had not studied both you would not know this. The core beliefs expressed in the book was that the Knights Templars believed that Jesus Christ was just a man who had a message that was corrupted by Paul, and turned into something that it was not. This is basically what the muslims believe with an exception, though muslims do not believe that Jesus was the son of God they do believe that he was a prophet just like Mohammed, and that he was born of a virgin and that he was not killed in the crusifiction but rather that God took him up to heaven and put in his place another man who was killed. The Templars in this book talk about how the Virgin birth was something taken out of the pagan religions, after all the Mithras was born of a virgin and that is just one of the pagan gods.
This book talks about how the Templars as an order emerged and why and about its time in the Holy lands, and what they really did there. It ends just after they find the evidence of all their beliefs buried under the Temple Mount. It was a very enjoyable book to read, and you can learn history while you read it too.
What surprised and delighted me too was the way the author represented the beliefs of the Knights Templars. The beliefs expressed in the book are pretty much a mixture of pagan and muslim ideas. He mixed them so well that if you had not studied both you would not know this. The core beliefs expressed in the book was that the Knights Templars believed that Jesus Christ was just a man who had a message that was corrupted by Paul, and turned into something that it was not. This is basically what the muslims believe with an exception, though muslims do not believe that Jesus was the son of God they do believe that he was a prophet just like Mohammed, and that he was born of a virgin and that he was not killed in the crusifiction but rather that God took him up to heaven and put in his place another man who was killed. The Templars in this book talk about how the Virgin birth was something taken out of the pagan religions, after all the Mithras was born of a virgin and that is just one of the pagan gods.
This book talks about how the Templars as an order emerged and why and about its time in the Holy lands, and what they really did there. It ends just after they find the evidence of all their beliefs buried under the Temple Mount. It was a very enjoyable book to read, and you can learn history while you read it too.
blanyon's review
2.0
I was sorely disappointed with this book. I originally read this when I was in high school and thought the world of it. But rereading it again I’m not sure what I was thinking… the book is near 550 pages long… and yet very little actually happens. Author could’ve cut it by 200-300 pages and all of the important information still could’ve been presented. Unfortunately I already own the second and third book in this series, so I’ll likely get around to reading them at some point… just sorely disappointed that this book didn’t hold up and was a struggle to get through.
kristamccracken's review against another edition
4.0
Can't wait for the next one in the Templar seies.