Knights of the Black and White

Templar Trilogy #1

by Jack Whyte

The first book in a trilogy about the most important events in the history of the Order of the Knights Templar. The Templars represent a widely popular period of history at the moment, but the roots of their fellowship have been shrouded in contemporary conspiracy theory and media glamour!.this trilogy tells the true tales of the Knights Templar; beginning with why they formed after the First Crusade and why they continued to grow in power and influence. Immediately after the deliverance of Jerusalem, the Crusaders, considering their vow fulfilled, drifted back to their homes. But some considered that the defence of this precarious conquest, surrounded as it was by Mohammedan neighbours, still remained. In 1118, during the reign of Baldwin II, Hugues de Payens, a knight of Champagne, and eight of his companions bound themselves by a perpetual vow, taken in the presence of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, to defend the Christian kingdom and all god fearing pilgrims who wished to visit the Holy Land. Baldwin accepted their services and assigned them a portion of his palace, adjoining the temple of the city; hence their title "pauvres chevaliers du temple" (Poor Knights of the Temple).

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Historical, Medieval, Adventure, Mystery

576 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2006

About the author

Jack Whyte is an author and writer born and raised in Scotland, but has been living in western Canada since 1967, and in Kelowna, British Columbia, since 1996.

Whyte's major work to date is the A Dream of Eagles series (as it is titled in Canada, but known as The Camulod Chronicles in the United States and elsewhere). This series of historical novels presents the tale of King Arthur set against the backdrop of Roman Britain. This retelling of the popular legend eschews the use of magic (as in T. H. White’s The Sword in the Stone) to explain Arthur’s ascent to power and instead relies on the historical condition (with some artistic license) of post-Roman Britain to support the theory that Arthur was meant to counter the anarchy left by the Roman departure from Britain in 410 AD and the subsequent colonization and invasion of Britain by various peoples from Northwestern Europe, including the Saxons, Jutes, Franks, and Angles). Whyte incorporates both traditional Arthurian names, places and events (albeit in gaelic or Latin form) as well as the names of various historical figures that have been suggested as being the possible basis for the original King Arthur legend. The tacit implication is that Whyte's version of history is the true story that has become distorted over time to become the legend and stories of magic that we know today.

Jack Whyte served as the official bard of The Calgary Highlanders and performed several tracks of poetry and song on the 1990 recording by the Regimental Pipes and Drums of The Calgary Highlanders entitled Eighty Years of Glory: The Regimental Pipes, Drums and Bard of The Calgary Highlanders.

Reviews

[Brad · Rating 1 out of 5]

Here I am writing a review after only one hundred and seven pages. It's not my policy, but I have enough to say that I think this early review is valid.

The entire first section of Knights of the Black and White, called Beginnings by Jack Whyte, is the biggest, clunkiest most useless piece of exposition I have ever read. It is a classic example of an author's cerebral, pre-writing work spilling over into their novel without any thought for pacing, necessity or readability. Indeed, it took only three pages of Awakenings, the second part of the novel, to see that this is where the novel truly begins. This is another fine example of what Shane Joseph recently described as "only us Plebs needing a copy editor." Someone should have told Mr. Whyte to reel it in and cut Beginnings; sadly, no one did.

But this isn't the only issue I have with Knights of the Black and White. Does the following passage ring any bells for anyone who has read a Whyte book in the past: "Godfrey's face twisted in a frustrated grimace. 'I know what I want to ask you, but I don't know how to put into words properly. Let me think about it for a moment.'

'Think as long as you wish. I'll wait,' Hugh lay back and closed his eyes again.'"

Substitute Arthur Pendragon for Godfrey and Caius Merlyn Britannicus for Hugh and you've got every discussion Whyte's characters ever had in the Dream of Eagles series, and its subsequent books. Does anyone actually ruminate in such a way when they talk to a close friend? Maybe there are a few who do this, but they must be in a very small minority. Regardless, the similarity is instantly off-putting, and it makes me want to put down the Knights of the Black and White so I can avoid wasting my time. But, of course, I won't.

I am doomed to read the whole book. I only hope my tentative rating of two stars can be overcome by something truly inspired, but I don't think I'll submerge myself in the tub in anticipation.

I may add more to this when I am finished reading, so stay tuned.

Later...

So much for being doomed to finish. I can't do it; I can't and won't go on. I am BORED. Whyte hasn't created a single character for me to care about. It isn't very often I put away a book before I'm done, particularly without plans to give it another try, but I am done with The Knights of the Black and White.

If I ever read a Whyte book again, and that is uncertain, I'll go back to Dream of Eagles. The Templar Trilogy is done wasting my time.

I hoped for more, but I got less than I hoped. I would love to give this book one star, but I don't feel it's fair to change my initial rating when I won't be finishing the book. So two is where it will stay.

The Knights of the Black and White, however, is teetering on the edge of a pyre, although that may be too kind.

Later still...

Okay. One star. And it tipped into the fire tonight. It took a year, but I am done.

[Tim The Enchanter · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very disappointed with this book. If you have read The Skystone and the rest of the Camulod Chronicles you will know why that work by Jack Whyte makes my list of ten favorite books of all time. This offering pales in comparison. Honestly, I only made it about 150 pages in. The story was disjointed, the characters were one dimensional and the some of the characters did not seem to the fit the era. There was clearly meant to be some sort of "message fiction" which I generally find to be pretentious and obnoxious. (not always. See my review of The Windup Girl for message fiction done right)

This marks my most disappointing read of 2014 and now makes me nervous to read Jack Whyte's other work.

[Patrick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Holy shit, I just saw that this is book one of a trilogy. I think there are laws about publishing that much crap. This might be the worst book I've read since--man, I don't even know. It's worse than even the Da Vinci Code, and I read that like 5 years ago. I'm going to try to finish it, but I can guarantee you that I'll be staying far away from Jack Whyte and his templars after I choke this one down.

I'm not done yet, but since I don't see how the author could possibly make me love the book in the last third, I think it's safe to start my review.

Basically, this book is a fictional account of the founding of the Knights Templar. Fine, with historical fiction, you get some slack for a ridiculous story. Besides, the author has to try to fit into the genre that the mouth-breathing fans of Dan Brown have created (truth-bending, exposition-heavy, plot-light, historical-conspiracy-fiction). Even with those low expectations, this book is awful. We follow the main character Hugh de Paynes starting with his initiation into a secret society of French-nobility crypto-jews at age 18. We suffer a bunch of exposition. Then we fast-forward to the first crusade. We suffer some exposition, then Hugh is knocked out cold and we miss most of the battle. Then we fast-forward another 10 years or so.... It goes on.

The character development is about the level of the Hardy Boys, where we're told exactly what everyone's (very cardboard) character traits are. The dialog is George Lucas-bad. The author spends paragraphs on detailed description of items that have no actual bearing on the plot...

This book is awful. If you read it after reading this review, I want you to let me know so that I can remove you from all of my contact lists.

[Maya · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Elisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't get past the first two chapters because I'd expected an adventure, a fair-minded, historically-based novel about the templars. Instead, I wound up with the usual gnostic lunacy; ie, the templars weren't really regular medieval Catholics, they were *actually* secret members of an ancient secret society with secret friends who were fighting a secret war against intolerance!
Kind of sick of the "let's all follow in Dan Brown's footsteps" sort of half-assed historical "research" as a basis for a novel.
Strong language, I know. But then, I was a history major for two years and it kind of ruined me for this stuff.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jack Whyte lives in Kelowna, BC

Begins in 1085

Templars existed for less than 200 years-legitimate standing army of the RC church. Invented first international banks, developed the largest navy in the world, financed all the kings and kingdoms of Christendom, amassed the largest real estate holdings in history. All the original templar knights were French and nobly born

Hugh de Payens (Hugues of Payens) founder of the Knights Templar.

Weren't called "Crusades" until hundreds of years later.
Outremer-the land beyond the sea, is what the Holy Land was called..

Medieval Europe was not called Europe but Christendom. There was no middle calss in medieval Europe.!. commoners, serfs slaves peasants, mesnes 2. aristocrats, who owned and ruled the land,-which were divided into knights and clerics.Knights were not literate. Their job was to fight.Clerics looked after order and the church.There wasa no law stipulating that a knight had to be of noble birth. It just tuned out that way.Knights practised at least six hours a day. Their swords were 4 feet long and 3 inches wide and weighed 14 pounds.

Stephen St. Clair-most famous knight in Christendom. Was with William the Conquorer's army and killed the english king, Harold Godwinson-1066. twenty years later the Normans were still fighting Saxons.

William the bastard, Duke of Normany-William the Conquoer, William I of England

The Order of Rebirth in Sion-only one son per family and only if one qualifies. Not necessarily the oldest.
-must be at least 18 years old
-ancesters were Jews and sprung from the Essenes
Raising- an entrance ritual first done by the Essenes- lowered into a grave with skeleton in it and then being drwn up, leaving one's past behind hem in the grave.
This group in Jerusalem became known as "The Patriarch's Patrol" A special group of knight-monks. At first they called themselves "The poor fellow soldiers of Jesus Christ"
Later called "The Knights of the Temple Mount"

Jesus' brother James was called James the Just-his murder on the steps of the Temple led to the last rebellion and Jewish war against Rome. James disliked and dis trusted Paul

Pope Urban II- Council at Clermont (1095), Called for "The Pope's Holy War which began in 1096-- 4300 knights and 30 thousand infantry.Seige of Antioch (lated 8 months)-6000 men died, mostly of famine. Guards took bribes and opened the gates. Then the Seljik Turks were defeated in 1099and Jerusalem fell to "The First Crusade"

THE KNIGHTS OF THE HOSPITAL- started in 1113 . Knights was just an honorary name. They were monks whose total responsibility was to the pilgrims and were not allowed to fight "Thou shalt not kill."

Peter the Hermit - Leader of the Crusade of the Poor People
Also known as known as Cucu Peter, Little Peter or Peter of Amiens, Peter the
Hermit preached Crusade in the wake of Urban's speech at Clermont.Country of Origin / Nationality: France
Lifetime: Died 1131
Born: c1050
Background : He was a monk in Amiens, France
Died: Peter the Hermit died in 1131
Character of Peter the Hermit: Pious, determined, charismatic, passionate, eloquent and courageous
Accomplishments and Achievements or why Peter the Hermit was famous: Leading the People's Crusade - The First Crusade 1096 - 1099

Philip I, king of France lived openly as an adulter with the Countess of Anjou and he was excommunicated.

Woolgathering-thinking or dreaming.

Mendicant-a beggars tunic

Cerement-shroud worn to the grave by a dead person

Sion-hebrew name for the Holy Land

Trebuchet- a seige engine invented by the Normans

Malcolm Canmohr-king of Scotland at this time. His wife was first cousin to Egbert, the saxon heir to the english throne and so she pushed her husband to invade england (1091)

Mithras-Roman God of soldiers was born in a stable and born of a virgin. Symbol was a white, four armed cross

Horus-son of a virgin. Detined to die for the sins of others

Anathema-A formal ecclesiastical ban, curse, or excommunication. A vehement denunciation; a curse: "the sound of a witch's anathemas in some unknown tongue" (Nathaniel Hawthorne). One that is cursed or damned. One that is greatly reviled, loathed, or shunned:

The Way-to find God one must search within oneself, so what need is there of priests

Hubris-dangerous pride

Damsels--knights newly arrived to Jerusalem from Christendom

Saracens-rose out of the Syrian dessert to continaully raid all travellers in Palestine

Succubus- a very common female devil

Ferenghi-an Arabic corruption of "frankihs" a foreigner in Palestine

Maccabees- hereditary high priests of the Jewish temple befroe the invasion of the Selucids, a powerful dynasty, kings descended from one of Alexander the Greats generals, Seleucus who founded Asia minor and Sicily. They married and mixed their hellenic blood with that of the Arabs to produce a bastard race.They ruled Syria for hyndreds of years and produced Herod, who married Miriamne, the last Maccabee princess. he then destoyed the royal family and proclaimed himself King of the Jews. The Jews and zealots hated him and Herod Antipas.All the Maccabee priests of the temple were replaced by herod's priests called Pharisees. Known as Herodians to the Romans

Ebionites of Essenes The Poor Ones. (Weere also called nazerites or Nazerenes)

Only Romans and Herodians were rich in jesus' time. he said "it is as unlikely that a rich man will enter the kingdom of heaven as it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle"

Paul was a Selucid-half greek, half Arab

Antioch on the Orontes Syrian Antioch) was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.
Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the Near East and was a cradle of Gentile Christianity. It was one of the four cities of the Syrian tetrapolis. Its residents are known as Antiochenes. Once a great metropolis of a half million people, it declined to insignificance during the Middle Ages because of repeated earthquakes, the Crusaders' invasions, and a change in trade routes, following the Mongol conquests, which then no longer passed through Antioch from the far east.

Godfrey de Bouillion who led the first Holy War, said he could not be king and wear a crown of gold when jesus had only worn a crown of thorns so he was instead made "Advocate of the Holy Sepulcher"Died after one year in office and his brother Baldwin declared hiself King of Jerusalem, taking over the Aqsa Mosque, over the Dome of the Rock and converting it into his palace.His wife was Queen Morfia

Stephen of Blois--Count Stephen was one of the leaders of the First Crusade, often writing enthusiastic letters to Adela about the crusade's progress. Stephen was the head of the army council at the Crusaders' siege of Nicaea in 1097. He returned home in 1098 during the lengthy siege of Antioch, without having fulfilled his crusading vow to forge a way to Jerusalem. He was pressured by Adela into making a second pilgrimage, and joined the minor crusade of 1101 in the company of others who had also returned home prematurely. In 1102, Stephen was killed at the Second Battle of Ramla at the age of fifty-seven.
King .Stephen of England was the son of Adela, a daughter of William the Conqueror. Stephen's father was Stephen, Count of Blois. The Count was killed on Crusade and Stephen was looked after by his uncle, Henry I, the king of England. Stephen was bestowed with a great deal of land by Henry and he soon became extremely wealthy and powerful. In 1125 Stephen married Matilda of Boulogne, who was next in line to inherit the lands around Boulogne. This gave Stephen control of a major port on the Channel and control over trade between the two countries.
Claiming the throne
When King Henry I died the claimant to the throne was Matilda (also known as Maud) his daughter. Although it has been agreed that Matilda would rule with her husband, Geoffrey Plantagenet Count of Anjou, the Barons neither wanted a female ruler or a ruler from Anjou. Stephen was crowned at Westminster Abbey on the 22nd of December 1135. This started the war between Maude and Stephen

Edessa, Mesopotamia, now Şanlıurfa, Turkey County of Edessa, a crusader state

Tripoli is in northern Lebanon

Carcassonne in the Languedoc area. Archives held original writings of Josephus, the Jewish historian

Every thing Jewish came out of Egypt with Moses

Ankh-a symbol of life and prosperity not only in this life but in the next

Cherubim -supposedly on the top of the Arc.with their wings spread out touching one another God lived not in the arc but under the protection of their wings.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Templar Knights are a subject I find endlessly fascinating, so I eagerly seek out books about the subject whether the books are fiction or nonfiction. This fiction novel details the formation of the Knights, starting as a secret society in France, moving the story to Israel and the Middle East, and ending with the discovery of the "treasure" that would allow the Knights to become a powerful force for many decades. As these events unfold, the story follows Hugh de Payens, beginning with him as a teenager and ending with him in his 50s. Throughout the book we are introduced to other characters who play pivotal roles in the creation of the Templar Knights. The book is well-written and intricately detailed, plunging the reader right into the lives of these men and women who lived in a brutal era. You get a real sense of time and place, thanks in part to Whyte's descriptive prose. It took me a long time to read this book because Whyte's sentences are flowing, meaning there are many sentences that are 50 words long. Numerous times I had to go back and re-read sentences. Whyte writes very well, but the man loves commas. The most interesting aspect of the book was its take on the Christian religion. It's incredibly thought-provoking and probably a bit controversial to many readers. In fact, it probably could be considered blasphemous and offensive. I, however, found the ideas posited by Whyte intriguing and very credible and plausible. There were many ideas I had never really considered and the explanation for the Knights was revelatory. Since this is the first book in the trilogy, the story ends with the discovery that would "change the world." I'm eager to read the next two novels to see how Whyte brings the reader to the destruction of this group hundreds of years later. I highly recommend this book to fans of this secret organization and lovers of this time period.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had trouble getting excited about this book. I liked the philosophical discussion of Christianity and the Templar History. However the action and pace of the book was lacking.

[Elise - ABook&ACup · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Belinda Vlasbaard · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars - English Ebook

Review follows later.

[Steven Muhlberger · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not quite sure why I read this book, since I have little patience with big conspiracy novels. I think I was influenced by reviews to see what a successful mass market author could do with the extraordinary real-life history of the Templars. I found the author's knowledge of medieval society sadly lacking. He is capable of writing reasonably clear prose, and that's about it. Might be a good airport book.

[Holly Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book of the Templar Trilogy and, I really liked reading it. The beginning of the book recounts the sacking of Jerusalem in 1066 and it just continues from there. It follows the life of Hugh de Payens and the forming and beginnings of the Knights of the Temple Mount or the more well known Knights Templar. Book 2 is Standard Of Honor, I'm looking forward to reading the whole trilogy. Very Good Book.

[Dan Stoicescu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Context si personaje promitatoare,text incalcit cu multiple pasaje redundante.

[Heather Singh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very long read. Lots about religion in it. There were parts I thought unnecessary for the story in the middle.

[Dawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

A brother of the Order-a medieval secret society uniting noble families in a sacred bond-Sir Hugh de Payens has emerged from the First Crusade a broken man seeking to dedicate his life to God. But the Order has other plans for him: to uncover a deadly secret that could shatter the very might of the Church itself.


So this was supposed to be a kind of Dan Brown-esque historical fiction of the founding of the Knights Templar, beginning with the taking back of Jerusalem in 1099. The characters are flat, the writing continues to drag on and repeat itself continuously in several places across several characters’ histories (we get it, learning that St. Paul wasn’t a saint, that Jesus Christ was just a man, and every single man of the Order struggled with the Truth didn’t have to be told several times by multiple points of view). Then there’s the timeline. It was several years from the time de Payen entered the Order and two decades after he helped with the sacking of Jerusalem, not to mention about a year before becoming a “fighting monk,” and an additional eight digging...that puts him and his best friends easily in their 50s. In the 12th century. Besides that, the two decades part kept changing—it was “over two decades,” “close to two decades,” “nearly two decades,” “two decades,” how much time?! Not to mention Sir Stephen...I mean Brother Stephen. He would have been a toddler at the time of the first battle.

[SLIKK519 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting topic, but similar to other whyte novels historical accuracy seems to trump story

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Keeping in mind that I don't really hold any particular religious views, and have very little "formal" education on the subject (aside from a couple of non-western religion classes in college), I do know, from my reading of history, the part the Christian Church has played in the world in the last couple thousand years, as well as those belief systems that came before, and after. Having said that, I don't know much about the Templars, other than what I've gotten from movies & Cities Underground and the like on History & Discovery channel. So, I do not know if the entire premise of this story is complete hooey or not. I'm going to assume that Mr. Whyte based this on something somewhat concrete, or one of the more prevalent theories on the Templars' emergence. Just like in the Camulod Chronicles, it was perfectly plausible that as the Romans were pulling out of Britania, some would see the end coming and plan accordingly.

So, Knights of the Black & White, from France to the Holy Land, I'll go with it. We know the Crusades happened, people from Christendom went to the Holy Land. Now, this particular group, specifically chosen? Sure, why not? So they go to the Holy Land, and so begins the mission inside the mission. I could see, in light of the education the members of the Order receive, the turning away from the violence and mayhem that the other knights took part in. But I am not entirely sure anyone trained in combat, at that time, from such a young age, would actually have that much issue with it. So again, assuming that conscience is part of that additional education the Order gives, and your average knight does NOT get, then I can see the progression to the creation of Warrior Monks. It seemed to be relatively politic-free, but maybe more comes as the story progresses in the next books; maybe I am biased because everything today is tinged with politics?

Overall, once I made the decision to go along with a couple of the main premises, I really enjoyed the story, and look forward to the next book in the series. This first book wasn't quite as fleshed out as The Skystone, I didn't quite get the same kind of visuals from it, but again, that might be my prejudices, having been to England and not Jerusalem. I thought that maybe the Princess's storyline was a bit over the top, and in the end, a bit superfluous, but maybe St Clair couldn't get where he was going any other way. Don't know. I will be curious to see how the next book carries on the story, maybe putting a few of the things in this first one in better light? An intriguing story, good character development, even if not of the same caliber as Camulod - or maybe it requires the same investment as Camulod to feel that way?

One thing that bugged me throughout the book, though, was the phrase "even although" - isn't that redundant? "Although" or "Even though", not "even although". I hope that was just some poor editing, or maybe a local dialect thing that I've just never run across; it jumped off the page and hurt my brain every time I read it :(

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Returning for another series from the excellent Jack Whyte-who is fast becoming one of my favourite authors. I've been surprised to read that so many have not enjoyed this series. Granted it doesn't have the colour and excitement of the "Camulod" series, but that in itself is not enough to dismiss it out of hand. Whyte writes beautifully:long, descriptive sentences and paragraphs which are full of interest and fact, so we gain on various counts. For this alone I fail to see why he is being criticised:he is clearaly knowledgeable and passionate about his subject, which he appears to have resesarched well, and which he is keen to share with his audience-and for this I think he should be commended. Granted, it makes the resultant book rather lengthy-especcially the first 100 or so pages-but the reader could skim read, if necessary.

The first in the Templar series concerns the finding of the underground vaults and " treasure", introducing the main characters, from both sides. There is not a huge amount of epic action-but what there is is done well, and at times the novel becomes a truly page turning work of renown. Moral, theological, political and historical ideas are examined at length, and introduced into the releveant characters's lives, which give them added potency. The search to unearth the truth behind The Temple on the Mount thus begins well and sets the reader up for a hopefully interesting denouement in the following books in the series. Hugh de Payens is perhaps the leading, central character throughout, and I am certainly hoping that we will be learning more about him-although as he is one of the older (ie in his 50s!), characters, then his time with us is likely to be limited.

I certainly recommend this highly-not only to those who are interested in this period of history-but also to those who just want to read an exciting but well reserached novel. Another success from Whyte's pen.

[John Hanson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not very far in, less than 100 pages, and I don't think I will invest much more time in it. It exhibits a sense of showing versus telling, but it's not blatantly bad - it didn't make me cringe or want to throw it in my woodstove. It's air smells of tell and underlying uncomfortableness.

I felt the voice was wrong. I picked it up and set it down many times over the last couple of days -- read it during breaks in the Oscars -- and several times I was thrown off by the thrid person as I expected a first person voice. I've never had that happen to me before. I'm not sure what it means; I can only assume the voice was mis-written.

Some of the words were too big and many of the ideas too small. I felt some empathy for the characters, but I'm not drawn in enough. There's too much fluffy detail and not enough poignant character tension. The overall chapter/scene construction was fine re tension points, but the implementation wallowed around too much. I do want to know what happens next, but I'm not sure I want to wade through the bog to discover it.

*sigh*

I might add more later, if there is a later.

[Myreadbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Je tiens à remercier les éditions Bragelonne et le site Netgalley pour ce partenariat.

L'histoire se déroule en France en 1905, Le pape veux reconquérir les lieux saints. Des années plus tard Hugh de Payns arrive à Jérusalem qui est mis à feu et à sang. Il travaille pour une confrérie dont il n'a plus aucunes nouvelles pour retrouver le trésor caché du Christ. Il va fonder un nouvel ordre de moines qui prend le nom de Templiers. Il se jure de mettre en sécurité tous les pèlerins. Avec la confrérie il va tout mettre en œuvre pour trouver le trésor caché sous la cité et attirer toutes les personnes puissantes.

Étant un grand fan de cette époque avec les templiers je n'ai pas été déçu avec ce premier livre, j'ai accroché de suite à l'histoire, aux personnages et au scénario si addictif, captivant et rempli de suspens et de rebondissements, Hâte de lire la suite de ce livre.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading the Dream of Eagles series, I was very eager to try another of Whyte's historical epic series. I haven't been as keen about this one as I was the other, but since I LOVED the other set, I had no-where to really go from there. I do like Whyte's manner of storytelling, I find I sail on through his chapters, swept up in the language and the tale he weaves. I didn't get so attached to the characters in this set, as they change more often than in the other. But, as a fan of Whyte, I cannot say that I won't wait to see what magic he produces next. Fortunately, I still have the third in this series to read ahead of me.

[Mindi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I had a very hard time putting it down. It was well written and the characters were described well and while I read it I felt like I was there watching. It made me really think about the different religions and how they are very much alike in the most basic ways. I would highly recommend this book. Especially if you enjoy period books. I can't wait to read the next two in the trilogy.


If you decide to read this book I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

[Pointsandwheels · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read The DaVinci Code but I suspect that I enjoyed this more than I would Dan Brown's work. It was well-written, if very masculine. (Which is to be expected in a story about warrior monks, but it is a departure from my normal reading habits.) I'd like to read his Camlaud series and see how that works.

[Aaron Althuizen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first book by Jack Whyte that I picked up. It was a bit hard to get into, but once I got past a a hundred or so pages, I started to really enjoy it. Jack has a great way of story telling; highly detailed. Some readers might find it a bit dry though. After finishing this book, I immediately picked up the second of the trilogy.

[Lance Horne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quality read - enjoyed the book cover to cover. It's hard to find a book that does not portray the Templars as an evil entity. Jack Whyte borrows a bit from Masonic ritual which I think is a it out there, but let's be realistic - it's fiction!

[L.M. Mountford]

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 :/

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story using the history of the Templars! Definitely a page turner!

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great piece of historical fiction. It centers on Hugh de Payen and the formation of the Templar Knights. This is the first of Jack Whyte's awesome Templar Trilogy.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 2006, I discovered JACK WHYTE’s multivolume series on King Arthur entitled The Camulod Chronicles. Arthurian legends are one of my favorite topics to read. The series combined some of the myths as well as some factual information. I really enjoyed reading those books. The combination of truth and fiction is another attention getting device to which I am addicted.

Recently, my local public library drew my attention to Mr. Whyte’s second series dealing with the meteoric rise and dramatic fall of the Poor Knights of Christ of the Temple of Solomon also known as the KNIGHTS TEMPLAR. I do not remember when I became a fan of this historic and controversial group but it was 50 or more years ago. Along the way I have read many books, fiction and nonfiction, about the Templars. I was never one of those people who believed that they were evil-doers, devil worshippers, sacrilegious or worse.

KNIGHTS OF THE BLACK AND WHITE is the first of Mr. Whyte’s Templar series. The story opens late in the 11th Century. The Normans had been in control of England for less than 40 years. France was divided into Duchies and Counties with a King at the top of the pecking order. Some of the oldest and most powerful French families were members of a secret society that traced its history to the time of Jesus Christ and earlier. Huges de Payen was one of those knights. He is about to be inducted into that society and to learn its secrets.

By 1118 or so, Hugh (as the author calls him) and 8 of his fellow knights had relocated to Jerusalem. At their instigation and with the help of King Baldwin and the local Archbishop, they form the group later known as the Knights Templar. They are domiciled in stables on the grounds of the Temple Mount, sacred to Christians, Jews and Muslims. According to their society’s thousand year history, there are tunnels and secret rooms under the Temple Mount replete with treasures.

With the excuse of building an underground monastery, the nine warrior monks start digging into the solid rock looking for who knows what secrets that may be there. Hugh is now middle aged and the torch had passed to young Stephen St. Clair (Sinclair) to lead the exploration. The Knights also have the job of protecting pilgrims and other travelers in the Holy Land. There are plenty of warrior versus warrior fights to keep your attention. Also present is a romantic triangle among lovely Princess Alice, conniving Bishop Odo and St. Clair that leads to conflict and murder. The end reveals the treasures the Knights were seeking but it was not only gold and silver coins. I had goose bumps when it was revealed.

The mixture of fact and fiction makes Mr. Whyte’s stories so fascinating. In addition, his writing skills and storytelling abilities are magnificent. If you are a fan of history thrillers, mysteries or the Knights Templar, this is definitely a book for you.

GO! BUY! READ!

[Lucas Raihle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Knights of the black and white was a mixed bag for me, but mostly of positive things.

I think that the main problem is that the book doesn't really deliver in what it promised to. The cover I had featured two knights, one in black and one all in white, suggesting two conflicting orders, the blurb also mentioned something about " he sacrificed everything for the order, but at what cost". Neither of these suggestions we're a big plot point in the book. Also, in the middle of the book we suddenly start getting a lot of graphic sex scenes, seemingly out of nowhere, and they're not exactly ethical.

For the positive side, the book offers interesting questions about the nature of faith, sin, and being a good man, mainly raising questions about the validity of Christianity. Unfortunately it is not explored enough to my taste, but still interesting. The book portraits both Muslim and Christian characters in a fair light, though I know nothing of Islam so I cannot comment on the accuracy.

The book also spans some fifty years in interesting way. Whenever a character states something about "this task will take months or years" then the next chapter will begin that amount of time later. This allows the story to be realistic about the timeframe while still keeping the tempo.

I would recommend the book if you're at all curious about the time it is set in but not if you're a history buff as I suspect the inaccuracies would disturb you. While I don't know much about Templars there seems to be a lot of embellishment going on...