The Seal

Rosicrucian Quartet #2

by Adriana Koulias

ASIN B00AQ4UG3G moved to the more recent edition here and then here

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Amazon, Thriller, Fantasy, Mystery, Historical

453 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Adriana Koulias is the author of three novels: Temple of the Grail, The Seal and The Sixth Key.

She was born in 1960 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. At the age of nine her family moved to Australia. She travelled extensively throughout her youth and was fifteen before finally settling down in a small country town outside Coffs Harbour.

She has been a nurse, a singer songwriter, a professional artist, has studied history and philosophy and began writing her first book Temple of the Grail in 1995.

Adriana now lectures regularly on History, Philosophy and Esoteric Science.

Adriana' latest book THE SIXTH KEY has been nominated for both the Davitt and Ned Kelly Awards for Crime Fiction.

Reviews

[Julian · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you'd like to visit a medieval world but can't afford a ticket then buy this book. The Seal explores the last days of the Order of the Knights Templar and is a masterful exploration of the human spirit. It's extremely well researched and cleverly written. This is the second book I've read by Adriana Koulias and she keeps getting better.

[Carolyn Jourdan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really fun romp featuring Templar Knights, like the Da Vinci Code by an actual esoteric scholar (Dan Brown wrote a great read, but it was nonsense scholarship). The Seal would make a terrific movie. Reading it is like watching a great swashbuckling spectacle. Enjoying the heck out of this. Will get her others next.

[George Fodor · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am on page 60 or so in the Kindle edition. Gideon is cutting the scrotum from the body of a dead enemy; he will use this "sac" as a pocket on his jacket. What kind of research suggested this detail? Also, the Catalan's bawdy description of Norman women--they "smell like goats in season . . . " might be accurate, but goodness gracious, hardly "christian." This tends to be a slow read; I do not yet have a sense of where it's going. More to come.

[Kim Thomason · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this, but, from the beginning, it seemed plodding and one-dimensional. I read about one-third of the way hoping that it would pick up. It didn't. Also, there are some references that might be difficult for readers who don't already have some historical knowledge of the real Knights Templar.

[Nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not read beyond about page 10 of this book. I found it to be really badly written, like it was unfinished or hadn't been edited. I bought it for $5 at a book clearance sale... maybe that made me feel that I had a dud on my hands.

[John Henry · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too much yakking

Yak,yak,yak. All dialog. Whole chapters of useless conversations. If you thought this book was about knights and fighting. You were wrong.

[Robbie Forkish · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to know what *really* happened to the Templars, this is the book to read. It's historical fiction, so motivations and interior thoughts can be imagined. And it's inspired by Rudolf Steiner's teaching on the subject, therefore tying historical and spiritual knowledge together.

The Seal is book 2 of the Rosicrucian Quartet series. It's not the type of fiction that carries one away, hence the 4-star rating, but it does provide the deep and meaningful historical and spiritual foundations that animate the characters: Jacques de Molay, King Philip, and Pope Clement.

Adriana Koulias lectures frequently on anthroposophical topics, and she's undertaken an ambitious project with the Rosicrucian Quartet. I'm looking forward to reading the remaining two books.

[Alan Winegar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written book.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book

You people should just read this book yourselves and write your own review on this novel yourself and I really enjoyed reading this book very much so. Shelley MA

[robin misenheimer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book

I had a hard time keeping up with this book. I finished it with more questions than I started with.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like stories involving the Knights Templar this is a really good, well written, engaging, interesting and entertaining book. The story pulls you in and keeps you there until the end.

Although this is the 2nd in the series, I have not listened to the first book, that fact did not take away anything from the story.

The story is a fictional retelling of the downfall of the Knights Templar. Incorporating historical facts and characters into a great story. Even though you know the story and how it ends, the author brings the story to life by adding some twists and backstories to some of the mysteries surrounding individuals of the Knights Templar.

An author meets an old woman outside of Lockenhaus Castle in Austria. The old woman is much more than she seems. Through a deck of Tarot cards the story unfolds.

James Gillies did a great job narrating. He brought the story to life. His voice fit the story perfectly. All the character voices were good. He was able to convey the emotions of the characters. Smooth even pace. Clearly spoken. If the rest of the series is going to be put into audio form, he needs to be the narrator.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBoom.com

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

A contemporary author meets an old crone in her small store outside medieval Lockenhaus Castle in Austria. The crone invites him to sit and proceeds to read a deck of Tarot cards and the begins to tell him a tale of Order of the Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon (Templars) and their demise at the hands of the French King and Pope Clement V who are both plotting to destroy the Templars and acquire their supposed wealth. It’s a tale of medieval greed, plots, murder and betrayal as the three groups battle each other. An interesting read, although the end sort of fall flat as except for someone to hear the tale, the author has no other obvious reason to be in the story. It was a tale that’s readable but on that is also easy to put down for something else.

[Ralph Wark · Rating 3 out of 5]

No Faces

This is a meticulously researched book, but you know when you read a book you can imagine what people look like? I couldn't with this book the characterization wasn't that strong. And it was a bit wordy perhaps the author was trying to we create the verbiage of the time but it's seems to take to say what a sentence but it times. It's a fascinating piece of history the Templars, their gold, the politics of the time, the ironically named Philip the fair, but I found myself starting to automatically skim the last quarter of the book, just not a real page turner.

[Don]

I commenced reading The Seal a few weeks ago with high hopes of a good read. The first page, however, did not inspire me although I did persist for another ten or so before carefully placing it on the bedside table. Each night, since then, I have made sure that I have gone to bed too late to read and disturb my darling wife. And so it remains unread, unloved and unwanted.

Should I return it or push on?

Time will tell.

A revisit to this work did not inspire me any further.

Afraid it has been dispatched to the 'round file'.

[Adriana Koulias · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, it was poetic, wonderfully written, thoughtful, imaginative! A wonderful exploration of the demise of the Knights Templar! I'm an avid reader. I read all the booker prize winners and this book is up there with all of them! I fell in love with the lead character Etienne and I really enjoyed the fact that Koulias used language in such a creative way. It really enlivened the Middle ages for me. Hands down the best book I have read all year.

[Tamsin Ramone · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really loved 75% of this book, the start was gripping and it was well researched which is always interesting. The story line was good however I found the characters a bit transparent and the ending was a complete mess. By the end I was so confused I had to retread the last couple of chapters just to work out what was really happening. So all in all, not a bad read but if you want to read about the knights of the holy order I suggest you read The Hiram Key.

[Tim Schiraldi · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Each man suffers in the service of the whole because the whole is far greater and more holy than any man alone could be. It is then our duty to let our will be surpassed by a higher will for the greater good.’
An interesting take on the Templars, Pope Clement V, and King Phillip "The Fair". Historically accurate and interesting, if a bit heavy. This is book #1 in the "Rosicrucian Quartet". I will probably read book #2 after taking a break with a lighter read.

[Tony Vecchi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fictionalized telling of the end days of the Templars. Generally historically accurate in as far as the broad stokes, then of course the authors interpretation of events. Good read, fast moving, well written, I enjoyed reading this book.

[Velvetink]

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[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good story but about a hundred pages too long.

[thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the subject matter and the historic research was thorough. Slightly melodramatic but still a worthy read.

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Never really got into this story

[Makayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not too bad.

Enjoyed the historic aspect of this book. But for me it was slow going and took me a couple of weeks to finish. Great story and a good summer read.

[Joanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I rated this book as OK because I am a huge fan of historical fiction. This book however leaves much to be desired, it was a long and arduous read.

[Adriana Koulias · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can buy this book right now for $2.99 at: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AQ4UG3G

[John Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ok read! A little wordy at time!

[david m. kahler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad read at all; a twist on the Templar story. Good detail and history.