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Jack Howard #2
Crusader Gold
Jack Howard is the only man who can find out. But the clock is ticking against him. The quest to find out takes him from the fall of the Roman Empire to the last days of Nazi power - and uncovers a trail more thrilling than anyone could have imagined...
484 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2006
112 people are currently reading
3102 people want to read
About the author
David Gibbins
48 books603 followers Canadian-born underwater archaeologist and novelist. Gibbins learned to scuba dive at the age of 15 in Canada, and dived under ice, on shipwrecks and in caves while he was still at school. He has led numerous underwater archaeology expeditions around the world, including five seasons excavating ancient Roman shipwrecks off Sicily and a survey of the submerged harbour of ancient Carthage. In 1999-2000 he was part of an international team excavating a 5th century BC shipwreck off Turkey. His many publications on ancient shipwreck sites have appeared in scientific journals, books and popular magazines. Most recently his fieldwork has taken him to the Arctic Ocean, to Mesoamerica and to the Great Lakes in Canada.
After holding a Research Fellowship at Cambridge, he spent most of the 1990s as a Lecturer in the School of Archaeology, Classics and Oriental Studies at the University of Liverpool. On leaving teaching he become a novelist, writing archaeological thrillers derived from his own background. His novels have sold over two million copies and have been London Sunday Times and New York Times bestsellers. His first novel, Atlantis, published in the UK in 2005 and the US in September 2006, has been published in 30 languages and is being made into a TV miniseries; since then he has written five further novels, published in more than 100 editions internationally. His novels form a series based on the fictional maritime archaeologist Jack Howard and his team, and are contemporary thrillers involving a plausible archaeological backdrop.
After holding a Research Fellowship at Cambridge, he spent most of the 1990s as a Lecturer in the School of Archaeology, Classics and Oriental Studies at the University of Liverpool. On leaving teaching he become a novelist, writing archaeological thrillers derived from his own background. His novels have sold over two million copies and have been London Sunday Times and New York Times bestsellers. His first novel, Atlantis, published in the UK in 2005 and the US in September 2006, has been published in 30 languages and is being made into a TV miniseries; since then he has written five further novels, published in more than 100 editions internationally. His novels form a series based on the fictional maritime archaeologist Jack Howard and his team, and are contemporary thrillers involving a plausible archaeological backdrop.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 179 reviews
January 4, 2016
If I were a smarter man, or had more self-control, this is a book I would never have read. Having found Gibbins' debut novel "Atlantis" to be little more than a weaker version of a Clive Cussler novel I was in no hurry to read another. But then my wife decided to borrow his second novel, "Crusader Gold", from our local library and, finding "Atlantis" a quick if uninspiring read, I decided I probably had time to read this before it was due to be returned.
"Crusader Gold" is the story of a golden menorah, stolen from Jerusalem by the Romans and then later stolen from the Romans by Vikings who had taken part in the Crusades, hence the novel's title. Suddenly, just as Jack Howard has found evidence in Istanbul harbour backing up reports from the time, other discoveries in the Arctic ice and behind a bricked up staircase in an English library seem to point towards the ultimate destination of the menorah, which hasn't been seen for nearly 900 years.
As is usual when a discovery is made, others who have been searching for the same thing suddenly appear on the scene. With a treasure originally held in Jewish hands, it comes as no surprise that some of those chasing it are of Nazi sympathies. It is also no real surprise that sometimes Jack Howard and his team seem to be ahead of the game, only to find themselves chasing very soon afterwards.
Fortunately, this book is better written than the previous one. All the characters have their roles to play and there is no-one who seems to appear for no reason that to fill a plot hole. Admittedly, none of the characters have great depth, but coming back to Jack and Costas for a second time and understanding the references to their past does add a little extra that was missing last time around.
I did find the story a little less compelling than before, however. Maybe it was due to the legends of the Lost City of Atlantis having taken on an almost mythical quality, which the story of the theft of the menorah and the ancient Viking kings have not. This meant I felt less connected to the story than I had done before, even without the over-reliance on strange pieces of technology to get the out of many a tight spot.
Ultimately, "Crusader Gold" is a better book than "Atlantis", but only barely. The plot stretched disbelief less thinly here than in the earlier novel, but some of the opposing forces do seem to be there solely to add padding and make the story more interesting than it would have been without them, as the history behind the story had fewer hooks to hang a story on.
This review may also appear, in whole or in part, under my name at any or all of www.ciao.co.uk, www.goodreads.com and www.amazon.co.uk
"Crusader Gold" is the story of a golden menorah, stolen from Jerusalem by the Romans and then later stolen from the Romans by Vikings who had taken part in the Crusades, hence the novel's title. Suddenly, just as Jack Howard has found evidence in Istanbul harbour backing up reports from the time, other discoveries in the Arctic ice and behind a bricked up staircase in an English library seem to point towards the ultimate destination of the menorah, which hasn't been seen for nearly 900 years.
As is usual when a discovery is made, others who have been searching for the same thing suddenly appear on the scene. With a treasure originally held in Jewish hands, it comes as no surprise that some of those chasing it are of Nazi sympathies. It is also no real surprise that sometimes Jack Howard and his team seem to be ahead of the game, only to find themselves chasing very soon afterwards.
Fortunately, this book is better written than the previous one. All the characters have their roles to play and there is no-one who seems to appear for no reason that to fill a plot hole. Admittedly, none of the characters have great depth, but coming back to Jack and Costas for a second time and understanding the references to their past does add a little extra that was missing last time around.
I did find the story a little less compelling than before, however. Maybe it was due to the legends of the Lost City of Atlantis having taken on an almost mythical quality, which the story of the theft of the menorah and the ancient Viking kings have not. This meant I felt less connected to the story than I had done before, even without the over-reliance on strange pieces of technology to get the out of many a tight spot.
Ultimately, "Crusader Gold" is a better book than "Atlantis", but only barely. The plot stretched disbelief less thinly here than in the earlier novel, but some of the opposing forces do seem to be there solely to add padding and make the story more interesting than it would have been without them, as the history behind the story had fewer hooks to hang a story on.
This review may also appear, in whole or in part, under my name at any or all of www.ciao.co.uk, www.goodreads.com and www.amazon.co.uk
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January 18, 20160/5 stars. Oh...my God. I include this on my bookshelf simply because it holds the title of 'The Worst Book I Have Ever Read'. Unlike one other reviewer, I couldn't bring myself to not finish it (I've finished every book I've ever started), but every letter of every word of every page was a form of torture for me. I started to dislike READING, simply because of this book. I didn't forget to give it a star rating - it just deserves none. If anything, the book should give ME stars for having SURVIVED it.
OK, rant over. Now some justification, if I can manage to stay awake at the keyboard whilst I force myself to bring back the memories. I didn't help myself by reading this before 'Atlantis', which I slowly came to realise was the prequel to this book. But all I can remember of the first three quarters of this "novel" (sorry for the air quotes, by the way; but it really was that bad!) is conversations. Conversations ABOUT some royalty that lived thousands of years ago. It would've been much better if Gibbins would simply have SHOWN us those parts, rather than putting us through endless chats ABOUT them. And then the frenzied action at the end felt so out of place with what had gone before that I thought perhaps there'd been a printing error and I was now reading some other book. I cringe every time I walk past Gibbins's works in a bookshop, and I never want to think about this one ever again.
OK, rant over. Now some justification, if I can manage to stay awake at the keyboard whilst I force myself to bring back the memories. I didn't help myself by reading this before 'Atlantis', which I slowly came to realise was the prequel to this book. But all I can remember of the first three quarters of this "novel" (sorry for the air quotes, by the way; but it really was that bad!) is conversations. Conversations ABOUT some royalty that lived thousands of years ago. It would've been much better if Gibbins would simply have SHOWN us those parts, rather than putting us through endless chats ABOUT them. And then the frenzied action at the end felt so out of place with what had gone before that I thought perhaps there'd been a printing error and I was now reading some other book. I cringe every time I walk past Gibbins's works in a bookshop, and I never want to think about this one ever again.
September 11, 2017
4.5 με 5 αστεράκια, τελικά 5αρι ολοστρόγγυλο. Βασικά, το βιβλίο αξίζει περισσότερο για 4 (και αν είσαι σε πολύ καλό mood, εμένα όμως με έπιασε στο ευαίσθητο σημείο μου...)
Διαβάζοντας αρχικά για θησαυρούς Σταυροφόρων, μενόρες και Ιουδαίους η αλήθεια είναι πως σκέφτηκα πως δεν θα τα πάμε καλά. Ούτε με την θρησκεία το έχω, ούτε με την αναζήτηση του Χαμένου Δισκοπότηρου, ούτε μπορώ να πω πως αυτός ο κλάδος της Ιστορίας/Αρχαιολογίας/Λαογραφίας με συγκινεί ιδιαίτερα. Οπότε, πήρα βαθιά ανάσα και το ξεκίνησα, μην περιμένοντας να με πολυκερδίσει.
Κι όμως! Ο David Gibbins, με μια πένα πότε άκρως ενθουσιώδη και πότε αρκούντως κατατονική, τα κατάφερε! Ενώ ο κύριος στόχος είναι η ανακάλυψη της θρυλικής μενόρα, η ζωή κάνει κύκλους και φέρνει την ομάδα σε μέρη που ούτε οι ίδιοι δεν περίμεναν να βρεθούν! Από τα νερά του Κεράτιου Κόλπου ταξιδεύουν σ' εκείνα της Αρκτικής και κατόπιν στα τροπικά νερά της Καραϊβικής. Η αφήγηση πολλές φορές μπορεί να φαντάζει 'αδιανόητη', εγώ όμως νομίζω πως δένει μια χαρά και δεν ξενίζει τον αναγνώστη. Πέρα από τα "επίσημα" στοιχεία που έχουν προκύψει από έρευνες και τα οποία με μαεστρία εντάσσει ο Gibbins στην πλοκή του, το κομμάτι της καθαρής φαντασίας επίσης δικαιολογεί αρκούντως τις εξελίξεις και δεν υπάρχει πουθενά κοιλιά ή καταστάσεις που φαντάζουν υπερβολικές ή ψεύτικες.
Προσωπικά, αυτό που με συγκίνησε -πράγμα που δεν μου συμβαίνει και πολύ συχνά- και με έκανε να καταλήξω στο 5αρι ήταν το γεγονός πως Πραγματικά, ο τρόπος που περιγράφει τα παραπάνω γεγονότα ο συγγραφέας με συγκίνησε και με συγκλόνισε - δεν ξέρω αν το έκανε καθαρά για επίκληση στο αναγνωστικό συναίσθημα, όμως στην περίπτωσή μου το κατάφερε. Μπήκα στη θέση αυτών των ανθρώπων, προσπάθησα να φανταστώ το τι σκέφτονταν και πώς ένιωθαν, και ταρακουνήθηκα. Κι έτσι η μενόρα ήρθε σε εντελώς δεύτερη μοίρα!
Συνεχίζω με το τρίτο βιβλίο της σειράς, κρατώντας τις καλύτερες αναμνήσεις από αυτό εδώ. Επαναλαμβάνω, δεν είναι το απαύγασμα της λογοτεχνίας που αξίζει αβέρτα 4αρια και 5αρια, αλλά πολλές φορές ένα βιβλίο ξυπνάει απρόσμενα κι αναπάντεχα πολλά συναισθήματα μέσα μας. Και, μιας κι αυτό είναι ένα από τα κύρια ζητούμενα ενός αναγνώστη, νομίζω πως πρέπει να επιβραβεύεται!
Διαβάζοντας αρχικά για θησαυρούς Σταυροφόρων, μενόρες και Ιουδαίους η αλήθεια είναι πως σκέφτηκα πως δεν θα τα πάμε καλά. Ούτε με την θρησκεία το έχω, ούτε με την αναζήτηση του Χαμένου Δισκοπότηρου, ούτε μπορώ να πω πως αυτός ο κλάδος της Ιστορίας/Αρχαιολογίας/Λαογραφίας με συγκινεί ιδιαίτερα. Οπότε, πήρα βαθιά ανάσα και το ξεκίνησα, μην περιμένοντας να με πολυκερδίσει.
Κι όμως! Ο David Gibbins, με μια πένα πότε άκρως ενθουσιώδη και πότε αρκούντως κατατονική, τα κατάφερε! Ενώ ο κύριος στόχος είναι η ανακάλυψη της θρυλικής μενόρα, η ζωή κάνει κύκλους και φέρνει την ομάδα σε μέρη που ούτε οι ίδιοι δεν περίμεναν να βρεθούν! Από τα νερά του Κεράτιου Κόλπου ταξιδεύουν σ' εκείνα της Αρκτικής και κατόπιν στα τροπικά νερά της Καραϊβικής. Η αφήγηση πολλές φορές μπορεί να φαντάζει 'αδιανόητη', εγώ όμως νομίζω πως δένει μια χαρά και δεν ξενίζει τον αναγνώστη. Πέρα από τα "επίσημα" στοιχεία που έχουν προκύψει από έρευνες και τα οποία με μαεστρία εντάσσει ο Gibbins στην πλοκή του, το κομμάτι της καθαρής φαντασίας επίσης δικαιολογεί αρκούντως τις εξελίξεις και δεν υπάρχει πουθενά κοιλιά ή καταστάσεις που φαντάζουν υπερβολικές ή ψεύτικες.
Προσωπικά, αυτό που με συγκίνησε -πράγμα που δεν μου συμβαίνει και πολύ συχνά- και με έκανε να καταλήξω στο 5αρι ήταν το γεγονός πως Πραγματικά, ο τρόπος που περιγράφει τα παραπάνω γεγονότα ο συγγραφέας με συγκίνησε και με συγκλόνισε - δεν ξέρω αν το έκανε καθαρά για επίκληση στο αναγνωστικό συναίσθημα, όμως στην περίπτωσή μου το κατάφερε. Μπήκα στη θέση αυτών των ανθρώπων, προσπάθησα να φανταστώ το τι σκέφτονταν και πώς ένιωθαν, και ταρακουνήθηκα. Κι έτσι η μενόρα ήρθε σε εντελώς δεύτερη μοίρα!
Συνεχίζω με το τρίτο βιβλίο της σειράς, κρατώντας τις καλύτερες αναμνήσεις από αυτό εδώ. Επαναλαμβάνω, δεν είναι το απαύγασμα της λογοτεχνίας που αξίζει αβέρτα 4αρια και 5αρια, αλλά πολλές φορές ένα βιβλίο ξυπνάει απρόσμενα κι αναπάντεχα πολλά συναισθήματα μέσα μας. Και, μιας κι αυτό είναι ένα από τα κύρια ζητούμενα ενός αναγνώστη, νομίζω πως πρέπει να επιβραβεύεται!
October 10, 2012
First book I checked out online via my kindle, I'm really liking the online checking out.
This book had a lot of elements I like in a story, but it might have had too much. There were, in no particular order: Vikings, the Crusades, Istanbul, England, Greenland, Nazis, North America, South America, age old secret societies and Aztecs. It got a little confusing at times. Costas, being an engineer and not an archeologist, helped out the reader this time by asking questions so we could try and keep things straight.
Still, I enjoyed it, except for the part where pretty much all of their discoveries(no joke) end up destroyed and only the characters who were there know the truth(fat lot of good that does anybody =P)
This book had a lot of elements I like in a story, but it might have had too much. There were, in no particular order: Vikings, the Crusades, Istanbul, England, Greenland, Nazis, North America, South America, age old secret societies and Aztecs. It got a little confusing at times. Costas, being an engineer and not an archeologist, helped out the reader this time by asking questions so we could try and keep things straight.
Still, I enjoyed it, except for the part where pretty much all of their discoveries(no joke) end up destroyed and only the characters who were there know the truth(fat lot of good that does anybody =P)
March 17, 2016
I thought it would be a good idea to read this book so soon after the one on the Crusades, seeing as it's the book I'm on in the series anyway, but it turned out not to be about the Crusades at all! For a historical mystery like this, the characters are surprisingly developed and likable, whereas it's usually a big detraction from such books.
June 2, 2018
A long, convoluted, confusing story of marine archaeologists and scientists who just stand around and explain things to each other in every chapter. There isn’t any character development and though the pace increased in the final act of the book, because the villain FINALLY showed up, by then I didn’t care. Any action that does occur is told in confusing narrative or uses technical jargon and even then I didn’t understand how or why the main characters were in peril because I didn’t understand what was happening to them.
December 11, 2020
Virtually unreadable. Stilted dialog as characters jumped from one site to the next, always stumbling upon “the find of the century.” Descriptions of places and people read like cardboard with no depth or color.
January 18, 2023
Good build up. Ending felt a bit rushed.
August 5, 2024
Af en toe een beetje te ver over de top met het linken van culturen.
December 16, 2010
This is David Gibbins' second book - the first, Atlantis, I have not read - and it shows. The style is there and the great storytelling is there but it does feel a bit like he is feeling his way into this writer thing. I wasn't too impressed in the diving inside an iceberg bit, probably because I am not a diver and so the jargon (and other descriptions) were quite lost on me. The "almost" being frozen inside the berg was a bit difficult to swallow and the way they get out of the impossible, and lets face it massively improbable, situation was a stretch too far. He tried to cram too much descriptive writing into this bit and it all got a bit confusing. I think Gibbins must have read the Tom Knox book as he includes some descriptions of ritual sacrifice which, thank goodness he does not elaborate the way Knox did but did he need them?
Deftly combining 1066 (and all that), Constantinople, the Maya and the 3rd Reich, oh and the bloody Vikings and the menorah. That's a tall order.
I particularly like the passages at the back of the book which explain the true elements of the story and describe how he wove them together to create an hypothesis which entirely plausible. Shame the writing was a bit clunky. The Last Gospel is way better.
Deftly combining 1066 (and all that), Constantinople, the Maya and the 3rd Reich, oh and the bloody Vikings and the menorah. That's a tall order.
I particularly like the passages at the back of the book which explain the true elements of the story and describe how he wove them together to create an hypothesis which entirely plausible. Shame the writing was a bit clunky. The Last Gospel is way better.
June 25, 2022
Major content warning: this book contains the gratuitous rape of a character.
The only reason I finished this book was cause I was on vacation and had nothing else to read and I got it for free from a Little Free Library in town.
Reading this book was like reading a Wikipedia article. The characters are so poor they aren’t even 1-dimensional, they’re just names on a page which exist to “As You Know Bob” exposition-dump information to each other for the entire book in exactly the same tone of voice. The book contains exactly two action sequences—one inscrutable one in the middle and then a rushed, unexpectedly gristly one at the end, which contains aforementioned sexual assault. But fortunately the characters aren’t really characters so I was only barely frazzled by it.
Whats most frustrating is that the author clearly CAN write; the intro prologue was actually lovely. But he clearly needs help with building a plot thats not an essay. this is only his second book tho so maybe he got better? Not gonna read more tho so I guess thatll remain a mystery for me. 🤷🏽♀️
One extra star only cause the author is an educator and made clear effort to identify what stuff was based on reality and what was the pure fantasy speculation, which I appreciate.
The only reason I finished this book was cause I was on vacation and had nothing else to read and I got it for free from a Little Free Library in town.
Reading this book was like reading a Wikipedia article. The characters are so poor they aren’t even 1-dimensional, they’re just names on a page which exist to “As You Know Bob” exposition-dump information to each other for the entire book in exactly the same tone of voice. The book contains exactly two action sequences—one inscrutable one in the middle and then a rushed, unexpectedly gristly one at the end, which contains aforementioned sexual assault. But fortunately the characters aren’t really characters so I was only barely frazzled by it.
Whats most frustrating is that the author clearly CAN write; the intro prologue was actually lovely. But he clearly needs help with building a plot thats not an essay. this is only his second book tho so maybe he got better? Not gonna read more tho so I guess thatll remain a mystery for me. 🤷🏽♀️
One extra star only cause the author is an educator and made clear effort to identify what stuff was based on reality and what was the pure fantasy speculation, which I appreciate.
August 16, 2024
Ci tengo a precisare che non ho letto nulla dell'autore prima d'ora, nemmeno il primo libro della serie di Jack Howard (Atlantis).
All'inizio ho cominciato a leggere senza aspettarmi nulla in particolare, ma questo libro mi ha fatto davvero conoscere un argomento che non avevo mai affrontato prima, con prospettive completamente diverse da quelle che tipicamente possiamo trovare in un libro di testo, tuttavia mi sembrava comunque di leggere un romanzo. Mi è piaciuta la svolta che la trama ha preso negli ultimi capitoli, anche se all'inizio ho dovuto familiarizzare con lo stile di scrittura dell'autore.
Uno degli aspetti negativi è che avevo costantemente la sensazione di voler finire il libro, volevo che finisse in modo da poter leggere qualcos'altro. E so che questa non è la sensazione migliore quando si legge un libro: leggiamo per goderci il processo, non per completarlo. Potrebbe essere dipeso da uno di questi tre motivi, o da tutti: non era il momento giusto per me, mi sono costretta a leggerlo o semplicemente non mi è piaciuto.
Lo consiglierei se si è interessati all'archeologia o alla storia, ma non come una lettura "rilassante" in quanto richiede la tua attenzione in ogni momento.
All'inizio ho cominciato a leggere senza aspettarmi nulla in particolare, ma questo libro mi ha fatto davvero conoscere un argomento che non avevo mai affrontato prima, con prospettive completamente diverse da quelle che tipicamente possiamo trovare in un libro di testo, tuttavia mi sembrava comunque di leggere un romanzo. Mi è piaciuta la svolta che la trama ha preso negli ultimi capitoli, anche se all'inizio ho dovuto familiarizzare con lo stile di scrittura dell'autore.
Uno degli aspetti negativi è che avevo costantemente la sensazione di voler finire il libro, volevo che finisse in modo da poter leggere qualcos'altro. E so che questa non è la sensazione migliore quando si legge un libro: leggiamo per goderci il processo, non per completarlo. Potrebbe essere dipeso da uno di questi tre motivi, o da tutti: non era il momento giusto per me, mi sono costretta a leggerlo o semplicemente non mi è piaciuto.
Lo consiglierei se si è interessati all'archeologia o alla storia, ma non come una lettura "rilassante" in quanto richiede la tua attenzione in ogni momento.
March 5, 2011
I haven't read David Gibbins first book about Atlantis but I felt intrigued by the 'Crusader's Gold' so much I bought it on this years' book sale. I'm a great fan of historical fiction and I like the idea how authors can take the time to read up on, and none the less actually produce an interesting story of historical facts (not that facts on their own can't be interesting).
Half way through this book; however, it occured to me that I felt it somewhat a mix of 'The Da Vinci Code' and 'Hellboy'.. if that is a good thing, I don't know. But I must say David Gibbins managed to bring a lot of different history into this book - which might not be all good - sometimes I felt it to be just a little too much to weave nazism, ancient rome, crusaders, catholic church, vikings, native americans, and maya into one book of merely 350 pages.
Half way through this book; however, it occured to me that I felt it somewhat a mix of 'The Da Vinci Code' and 'Hellboy'.. if that is a good thing, I don't know. But I must say David Gibbins managed to bring a lot of different history into this book - which might not be all good - sometimes I felt it to be just a little too much to weave nazism, ancient rome, crusaders, catholic church, vikings, native americans, and maya into one book of merely 350 pages.
June 6, 2024
This has been a great read. I'm rereading the series because I missed a few books in the sequence and want to go from beginning to end. I'm loving this series, but there is one extremely minor gripe that I need to put out there since I have read Arthur since I was a teen. Gibbins has made a confusing statement. He references The Death of Arthur on page 236 and credits Alfred Lord Tennyson. He uses the French Morte d'Arthur. The problem is that The Death of Arthur comes from Tennyson's Idylls of the King set of poems. Any reader of the Arthur Romances with link Morte d'Arthur with Sir Thomas Mallory's Le Morte d'Arthur.
April 17, 2015
Fast moving and exciting in most parts - it was definitely as described - Indiana Jones meets Cove Cussler. However I was disappointed with the anticlimactic end and that's all I'm going to say so as not to be a spoiler! Meanwhile the authors node at the end of the novel separated historical fact from historical fiction and was very interesting to read. This novel provided elucidation on the Viking explorers of whom I previously didn't know to much.
December 5, 2019
A terrible slog of a read. Gibbins tries to weave in far too many historical elements, making the storyline seem wholly unbelievable. Painfully made it to the end after pages of what felt like endless dialogue between two-dimensional characters that I didn't seem to know at all.
It was a shame as the bones of it could have made an interesting story, it was just way too clunky a read and took suspended disbelief a step too far.
It was a shame as the bones of it could have made an interesting story, it was just way too clunky a read and took suspended disbelief a step too far.
April 2, 2015
Lots of history for buffs of same. Narrated well by James Langton. ©2014
June 28, 2015
This is the third book in this series that I have read and it is by far the best of the three. A fast paced tale of archaelogical mystery concerning the Vikings and their wanderings. Recommended.
November 2, 2024
Hann til ragnarök!
March 6, 2014
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 17, 2019
Review in English and Spanish for my friends in GR. (Versión en español debajo)
These are the kind of books you need to read and re read or you'll miss a bunch of story there. I love treasure hunting books, and when the heroe is an archeologist (my dream carreer) then it makes up for a perfect receipe. Now, sometimes i got a bit overwhelmed with all the history here, all the places we went to and trying to follow the historial characters and their adventures. At first i though we would be seen some roman rock stars from the past, but noo, it was even better, VIKINGS!!! HELL YESS. LOVED IT.
The villains were a bit ridiculous and as much as i love Jack i have to admit Costas saved our butts every time!!. Anyway, definitely going to follow up with the rest of the books but i wished Jack was more of a heroe in the other than it was here.
**
Me parece que no hay versión en español de este libro. Una lástima.
Estos son el tipo de libros que necesitas leer y releer o te perderás un montón de historia allí. Me encantan los libros de búsqueda de tesoros, y cuando el héroe es un arqueólogo (mi carrera de ensueño), entonces se convierte en una receta perfecta. Ahora, a veces me sentí un poco abrumada con toda la historia aquí, todos los lugares a los que fuimos y tratando de seguir la pista de los personajes históricos y sus aventuras. Al principio pensé que veríamos algunas estrellas de rock romanas del pasado, pero noooo, fue incluso mejor, fueron VIKINGOS !!! ME ENCANTÓ!!
Los villanos eran un poco ridículos y, por mucho que amo a Jack, debo admitir que Costas salvó nuestros traseros en todo momento. De todos modos, definitivamente voy a seguir con el resto de los libros, pero desearía que Jack fuera más un héroe en los próximos de lo que fue aquí.
These are the kind of books you need to read and re read or you'll miss a bunch of story there. I love treasure hunting books, and when the heroe is an archeologist (my dream carreer) then it makes up for a perfect receipe. Now, sometimes i got a bit overwhelmed with all the history here, all the places we went to and trying to follow the historial characters and their adventures. At first i though we would be seen some roman rock stars from the past, but noo, it was even better, VIKINGS!!! HELL YESS. LOVED IT.
The villains were a bit ridiculous and as much as i love Jack i have to admit Costas saved our butts every time!!. Anyway, definitely going to follow up with the rest of the books but i wished Jack was more of a heroe in the other than it was here.
**
Me parece que no hay versión en español de este libro. Una lástima.
Estos son el tipo de libros que necesitas leer y releer o te perderás un montón de historia allí. Me encantan los libros de búsqueda de tesoros, y cuando el héroe es un arqueólogo (mi carrera de ensueño), entonces se convierte en una receta perfecta. Ahora, a veces me sentí un poco abrumada con toda la historia aquí, todos los lugares a los que fuimos y tratando de seguir la pista de los personajes históricos y sus aventuras. Al principio pensé que veríamos algunas estrellas de rock romanas del pasado, pero noooo, fue incluso mejor, fueron VIKINGOS !!! ME ENCANTÓ!!
Los villanos eran un poco ridículos y, por mucho que amo a Jack, debo admitir que Costas salvó nuestros traseros en todo momento. De todos modos, definitivamente voy a seguir con el resto de los libros, pero desearía que Jack fuera más un héroe en los próximos de lo que fue aquí.
April 3, 2021
Cei doi vulturi de aur pluteau deasupra oraşului venind dinspre vest, îndreptându-se neabătut înspre podium, cu bătăi de aripi încete şi profunde. În lumina pastelată a zorilor umbrele lor păreau a se ondula, căpătând proporţii gigantice de-a lungul templului şi al monumentelor din Forum, ca doi locuitori ai tărâmului lui Hades care vin să îşi reclame locul de drept la masa victoriei. În ultima clipă, vulturii îşi schimbară direcţia către nord, zburând în lung de Via Sacra. Bărbatul cu coroană de lauri care stătea singur pe podium simţi atingerea aripilor şi văzu flamurile purpurii din ghearele lor şi lumina reflectată acolo unde penajul lor fusese stropit cu aur. Ei erau perechea lui victorioasă, descendenţi ai vajnicilor vulturi pe care îi adusese la Roma pentru a sărbători alt triumf, cu aproape jumătate de secol în urmă, şi care fuseseră smulşi din cuiburile lor izolate undeva în vârful munţilor situaţi la marginea de nord a imperiului. Îi privea acum înălţându-se maiestuos deasupra centrului oraşului, cu aripile întinse de parcă ar fi plutit pe un curent de aer ascensional format de respiraţia oamenilor adunaţi de-o parte şi de alta pe Via Sacra. Ajunşi în cel mai înalt punct, rămaseră aparent nemişcaţi, ca şi cum Jupiter însuşi îi prinsese în îmbrăţişarea sa. Apoi, cu un ţipăt răguşit, se înălţară şi plonjară cu aripile strânse, năpustindu-se peste Templul Capitoliului şi ieşind din raza privirii, înapoi spre legiunile comasate pe Câmpul lui Marte.
În tăcerea tremurătoare care urmă, toţi ochii se aţintiră asupra podiumului. Bărbatul îşi dădu mantia la o parte conform obiceiului şi îşi ridică braţul drept cu palma în exterior, astfel încât să fie văzut de toţi. Semnul fusese unul bun. Cel mai grandios marş triumfal al tuturor timpurilor putea începe.
În tăcerea tremurătoare care urmă, toţi ochii se aţintiră asupra podiumului. Bărbatul îşi dădu mantia la o parte conform obiceiului şi îşi ridică braţul drept cu palma în exterior, astfel încât să fie văzut de toţi. Semnul fusese unul bun. Cel mai grandios marş triumfal al tuturor timpurilor putea începe.
May 29, 2018
I had already read 'Atlantis' and a later book in this series, 'Tiger Warrior' so was quite pleased when I found a copy of 'Crusader Gold' at a book sale.
I thought it was good that it had a map at the front which helped me to get a better sense of all the different locations in the book. The plot does jump around a bit to lots of different locations but it is still fairly easy to follow the storyline and it does not really distract the reader from the text. All the characters are quite well developed and believable and it was nice that we revisited the characters from the other books.
The author's note at the end was very interesting and informative. I liked learning about the Menorah and that the only known image of it is on the Arch of Titus in Rome. I thought it was cool that there actually was a secret chamber discovered there as well. It is great that a lot is base don the author's own experiences on archaeological sites and of diving in caverns and passageways. It made these sections feel more real and believable, although this knowledge did make some bits sound a bit overly technical which might be off-putting for some readers.
Unfortunately it did get slightly repetitive in a few places and I did find a typo on page 316 (it says 'avioded' the Gulf Stream instead of avoided so I did enjoy this slightly less than the other books I've read but I will still definitely look out for more books in this series.
I thought it was good that it had a map at the front which helped me to get a better sense of all the different locations in the book. The plot does jump around a bit to lots of different locations but it is still fairly easy to follow the storyline and it does not really distract the reader from the text. All the characters are quite well developed and believable and it was nice that we revisited the characters from the other books.
The author's note at the end was very interesting and informative. I liked learning about the Menorah and that the only known image of it is on the Arch of Titus in Rome. I thought it was cool that there actually was a secret chamber discovered there as well. It is great that a lot is base don the author's own experiences on archaeological sites and of diving in caverns and passageways. It made these sections feel more real and believable, although this knowledge did make some bits sound a bit overly technical which might be off-putting for some readers.
Unfortunately it did get slightly repetitive in a few places and I did find a typo on page 316 (it says 'avioded' the Gulf Stream instead of avoided so I did enjoy this slightly less than the other books I've read but I will still definitely look out for more books in this series.
June 8, 2018
Star Rating: 5 stars
Note: This is the 2nd book in the Jack Howard series so this will not be an in-depth review.
Having absolutely loving book 1, Atlantis, I decided to pick up Crusader Gold by David Gibbins, book 2 in the Jack Howard series. It continues the story of the underwater archaeologist Jack Howard as he travels the globe pursuing a myriad of different archaeology mysteries with his ragtag band of friends and fellow experts. This one focuses on the Vikings and the theories concerning their globetrotting journeys of exploration.
If you don’t know this about me, I am very interested in ancient history, anthropology, and archaeology so this book and its subject matter were right up my street. I am even thinking about pursuing these areas for my career. This book also features theories that I find incredibly compelling- the theories of Viking exploration, even though it does expand on them and add fictional elements. When I started this book, I thought it was about the Crusades and I wasn’t as interested, but then I realized it was taking a completely different direction and I got really interested and finished it in one day.
If you have an interest in archaeology or ancient history, then I think you will love this book and series. I do and I did. 5 stars!!!!
Note: This is the 2nd book in the Jack Howard series so this will not be an in-depth review.
Having absolutely loving book 1, Atlantis, I decided to pick up Crusader Gold by David Gibbins, book 2 in the Jack Howard series. It continues the story of the underwater archaeologist Jack Howard as he travels the globe pursuing a myriad of different archaeology mysteries with his ragtag band of friends and fellow experts. This one focuses on the Vikings and the theories concerning their globetrotting journeys of exploration.
If you don’t know this about me, I am very interested in ancient history, anthropology, and archaeology so this book and its subject matter were right up my street. I am even thinking about pursuing these areas for my career. This book also features theories that I find incredibly compelling- the theories of Viking exploration, even though it does expand on them and add fictional elements. When I started this book, I thought it was about the Crusades and I wasn’t as interested, but then I realized it was taking a completely different direction and I got really interested and finished it in one day.
If you have an interest in archaeology or ancient history, then I think you will love this book and series. I do and I did. 5 stars!!!!
February 18, 2017
#Review of Lost Temple: #Thriller #readers, in Tom Harper's novel, Lost Temple, the main story takes place in 1947 with the primary objective of recovering Achilles's shield. The shield is supposedly made of a rare metal, Element 61, Prometheum, which the Brits, the Yanks, and the Russians all want. The main objective of the author appears to be to share insights into archaelogical facts and mysteries. The former being the translation of Linear B from an ancient tablet, which occurred in 1952. The latter being whether the Temple where Achilles was buried, along with his shield, actually existed.The facts and the mysteries were the fun part for me. The writing not so much. The pacing was uneven and the characters were, more or less, uninteresting, except for Reed, the Oxford professor. (less)
May 2, 2019
Not horrible. The pacing between action, dialogue, description and the VERY long re-telling of historical events was very choppy and annoying. These people were very good at leaping to conclusions without much evidence. They all had ridiculous amounts of information unrelated to their very specific fields ready to go at the front of their brains. Jeremy, the graduate student, seemed insanely well-versed in wildly disparate areas...a fact that annoyed me to no end.
That was actually the main problem: they put this VAST mystery together in about a week! I know it’s a fiction book, but come ON...it’s ABOUT SCIENCE and that’s not how science happens!
Oh, and the staircase in the Cathedral filled with torn manuscripts? They had the totally excavated out in TWO days!! Are ya kidding me? Yeah, cause that’s how you handle ancient paper: with shovels!
That was actually the main problem: they put this VAST mystery together in about a week! I know it’s a fiction book, but come ON...it’s ABOUT SCIENCE and that’s not how science happens!
Oh, and the staircase in the Cathedral filled with torn manuscripts? They had the totally excavated out in TWO days!! Are ya kidding me? Yeah, cause that’s how you handle ancient paper: with shovels!
August 25, 2019
Well this definitely has plenty of history in it. Viking secret societies, roman, Jewish and Christian history, the crusades, Inuit history, nazi Germany and even early South and North American history. Maybe a bit too much in one book. It does explain what is fact and fiction and what is possibly. The name crusader gold is a bit of a stretch though as it has a bit of the actual crusades in it. The hero jack Howard is no aquatic Indiana Jones though. There is parrelels to his organisation iumu to Clive Cusslers dirk Pitt and numa. The stories are slightly the same but I look forward to reading some more novels. I have 2 more at home. I haven't his first book Atlantis yet but I feel like I should even though it was explained a bit in crusader gold.
February 2, 2020
Having read Atlantis by David Gibbins, I was intrigued to follow one with Jack and Costas' story.
The premise of the story -the quest to find the Jewish manora- is an interesting one which, although quite implausible, offers a fun alternative to the known history of Harald Hardrara.
I thought the pacing of the story was really well done... up until around the final third of the book, when the ending seemed to be thrust upon the reader. As well as this, the villains of the story were unceremoniously taken down without any real climax.
Overall, it's a riveting and fun read that I would recommend for those who enjoy the genre, though the plot doesn't have the believability of others in the genre.
The premise of the story -the quest to find the Jewish manora- is an interesting one which, although quite implausible, offers a fun alternative to the known history of Harald Hardrara.
I thought the pacing of the story was really well done... up until around the final third of the book, when the ending seemed to be thrust upon the reader. As well as this, the villains of the story were unceremoniously taken down without any real climax.
Overall, it's a riveting and fun read that I would recommend for those who enjoy the genre, though the plot doesn't have the believability of others in the genre.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 10, 2021
Author is a real-life scuba diver and adventurer—that was readily apparent!
He included Really interesting and different settings that were visited throughout this book on the quest for treasure, but
LOTS of (unnecessary) details kind of ruined the flow of the action—and there was a LOT of action! Some technical details very foreign to the reader were not really explained well enough—so just leave out? It did cause me to explore the authenticity of some of the content, so I learned from it!
While I do enjoy historical fiction, not sure I would read this author again.
January 9, 2022
Εδω έχουμε έναν αρχαιολόγο καθηγητή που μας περιγράφει μια ιστορία, η οποία αποτελείται από πολλές άλλες ιστορίες. Δυστυχώς οι περιγραφές κουράζουν, είναι σαν να είσαι στο πανεπιστήμιο και να ακούς τον λέκτορα να παραδίδει το μάθημα και να προσπαθεί να πει και κατι ενδιαφέρον για να σου τραβήξει την προσοχή που φθίνει όσο περνάει η ώρα. Έχει πολλά ενδιαφέροντα ιστορικά στοιχεία που όμως γεμίζουν τόσες σελίδες που ξεχνάς την ιστορία. Νομίζω ότι τον συγγραφέα τον ενδιαφέρει πιο πολύ το ιστορικό και αρχαιολογικό του βιβλίου πάρα το μυθιστορηματικο και φαίνεται.
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