Част от пророческите четиристишия на Нострадамус не са открити и до днес. Историческите факти свидетелстват, че той завещава два сандъка на най-голямата си дъщеря с думите, че „никой друг не може да види нещата, които е поставил вътре”. Защо не е публикувал тези четиристишия, какво съдържат и защо е решил да не ги разкрива пред хорските погледи? Негови изследователи и познавачи от години се мъчат да разбулят тайната. Сред тях е и американският писател Адам Сабир, който предполага, че именно те съдържат предсказанията за края на света и третия Антихрист. Млад циганин предлага на Сабир да купи липсващите четиристишия, но американецът смята, че го пращат за зелен хайвер. Скоро циганинът е убит, а Сабир тръгва по следите на тайнствените ръкописи, които от столетия наистина се съхраняват в циганска фамилия. Оттук започва и секващата дъха надпревара в издирването на неизвестните пророчества, в която се включват френската полиция и древно тайно общество. Циганската общност също не бездейства и битката за мистериозното знание за тайните отвъд нашето познание е на живот и смърт.
От първата до последната страница романът „Предсказанията на Нострадамус” е Тур дьо трилър за всички фенове.
Mario Reading was born in Dorset, and brought up in England, Germany, and the South of France. He was educated at Gorse Cliff Preparatory School, followed by Rugby School, and then went on to study Comparative Literature under Malcolm Bradbury and Angus Wilson at the University of East Anglia, where he specialized in French and German Literature and translation before absconding, after two years, on a cargo boat to Africa.
During a nomadic youth he sold rare books, taught riding in Cape Town, studied dressage in Vienna, played polo in India, France, Spain, and Dubai, ran a seventy horse polo stables in Gloucestershire, and helped manage his Mexican wife’s coffee plantation.
Reading is the author of four novels. The Music-Makers [House of Stratus 2001], The Nostradamus Prophecies [Atlantic 2009], The Mayan Codex [Corvus 2010], and The Third Antichrist [Corvus 2011]. Reading’s Antichrist Trilogy [TNP, TMC & TTA] has been published in 38 countries to date, with a combined sale of over 1,000,000 copies.
Mario Reading was the recipient of an Arts Council Writing Award for his novel-in-progress After Barbarossa.
He is also the author of eight non-fiction titles, including the Dictionary Of Cinema, the Movie Companion, the Watkins Dictionary Of Dreams, Nostradamus: The Complete Prophecies For The Future and Nostradamus: The Good News. His groundbreaking The Complete Prophecies Of Nostradamus was published in 2009 by Watkins Books, and 2010 saw the publication of an illustrated book, Nostradamus: The Top 100 Prophecies [available in 9 countries], and a revised edition of NTCPFTF. His most recent non-fiction book, Nostradamus & The Third Antichrist was published in March 2011. Reading’s non-fiction books have been published in 20 countries, and have sold more than 500,000 copies.
Reading also writes occasional magazine features, including, in February 2000, a controversial major Sunday Times Magazine exposé of the CIA, entitled An American Hero, and has also made a number of national and international appearances on radio and television, most notably in Discovery Channel’s 2006 documentary, Nostradamus: The Truth, and three further documentaries for Discovery Channel, History Channel, and National Geographic Channel. For four years he was the Chairman and chief coordinator of the Fonthill Writing Awards. He is also a member of Mensa and the ultra high IQ society, the ISPE [The International Society for Philosophical Inquiry].
As I started to read The Nostradamus Prophecies, I anticipated a DaVinci Code like thriller- full of twists and historic details. The Nostradamus Prophecies certainly contained those, yet quite a bit more. This is a very witty book! There were parts that had me laughing outloud. The plot is about an author who is seeking the lost 52 Quatrains of Nostradamus and a centuries' old secret society seeking them too. The real meat of the novel is the facinating and apparently accurate portayals of the Gypsies of France and their customs and beliefs. With the main character acting as a sort of Bud Abbott to the various eccentic characters he meets, befriends and risks his life with, the reader learns a great deal about a culture that is often misunderstood. While there are certainly comic aspects to the portrayal- there is never disrespect- which I applaud.
This is a rather quick read, although quick should not be confused with the story not having many complexities. As Mario Reading has written 5 non-fiction books on Nostradamus, he certainly knows his facts- but never overdoes it, never talks down to his readers, rather inserts facinating historic nuggets in a tale which is very much worth reading.
RICK FRIEDMAN FOUNDER THE JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB
Dit boek is van begin tot eind spannend. Wegleggen lukte mij niet. Of mijn ogen begonnen te branden en ik moest wel.
Bevat Spoilers!
Het verhaal begint met een scene die je eigenlijk pas aan het eind van het boek begrijpt. En het gaat over de niet terug gevonden profetieën van Nostradamus. Een van de hoofdpersonen is Sabir, een schrijver op bezoek in Parijs, die in gaat op een advertentie over deze profetieën. Maar de verkopende partij heeft nog een potentiële koper. De verkoper, een zigeuner, komt terug naar Sabir en drukt zijn hand in glas en geeft in een soort van code een paar hits en weg is hij. Daarmee wordt Sabir zijn bloed broeder. Deze zigeuner wordt later levenloos aangetroffen. Achor Bale is lid van een eeuwen oud geheim genootschap gewijd aan het beschermen van de "antichrist". Nostradamus voorspelde er drie in zijn verzen. Napoleon en Hitler waren de eerste twee........ Ja en dan vangt het verhaal echt aan. Sabir maakt kennis met Yola en Alexi, zus en neef van de voorheen genoemde zigeuner. Hij krijgt te maken met zigeuner gebruiken waar hij niets van weet, de echte moordenaar zet de Franse politie op het spoor van Sabir en allerlei geheimzinnige hints maken dat ze op tour gaan door Frankrijk en Spanje op zoek naar de verloren gegane profetieën. Natuurlijk gevolgd door Bale en de Franse Politie. De kaft van het boek is voor mij alleen een beetje een raadsel. Staat de kerk op de voorkant (basiliek) met en monnik? Wat heeft dit met het boek te maken? De enige link die ik kan maken is dat Nostradamus werd gezien als de boodschapper van God. Is dat de reden? Ga zeker de twee vervolgen lezen. Benieuwd of de verhaallijn nog spannender word en dat de volgende dan beloond wordt met 5 sterren.
A lot of people say that if you liked the DaVinci Code or similar books, you will like this one. I don't think that they have that much in common, but I still liked it. Yes, there is the element of a historic treasure (the lost prophecies of Nostradamus, which are supposed to tell us about the end of the world as we know it) and the search of it. And yes, there is a hunt that takes place in a number of religious places in France and Spain, where they find clues to the whereabouts of the prophecies ...
But while in the DaVinco code the plot is the central part and the thing that gives most pleasure - Dan Brown's story telling is, after all, very linear and straight-forward - I'd say that in this book it's mainly the characters and the insight into gypsy culture that I find most interesting. I don't know how accurate the accounts of gypsy life and tradition are, but they are intriguing, and I hope that they are true.
I wouldn't have minded if the author had evolved a bit more on the "bad guy" and his thoughts, believes etc. and well, as with pretty much every book in this genre (with some grand secret that is or is not revealed at the end), then ending might not be totally satisfying ... but I really liked this book.
Wow! Get ready for an enormous adventure you'd probably never forget. Nostradamus, luckily, isn't the hero of the book, but it is certainly recommended to anyone interested in his figure, the gypsies and historical enigmas. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Uma história muito interessante e emocionante do início ao fim, muitas reviravoltas e surpresas inesperadas! Tem uma vibe de Código Da Vinci que faz prender a atenção durante todo o livro.
Sebenarnya saya bingung juga mau menulis apa di review buku ini. Jujur saja ketika melihat judul buku ini ekspektasi saya sangat besar terhadap buku ini. Saya mengharapkan buku ini akan menjelaskan ramalan-ramalan yang pernah dikemukakan oleh Nostradamus secara mendetail—bahkan kalau perlu disertai dengan penjelasan-penjelasan dan bukti-bukti ilmiah. Apalagi tebal buku ini yang 471 halaman saya anggap cukup untuk mewakili ekspektasi saya tersebut. Tetapi, ketika saya menyelesaikan membaca buku ini ekspektasi saya tersebut hanya tinggal angan-angan.
Berikut penjelasannya....
Kalau dilihat dari judul buku ini, seharusnya buku ini menyajikan seluruh ramalan yang pernah dikemukakan Nostradamus secara lengkap. Well, hal itu memang sudah dilakukan buku ini. Meski saya sendiri kurang tahu apakah sudah lengkap dari A sampai Z apa belum. Tapi, setidaknya sudah cukup banyak—dan lengkap—karena ramalan untuk tahun 2001 sampai 7074 tersaji di sini. Cara penyajian ramalan-ramalan di buku ini adalah dibagi-bagi menurut kuatrain. Contohnya: September 2001; Subjek: Bencana Menara Kembar; Kuatrain 1/87; kemudian ditampilkan ramalan Nostradamus dalam bahasa Prancis yang bentuknya mirip-mirip dengan bait puisi, lalu diterjemahkan dan ditafsirkan.
Nah, sayangnya di buku ini dalam pendahuluannya tidak dijelaskan secara terperinci apa itu nomor kuatrain dan bagaimana sistematika pembagian nomor kuatrain tersebut dalam ramalan-ramalan Nostradamus. Kalau dari yang saya tangkap di pendahuluan buku ini ramalan Nostradamus itu terbagi dalam beberapa centuries—yang sepertinya untuk mewakili masing-masing abad yang diramal—dan masing-masing centuries tersebut disusun oleh kuatrain-kuatrain. Jika sistematikanya seperti itu seharusnya urutan nomor kuatrain di setiap tahun yang diramalkan berurutan, tapi kenyataannya masih banyak yang tidak berurutan dalam buku ini. Contohnya saya ambil Subjek Bencana Menara Kembar pada September 2001. Untuk subjek Bencana Menara Kembar I nomor kuatrainnya 1/87, tapi di subjek Bencana Menara Kembar II nomor kuatrainnya malah 10/49. Mungkin untuk hal ini terkesan sepele, tapi hal tersebut bisa membingungkan bagi pembaca yang masih awam—termasuk saya ini.
Selanjutnya penafsiran untuk setiap bait-bait ramalannya sendiri sangat singkat. Paling banyak cuma dua halaman dan sebagian besar hanya satu halaman. Harapan saya untuk disuguhi data-data dan penjelasan yang sedikit berbau ilmiah langsung lenyap tak berbekas. Oleh karena itu buku ini dapat saya selesaikan dalam waktu yang relatif cepat—dua hari saja. Lha wong bisa dibilang kita tidak perlu mikir dalam membaca buku ini. Meski begitu kita juga bisa sedikit belajar tentang kosakata-kosakata dalam bahasa Prancis dan beberapa hal tentang mitologi Romawi/Yunani dari penafsiran-penafsiran tersebut. Sebab Nostradamus ini suka sekali meramalkan sesuatu menggunakan permainan kata-kata dan menganalogikan sesuatu menggunakan tokoh, kisah, atau istilah dalam mitologi Romawi/Yunani.
Dan untuk tampilan buku, sebenarnya buku ini cukup menarik. Kover buku ini menurut saya dikemas dengan cukup menarik. Apalagi dengan judul yang cukup "wah" tersebut, pasti secara tak sadar akan membuat kita tertarik. Dan karena kover buku inilah ekspektasi yang telah saya sebutkan di awal tadi muncul. Sebagai tambahan pula, buku ini berat—berat dalam artian denotatif lho. Mungkin dikarenakan kertas yang digunakan buku ini sejenis dengan kertas HVS 80 gram. Dan secara keseluruhan buku ini bisa dibilang mengecewakan karena tidak sesuai ekspektasi saya dan saya dengan suksesnya "diperdaya" oleh kover yang menarik. By the way, don’t judge the book by its cover.
Saw this displayed in the library as I was looking for new books and decided to pick this up. I'll admit that I enjoyed The Da Vinci code, and from the jacket, you would think this would be at least somewhat similar. Unfortunately, it's not even in the same league (and that's saying something). First off, I couldn't stand the writing; it read like a nonfiction writer trying to write fiction (which is the case). Also, the characters were very flat, and I could find nothing clever, witty, or exciting about them or the novel; I didn't care about any of them. If anything, the antagonist was more humanized than the three protagonists. This was primarily a story about gypsies and their culture (which I guess is interesting and would be good if I had wanted a book on that), and then it's like, "Whoops, forgot that I title this 'The Nostradamus Prophecies' so I better write that in." Apparently this is the first novel of a trilogy, but I don't know how or why; actually, I guess I know why, but to me it's stupid, only because I didn't sign up for what the novel actually was. If it was by design, then this is false advertising; if it's just the way things worked out, then this is a poorly executed concept. I was ready to stop reading almost as soon as I started, but I kept going because I thought it was going to come together soon; unfortunately, I ended up blowing through it just to get it over with.
If you enjoyed Raymond Khoury's Knights Templar novels or Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code, this is a good read for you. The premise is quite simple. Nostradamus wrote a thousand prophecies, ten prophecies for each year covering 100 years. Only 942 have survived. What happened to the missing 58 quatrains? Since each quatrain revealed something of the future, what secrets did the missing quatrains contain that made it necessary for them to remain hidden? These questions drive two men with very different desires. Adam Sabir is a writer and expert on Nostradamus. Achor Bale is a member of an ancient secret society that has dedicated itself to the protection and support of the “Three Antichrists” foretold in Nostradamus’s verses, Napoleon, Adolf Hitler, and the “one still to come”. The novel is a real page turner that jumps around modern France looking for the lost prophecies. In the end Adam prevails at least for the moment and learns that the prophecies concern the Second Coming, the Third Antichrist, and the end of the age. Two more books in the trilogy to find out how it ends.
Oddly I had been watching documentaries on the Nostradamus prophecies , and took a trip to my local book store ...glancing through fiction and found this old book shoved between new releases ...what a gem ! So happy I found it and will be reading the remainder of the series . Wonderfully written, a good modern incorporation of the historical prophecies it wasn't that whole national treasure cringe feel ..it was believable .
I loved the reference to the travellers and the history behind their culture ...id like to read more novels about this so any recommendations are welcome !
I was expecting something along the lines of da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, but found this novel to be more along the lines of The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury. A hidden "treasure" that can only be found by correctly deciphering the clues, while being chased by an assassin and the police gives our heroes a tall order to fill. Intermixed with the story is a telling of the lives of gypsies and their customs and belief system. I loved it.
I read the Dutch translation of the book: Het Notradamus-complot.
Beschrijving zoals het op bolcom staat:
Nostradamus schreef duizend profetieën. Maar we kennen er slechts 942.
Hoe zit het met de ontbrekende verzen? Waarom moesten ze verborgen blijven? Waarom zette Nostradamus in zijn testament dat hij zijn dochter een verzegelde houder naliet?
Dit mysterie obsedeert twee mannen. Adam Sabir is een schrijver die zijn verlopen carrière nieuw leven wil inblazen. Achor Bale is lid van een eeuwenoud geheim genootschap gewijd aan het beschermen van de 'Antichrist'. Nostradamus voorspelde er drie in zijn verzen. Napoleon en Hitler waren de eerste twee...
Terwijl Sabir steeds dieper verwikkeld raakt in de verborgen wereld van de Franse zigeuners, volgt Bale als een jager zijn spoor. Niemand kan hem tegenhouden... Recensie(s)
De verslaafde zigeuner Babel Samana heeft geld nodig en probeert zijn informatie over de verdwenen kwatrijnen van Nostradamus te verkopen aan de jonge schrijver Adam Sabir of aan Achor Bale die lid is van een obscuur geheim genootschap. Als Babel op gruwelijke wijze door Bale wordt vermoord, vlucht Sabir omdat hij van de moord verdacht wordt. In een zigeunerkamp ontmoet hij Yola, de zus van Babel. Hij vreest voor zijn leven, maar de wijsheid van Yola keert het gevaar en hij wordt ingewijd in de zigeunertradities. Hij laat zich verrassen door de logica en de tradities van de zigeuners en voelt zich steeds meer een van hen. Samen met Yola en Alexi gaat hij verder met zijn zoektocht, achtervolgd door de recherche en door Bale.
Einde beschrijving bol.com.
Een spannend boek dat zich in Frankrijk afspeelt, leuk herkenbaar voor mij omdat ik daar woon. Het boek leest als een trein, maar ik vind de titel wat misleidend. Je zou nav de titel verwachten dat het meer over Nostradamus zou gaan, maar het gaat voornamelijk om de zigeuners, hun gewoonten, hun feesten, hun daden en hun dreigingen. Daardoor leest het boek wel als een trein, maar ik had het gevoel meer een spannend boek over zigeuners te zitten lezen dan dat het nou zoveel met Nostradamus te maken had. Dus ja aanrader, maar minder toegespitst op Nostradamus als je mogelijk zou willen nav de titel.
Don't know what pushed me into buying this. Maybe its price? Or I was somehow interested in Nostradamus? Got no ideea. Didn't regret buying it, quite cheap in fact. But it was a book of the kind I would've chosen to read just to pass time. That's what I did, actualy. Yeah, it is a thriller. It gets you thinking what might happen next. You will read it till the end only for this, at least that's what I did. But after turning the last page, I got hit with the fact that it wasn't something to enjoy.
I never check the facts after reading this kind of books. I just find it a real loss of time, unless something interesting apears. Here it never apeared. Found a few new things about Nostradamus though. Not that I was very much interested. As any other thriller, especially the kind that draws in the fate of the world (I don't stand much of such stories) the story revolves around a good guy who got himself involved with a bad guy, who, obviously, gets to chase him all over the country, in search of a treasure. Depending on who reaches it first, the world goes nuts, or it's saved. At least the fact that the world is in danger is only mentioned 3 or 4 times. The only thing keeping me from geting pised of. But, to be honest, this kind of story goes better for a movie. Chases, shots, en force kidnaps. It's not suitable for a book, in my opinion. I just don't like this kind of things. For a way to pass time, it's a choice. But if given more, and knowing what's inside, I'd reconsider.
This was an odd book. I expected something along the lines of the Da Vinci Code and though there were elements of this it felt very different.
Much of the book is set within Gypsy camps and really explores gypsy life and mythology. I really liked how Reading played on people's perceptions of gypsies and kind of turned it on it's head and made gypsies come across as the better people (and he is probably right).
My favourite element of the book comes in the form of the mysterious Achor Bale. He's the villain of the piece and you never really find that much information about him. He's one of the best villains I've read in a long time, mostly because he always seems better than the protagonists and his motives aren't really very clear.
For a book with Nostradamus in the name and written by an expert on him, there was very little about the prophet. The trail of "clues" seems relatively simple and we find out very little about Nostradamus which is something which could have been blended in really well here. The unveiling of the missing prophecy is disappointing and didn't seem particularly clever to me- it's pretty much the same as any prophecy ever.
This is a decent book but I just feel it's a bit confused. All the elements work fairly well but together they are a bit jumbled.
This book was even better than I expected it to be. There's the mystery of the fifty plus lost quatrains of Nostradamus, sealed up in a bamboo tube not long before his demise. Two men are hunting for them, on opposing sides of life. Adam Sabir, the writer who sees the lost prophecies as his ticket to a lot of money and Achor Bale, one of the adopted children of a frenchman with a title from before Napoleonic times, who wants the prophecies in order to fulfill his destiny and to please his adoptive mother. There are also the gypsies, some of whom claim direct descendancy from Nostradamus. There are several vicious murders, car chases, thefts and a variety of minor crimes before the prophecies are found. Eventually, the prophecies come to light. The police become involved, despite the gypsies not wanting official help. The prophecies are partially translated by Adam Sabir, but life overtakes him and he has to stop. The action is virtually non-stop throughout this book. I've never read any Mario Reading books before, but I've a feeling I may read more of them in the future.
Las 52 profecías es una novela de suspenso del autor británico Mario Reading. La historia sigue a Adam Sabir, un escritor en apuros que se encuentra con un gitano que afirma tener las 52 profecías perdidas de Nostradamus. Cuando el gitano es asesinado, Adam se convierte en el principal sospechoso del crimen.
La novela es una mezcla de suspense, misterio y esoterismo. Reading hace un buen trabajo creando un sentido de suspenso y misterio, y las profecías de Nostradamus brindan un toque de esoterismo. La novela también está bien escrita y es fácil de leer.
Una de las cosas que más me gustó de la novela fue el personaje de Adam Sabir. Sabir es un personaje complejo y bien desarrollado, y es fácil empatizar con él. También me gustó el ritmo de la novela. La historia se desarrolla a un ritmo rápido y nunca se vuelve aburrida.
En general, Las 52 profecías es una novela de suspense bien escrita y entretenida. Es una lectura obligada para los fanáticos del género.
Talk about a suspenseful read! If you are even the smallest fan of conspiracy/prophecy driven thrillers, a la DaVinci Code, then this is a must-read for you. I was utterly enthralled throughout this entire book. It isn't an extremely complex read, by any means, and can easily be read in one sitting, but it still possesses all the hallmarks of an outstandingly suspenseful novel. Mario Reading has clearly done extensive research into Nostradamus and his prophecies and is able to convey the information easily to be understood by the average reader. He also does an amazing job at introducing the reader to "gypsy" culture, and I absolutely love getting a fresh insight into such a secretive culture. I'm not entirely sure how accurate these depictions are, but they are incredibly intriguing none the less. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of this extremely tense book and am very eager to continue the series! Besides, I have to find out who the anti-christ is!
A killer is on the loose, a killer who thinks he is doing God's biding. He wants to find the missing Nostradamus prophecies and will stop at nothing to achieve his goal. Pitted against him is a French-American named Sabir who is an intellectual and was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Add to this a Gypsy family and you have no idea where things will go.
I don't know why I picked this book up. It is just another Da Vinci redux...with a less likeable main character, and that is saying something. If you want a quick, thrilling, violence filled book, I guess it is as good as any like it. Not highly recommended, other than an airport/beach read.
The past counts many mysteries and strange people, one of them being Nostradamus. Many of the things he had predicted, with no way of knowing mind you, have come true. The events all lay hidden in his prophecies, of which he has written a thousand but only 942 are known. Of course this raises the following question: where have the rest gone and why have they never been found? This is the quest Mario Reading’s protagonist sets on his book ‘The Nostradamus Prophecies’, a splendid thriller for fans of Dan Brown that will continuously keep you on the edge of your seat. Time to find unravel the words lost in history.
Rating: 5 / 5 Writer: Mario Reading Title: Het Nostradamus Complot (original: The Nostradamus Prophecies) Pages: 428 pages Publisher: Mistral, Amsterdam (original: Atlantic Books Ltd., London) Print: 2010 (1st print was in 1999) Language: Dutch (original: English) Translator: Josephine Ruitenberg
Story: Nostradamus wrote a thousand prophecies. Only 942 have survived. What happened to the missing quatrains?
And what secrets did they contain to make it necessary for them to remain hidden? And why did Nostradamus leave his daughter a sealed container in his will? This mystery drives two men with very different desires. Adam Sabir is a writer desperate to revive his flagging career; Achor Bale is a member of an ancient secret society that has dedicated itself to the protection and support of the ‘Three Antichrists’ foretold in Nostradamus’s verses – Napoleon, Adolf Hitler, and the ‘one still to come’… The pair embark on a terrifying chase through the ancient Romany encampments of France in a quest to locate the missing verses. Summary by Goodreads.
As a person who is interested in history (up until the 1900’s, of which my bad grades in history class can testify for the loss of attention) and mysteries having to do with religion, I started this book with high hopes. I was not disappointed. From the start you want to know what happens and will not be able to put the book down. What was quite a feat in this publication is an insight as to the gypsy society and how they are treated by anyone outside of it. It made me realize more that although they may live differently from what we consider to be ‘the standard’, they have a intricate lives of their own. One can learn so much by reading, as this is proven once again by this tale. The hunt for the missing texts takes Sabir, Alexi, Yola, Achor and the police all over France, taking the reader along with them to discover places where you would otherwise never come.
Characters: You come to know a lot about the characters in this book due to the fact that every chapter switches the focus between every person involved in unraveling the mystery. All of them have a distinct personality that either clashes or works great together with others. It is practically seeing how a group of people would naturally interact with each other and they could easily be someone you see on the street (or in a gypsy camp). Nothing felt unnatural in the interactions. Furthermore they all grow in some kind of way. Sabir becomes a bit of a gypsy himself when he is the head of Yola’s family after Babel’s death, Alexi matures and grows more protective of Yola, who becomes braver and shows more of her fierceness throughout the story. Achor Bale is the new Hannibal Lecter, hands down. We see how he slowly but surely becomes so immersed in his hunt for the hidden truth, that he will stop at nothing to achieve his goal.
Style & Spelling: Once more this is a translation of an originally English book, but I could not find a single mistake. I am not lying. Finally another translator who does his/her job well. The only annoyance in this book is that there are multiple occasions during which Sinti and French are used vocabulary-wise. There is not a codex in the back of the book to explain what the words mean. Whilst for some you can get an idea of the meaning via the context, some remain shrouded in mystery. Not that it matters, but it would be nice to know in case it holds importance to the story. Heureusement je parle assez bien français. Bien que, mes compétences passives sont plus mieux que mes compétences actives. Je n’aime pas parler en general.
Conclusion: It is hard to find a good book once you have found a favourite writer within the genre it belongs to. For me that is Dan Brown in this scenario and thus I had somewhat expected to be disappointed, but I was certainly not. Hence is why I said what I did in the introduction. If this book ever gets a movie, I will definitely go see it and the reviews of this book were right, it is a splendid piece of writing. I cannot say often enough how good this book is and highly recommend you read this if you love history and religious secrets. You will love it. How do I know that? Why, the answer is simple. It is prophesied.
"Die 52" oder wie es jetzt neu verlegt wurde "Corpus Maleficus - Die verbotenen Verse" ist Band 1 einer Trilogie, die ich nie beenden werde. War leider nicht meins, dabei hat es echt spannend angefangen. Es gibt 3 Hauptpersonen im Buch: Achor Bale (der Bösewicht der Story), Adam Sabir (der bezichtigt wird, einen Mord an einem Zigeuner begangen zu haben) und Hauptmann Joris Calque (der Ermittler der französischen Polizei). Ich dachte immer, dass man Zigeuner nicht mehr sagen soll, da das doch ein Schimpfwort ist und Diskriminierung unterstützt? Naja, in diesem Buch kommt man um das Wort Zigeuner jedenfalls nicht rum. Man lernt alles über die Gepflogenheiten und Bräuche, meiner Meinung nach way toooo much.😅 Es ist eine Art seeeehr lange Schnitzeljagd, warum diese Verse von Nostradamus jetzt gesucht werden, ist mir ehrlich gesagt nicht klar geworden. Habe allerdings auch ab der Hälfte des Buches nur noch quergelesen.
A decent enough tale in this genre - take a historical figure/event introduce a hidden document/object with some ethereal property/value, and have a modern day 'adventure' in the search/retrieval and with the interactions between various parties to create the story. Some reasonable characterisation and geographical scene setting complete the picture. The story includes information on the life and beliefs, ways and customs of gypsies, which assuming they are based on fact, are interesting in themselves; presenting a retained culture with its own standards, which are often parallel with other rule of law bases. As ever some of the 'action' is a bit far fetched, but without that imagination most books would be incredibly dull. The book ends well enough with only the suggestion of more to come and I now have to find the rest of the trilogy (maybe)
Hoe zit het met de ontbrekende verzen? Waarom moesten ze verborgen blijven? Waarom zette Nostradamus in zijn testament dat hij zijn dochter een verzegelde houder naliet?
Dit mysterie obsedeert twee mannen. Adam Sabir is een schrijver die zijn verlopen carrière nieuw leven wil inblazen. Achor Bale is lid van een eeuwenoud geheim genootschap gewijd aan het beschermen van de 'Antichrist'. Nostradamus voorspelde er drie in zijn verzen. Napoleon en Hitler waren de eerste twee...
Terwijl Sabir steeds dieper verwikkeld raakt in de verborgen wereld van de Franse zigeuners, volgt Bale als een jager zijn spoor. Niemand kan hem tegenhouden... ----
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Nakon sto je kraljica Elizabeta preminula Nostradamusova prorocanstva ponovo su iskakala sa svih strana jer se predskazanje pokazalo tacnim. U moru tumacenja ime Mario Riding pomenuto je mnogo puta kao najrelevantnije. Samim tim bacila sam se u potragu njegovih tumacenja na srpskom i najblize sto sam pronasla bila je ova knjiga. Tematikom slicna Da Vincijevom kodu, ali valjano me je namucila. Citam je skoro godinu dana, za moj ukus 100 strana preduga. Previse likova, previse razradjivanja tih likova, scene borbi konfuzne i nerealne, previse jurnjave, kraj antiklimaktican.