From Booklist
Kurtz and Harris continue their saga telling the secret history, begun in The Temple and the Stone (1998), of the Templars and of two members of the secret Cercle, the French knight Arnault and the Scotsman Torquil, in particular. The English have turned against the Temple because it supports Robert the Bruce in Scotland, and the greed of Philip the Fair of France for Templar wealth is being manipulated by his chancellor, who is secretly allied with the Knights of the Black Swan, servants of Lucifer out to destroy the Temple's power to champion Christianity. As grisly persecution of the Templars rises to a climax in France, and the Bruce's situation becomes more desperate, Arnault and Torquil must retrieve potent relics from the Holy Land and reach Scotland in time to help overthrow the Bruce's enemies in the thundering climax of the Battle of Bannockburn. There may be too much secret mysticism in it for some tastes, but the tale is soundly researched, well written, and briskly paced. Kudos to the authors! Roland Green
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England's tyrannical Edward I decimates the Scottish freedom fighters led by Robert Bruce, while France's Philip IV usurps control of the papacy. But far more than political power is at stake in Europe's wars. For the French and English kings are unwitting puppets of Luciferian alchemists called the Order of the Black Swan. And the Black Swan's true goal is to capture the sacred relics guarded by the mystic Knights Templar. Now from the Highlands to the Holy Land, the Templars must use martial prowess and potent magics to wage a desperate war to save humanity itself from eternal damnation.
Temple and the Crown FROM THE PUBLISHER
England's tyrannical Edward I decimates the troops of Robert Bruce.
France's Philip IV usurps control of the papacy. But the kings are mere
puppets of Luciferian alchemists, the Order of the Black Swan, who seek
to capture relics guarded by the Knights Templar, medieval warrior monks
who now wield potent magic to wage a bloody war to save humanity from
eternal damnation.
SYNOPSIS
Katherine Kurtz, author of the classic Deryni books, and Deborah Turner Harris, coauthor with Kurtz of the bestselling Adept series, present a new novel of the Knights Templar, medieval warrior monks who, according to legend, wielded vast occult powers.
FROM THE CRITICS
VOYA
It is 1306, and with the aid of the mystic Knights Templar, Robert the Bruce just has been crowned King of Scotland. Various forces, however, are aligning to remove him from the throne. Edward Plantagenet sends the mighty English army to march against the Scots, but this impressive military foe is nothing compared with the malevolent machinations of King Robert's most diabolical opponents, the Order of the Black Swan. Members of this satanic cabal will stop at nothing to defeat Robert and steal from him the sacred relic, the Stone of Destiny. So begins the sweeping historical fantasy that like its predecessor, The Temple and the Stone (Warner, 1998/VOYA February 1999), is filled with a rich blend of real historical figures and events and pure flights of imagination. Kurtz and Harris intriguingly weave vivid characters, detailed settings, and a liberal dose of gore. It is a well written and for the most part, intelligent piece of speculative fiction. This reviewer's only major concern lies in the brief historical afterword, in which the authors acknowledge that this book is conjectural. They neglect to clearly delineate which parts of the book are historical fact and which parts are conjecture. A more detailed explanation would have made the book a useful vehicle for teaching history as well as an effective work of fantasy. It is a hefty read and will probably be best enjoyed by serious devotees of the genre. VOYA CODES: 4Q 2P J S A/YA (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; For the YA with a special interest in the subject; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12; Adult and Young Adult). 2001, Warner, 560p, $6.99 pb. Ages 14 toAdult. Reviewer: Vivian Howard SOURCE: VOYA, August 2001 (Vol. 24, No. 3)
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