Brethren: An Epic Adventure of the Knights Templar (Brethren Trilogy)

by Robyn Young

BRETHREN is a fabulously rich and exciting novel set on the eve of the last Crusade, at the end of the thirteenth century.

Before young Will Campbell can take his place in the all-powerful Order of the Knights Templar, he faces a long, hard apprenticeship to the foul-tempered scholar, Everard. As he struggles to survive in the harsh discipline of the Temple, Will must try to make sense of his own tragic past, the dangerous mystery that surrounds Everard, and his confused feelings for Elwen, the strong-willed young woman whose path seems always to cross his own.

Meanwhile, a new star is rising in the East. A ruthless fighter and brilliant tactician, the former slave Baybars has become one of the greatest generals and rulers of his time. Haunted by his early life, he is driven by an unquenchable desire to free his people from the European invaders of his homeland.

These two men are destined to collide, as Templar Knight and Muslim warrior, in that extraordinary clash of civilizations known in the West as the Crusades.

• ISBN10: 0525949755
• ISBN13: 9780525949756
• Publish Date: 19 July 2006 (first published 29 June 2006)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 12 November 2014
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Dutton Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 483
• Language: English

Reviews

[wyvernfriend]

This is the story of Will Campbell a reluctant Knight Templar, his friendship and love and his growth from a boy to a man. Will is a Templar because his father decided he should be, he lives with the guilt of having accidentally killed his sister and that his father didn't speak to him for years.

It's also the story of Baybars and his fight to rise his life from Malmuk slave to ruler. Ruthless he pursues the expulsion of Christians from the lands he regards as his with ruthlessness.

It's interesting, could possibly have done with some quite severe editing to cut out some of the info-dumping but still once I got over the first 100 pages it moved quite quickly. Nothing spectacularly new in the genre but interesting all the same.