Brethern

Brethren is the first book of the Knight templar trilogy, with the second being Crusades. As I mentioned in my blog about Crusades, I accidentally read the second book before the first one, so I had to backtrack a bit but anyway, on with the review!

So in Brethren, it once again focuses on Will, who is at this time an apprentice of a knight in England. He is hoping to become a templar knight to become a member of the Anima Templi, a secret organization tha defends and fights in the name of God and Christianity as a whole. Things seem to be fine as Will trains with his best friend Lyon as they both fight hard to be accepted into the society and live their daily lives, there are two major incidents occuring elsewhere. In the city of London, there has been an incident where the holy Book of the Grail has been stolen. With the book gone, the templars fear that if one were to have the knowledge to decipher the sacred relic, it would mean to revealing the secrets of the Anima Templi and leaving them vulnerable against their enemy organizations. If that wasn't bad enough, the Islam empire in the Middle East has finally defeated their rival, the Mongols who have been trying to expand their empire from Asia. With the Mongols out of the way, the Muslims try to rebuild their country from the costs of the war but as soon as the old Sultan has been assassinated and the famous general Baybars with his hate towards Christianity takes control, things may not go so smoothly as he sets out for war. Facing problems on both sides, the Anima Templi use all of their resources avaliable to fend off the Muslim invasion of the Christian forts and to retrieve the Book of the Grail, the organization has no choice but to send out young Will to find the book while the older veteran knights move to the Middle East for battle.

The historical fiction masterpiece was a joy to read and it just leaves you waiting for more from Young. I have alrerady read Crusades but I am thrilled to get my hands on the thrid book Requiem soon.