The Youngest Templar

This is a kids-aimed fantasy/historical novel and from what I understand it is the first volume in what will probably be a trilogy if not a series of novels (novellas). I went into this book not really expecting anything, it was sent to me from over the seas (okay, from America) and I found it to be a rollicking and pleasant read.

It is the middle ages (more specifically, the dark ages). Tristan is a young orphan of mysterious origins who is co-opted into the order of the Knights Templar and finds himself flung headfirst into the Crusades. Sooner or later he and his kindly master find themselves in a Saracen-enforced seige (soon to be slaughter) and Tristan is entrusted with a valuable Templar artifact (okay, it's the Holy Grail) and given instructions to take it to safety. Boundless adventure ensues!

Like I said earlier, this is a pleasant read. There's nothing pretentious or forced about it, it's an historical adventure aimed at a young audience but fit to read for anyone who likes this sort of thing. I tend to like this sort of thing. It's peppered with lots of cool medieval details, and it could probably be called semi-educational in respect to how realistic it reads (but not in a dry, non-kid friendly way). The Crusades aren't the most fun-packed of historical events and the author does well not to sugarcoat or romantacize it. The writing style is effective, and the characterisations are memorable and seemingly effortless - which is no mean feat when you've only got 240 pages and a fairly large font to work with.

There were two little things that kind of threw me off a bit. The first, and more major one, was the inclusion of a cast of supporting characters that seem to have come straight from the story of Robin Hood. I was left scratching my head a bit as to the relevance of this... it's as if the author felt his story wasn't strong enough on it's own so he went and chucked in some medieval 'celebrities' to keep the kids entertained. I want to say that it wasn't necessary but this is the first book in a series so I'll reserve judgement in case the real relevance of this becomes more apparent in later volumes.

The second quibble, and this is a more minor one (and the blame may fall on the publishing company rather than the author), is the decision to use American spellings rather than English. Normally I wouldn't care but it just feels wrong given the subject matter, setting, and the fact that the whole thing is concerned with English events and English history. It's a first-hand account told from the point of a view of an English peasant boy... for him to adopt American spelling when America hasn't even come into existence yet felt jarring to me. It hardly effected my enjoyment of the book but this is my blog and I'll get on my soapbox as much as I like, so nyah.

I hate to start all my final paragraphs with 'anyway' but Anyway, this is a great action-packed fast-paced novel and I'd recommend it to any parents looking to get their boys interested in reading. The parents might even like to read it too.