Michael Haag

Pretty good digest of all things Templar. Covers not just the Holy Land stuff but Spain and Portugal as well as the Order’s role as financiers and bankers.

Debunks all the usual rubbish related to conspiracy theories, freemasonry, Mormons, etc. Has a perticular scorn for [a:Dan Brown|630|Dan Brown|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1399396714p2/630.jpg] and points out how unoriginal the novel [b:The Da Vinci Code|10452159|The Da Vinci Code|Dan Brown|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|2982101] really is.

Good reference for films, novels, further reading, places, etc.

Haag is sympathetic to the Western causes and the Knights’ themselves and points out the intolerance and rapaciousness of both the Muslims and Christians. As usual the Jews get screwed by everybody.… (altro)

Well, that was quite a day…

I enjoyed this book, it was a good fun read. It does have its faults, but if you’re not after literary greatness, tight-plotting, polished prose and well-rounded characters, or can forgive the fact that this book has none of those things, then it works quite well.

I read The Da Vinci Code some time ago and really enjoyed it (it helped having the illustrated version for quick referencing). It was entertaining and fun. I expected nothing less from this offering, which after only a few chapters promised me exactly the same kind of thing, in terms of characters, plot development and pacing. Although this worked for the book, this is one of my criticisms. The formula is too much like his other stuff. There is no change from what goes on in his other book. However, the formula seems to work and this book is just as quick paced and entertaining. It kept me reading.

The story itself was intriguing. I liked all the references to Dante and how the writing and artwork was used as clues throughout the story. I have never read The Divine Comedy, but I will do now. The story also brought up some very interesting topical issues that got me thinking. The story has been cleverly constructed and there is no doubt that a lot of research has been put into it.

This book is purely plot-based and as a result the characters are not particularly well-developed. I struggled to find a personality to any of them and as a result found it difficult to sympathise with anyone. Langdon is the same person as he was in the Da Vinci Code, which bothered me a little, although it would make it easier to pick this book up without having read any of the others. The other characters seemed to be re-hashed versions of the ones in his previous book.

The book is over-written and could easily have been made at least 100 pages shorter. Dan Brown has done an excellent job of describing all the settings and artworks in the book, which makes it part travel-guide and detracts a little from the story. Maybe he didn’t think of writing a separate accompanying book with all this in for those who are interested (he really should write a guide book in my opinion). A lot of historical detail is given in chunks of dialogue, which slows down the otherwise hectic pace and seems a little unrealistic given the circumstances.

As many have pointed out, there are a few issues with the writing, much of which could have been sorted out with careful editing. There is quite a lot of scene repetition. This frequently occurs at the start of chapters, where previous scenes are summarised. There are a lot of ‘long moments’, ‘wry smiles’ and ‘subterranean caverns’ (as opposed to caverns above ground, presumably). And also the most awkward description of a spiral I have ever come across.

I probably won’t read another Robert Langdon book, but this is mainly to do with the formula that seems to be non-changing throughout the series. But I’d recommend it to anyone who likes a bit of adventure.
… (altro)