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Title: The Templar Legacy: A Novel
ISBN: 0345476158
Author:
Steve Berry
Publicate Date: 2006-02-21
Publish: 2006-02-21
List Price: $24.95
Average Customer Rating: 3.0
Format: Hardcover
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $1.72
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $0.01
Amazon Merchant Price: $16.47
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| Customer Review: |
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1: great storyteller, boring book
I am a fan of Steve Berry. There is something exciting about following the adventures of Cotton Malone throughout Berry's novels, and he tells the stories in such a way that it is easy to get caught in the book as if you were right there with him. The Alexandria Link is one of those novels, and is what made me interested in reading Berry more. So, I picked up the Templar Legacy, and expected just as much of a suspenseful thrillride as The Alexandria Link. It wasn't what I hoped for.
The Templar Legacy made me feel less like I was in a story, and more like I was in a history lesson. The best part about Steve Berry is his novels are so well researched that they are often considered "too smart" by some whom I have discussed his books with. They see him as pretentious, even snobby. I don't think this is a fair judgement. Steve Berry instead seems to insist more of himself as a writer, which is why his books are researched to the point that nearly every location mentioned in his books is a geographical location for which he as visited. The issue here, is that it at times took away from the story.
The start of the novel was very interesting, but toward the middle, it was harder and harder for me to keep the book in front of my eyes without them getting heavy from sleep. Also, the adventure taken by Cotton Malone was not nearly as much of a rush as the first novel I read of Berry's. This was more of a treasure seeking crossword puzzle aimed at the elitist who refuses to read anything other than The New Yourker with their morning coffee.
There is never such thing as being too informative, but there is a such thing as too wordy. The storyline seemed to drag on infinitely and all I wanted was for the finishline to come out of the dark so I could finally see when it would end. The only way I knew was the number of pages I had left. It was not a "bad" book, but it was just boring.
Steve Berry is a great author, one of my favorites. But it was hard to read this novel only because the adventures of Cotton Malone simply were not as exciting as I had anticipated. I look forward to reading more, and seeing more of his adventures in other novels, but for now, I will just let this one sit on my shelf as another novel I was able to complete cover to cover.
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2: well, i finished it...
not bad, like most have posted already, more character developement would have really helped out the story,
that being said, i did enjoy the book and will continue with the series.
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3: Should've been better
Unfortunately, this book left a lot to be desired. Mediocre character development and almost obsessive overuse of "big words", almost to the exclusive point of proving the author can use them. For example, the word ensconse was used 2-3 times in the the course of 2 or 3 chapters, and then dissapeared completely from the author's vocabulary. And who uses the word eidetic in everyday conversation?
Perhaps the biggest problem I had w/ the story was how the author conveniently "forgot" to reconcile the resolution of the story w/ the well described goal of Cassiopeia Vitt's desire to bring down Christianity. It was an incomplete story.
For its good points, the author did develop some suspense and did hold my attention at times. He was able to create a very intricate story line and built-in mystery.
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4: Just ok
This definitely a "genre book" - a bit of a clunky attempt to duplicate Dan Brown's writing, almost as if the writer is a fan and decided to give it a try, too. The plot is interesting, although it does meander a LOT with meaningless episodes that don't contribute much to the story. At times it appears that he used the thesaurus on Microsoft Word to edit his writing - for some reason the characters never "reply" or "say" - they "make clear" as in "It's time to go," Malone made clear" - which is a really weird construct he uses over and over again. But the real problem is that this genre isn't so much writing as describing - the dialogue, pacing, and plot unfolds as if the author is trying to describe a movie rather than write a book. At any rate, its mildly entertaining, but feel free to skip over boring parts to get to the end. As this genre goes this book is amateurish.
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5: Interesting.
The Templar Legacy by Steve Berry is an enjoyable read. The story covers all the same old Templar histories, but the author's added insights especially on the conflicts found in the gospels is refreshing. That truth is not the enemy of faith is once again proved out in this story of modern day Templars struggling between righting ancient wrongs and remaining true to the foundations of their order. The clues and puzzles that drive all the characters and the rights and wrongs of their own personal pasts add intrigue and scope. The story also has a small important part of modern life that most literature totally ignores, that of the divorced man who is living away from his children. What gives this story real worth is that the reader is left to weigh the value of truth, wealth, and knowledge against each other. This is a book of many puzzles some are blatant and others merely nuances.
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