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My wife and I purchased eleven books between us while in England last month. Two of mine were nonfiction titles, but one of the novels was a piece of historical fiction: "Crusader" by Ben Kane.
This book is the second in a trilogy of novels about Richard I of England, also known as Richard Cœur de Lion or Richard the Lionheart. Spanning from November 1189 to October 1192, the book relates the story of Richard's participation in the Third Crusade against Saladin and the Ayyubids. The real historical events of the book are experienced through the eyes of a fictional Irish nobleman, Ferdia Ó Catháin (also known as Rufus), who is one of Richard's closest companions. Rufus has an intricate story of his own, but "Crusader" does not elaborate on it, leaving the details to the first book "Lionheart".
"Crusader" is fantastically-written from start to end. Scenes are described in gripping detail, important character decisions and motivations are explained clearly, and the ceaseless action of battles and political intrigue is enough to keep even casual readers engaged. If the story had had no basis in real life, I still would have greatly enjoyed it. It's all the more impressive to me that the author managed to breathe such life in thousand-year-old events, grounding them in a way that cold academic texts never could.
Aiding in the book's accuracy is the clever use of Modern English vocabulary constructed in Old English stylings. Similar to HBO's "Deadwood" series, contemporary (but proper) English neologisms serve to convey the weight of a statement or an action, but their period-inspired grammar makes them fit in well with the story's setting. Contributing to the atmosphere are names for people and places that were actually in use in the 12th century.
On that note, sensitive readers should be aware that this book is not a lighthearted romp. Enemy peoples are described in politically-incorrect ways, horrible conditions are described at length, and brutal acts of all kinds abound. For a work of historical fiction, however, I feel such things are important to include, in order to help the reader understand the harsh nature of yesterday's world. As a plus, many of the battle sequences are written quite cinematically and are exciting to read.
The author himself notes that some of the events that happen to Rufus really did befall some knights on the Third Crusade, but I should mention that the majority of his story is fictional. This specifically includes many things that happen regarding the family of King Richard. For the sake of spoilers, I won't elaborate on that further.
My only complaint is with the ending. If you know the history of the Third Crusade, then there are no real surprises or spoilers in this story. My only wish is that a little more suspense and build-up had been placed in the story prior to Richard's final act with Saladin. To me, it felt just a little bit sudden, but other readers might disagree with me on that opinion. Rufus also has a feud with another knight named Robert FitzAldelm, the story of which is told in "Lionheart", but I was rather dissatisfied with the course of that feud here--it seemed to be put on hold for the upcoming third book.
Overall, I highly recommend "Crusader", especially to anyone who is interested in Medieval history. I have not yet read the first book in the series, but after this one, I'd certainly like to.
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Information on my copy of the book is listed below.
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[Last updated: 2023-06-15]