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Book 1
Military / Fictional Saga
Knights Templar / 1200s
Spain
Don't trust the cover art, that is the
most important piece of advice I can give you, because if you think this is a
story of the warrior girl on the cover, you'll be disappointed.
Arnau Vallbona is introduced to us as a
young knight fighting against the Almohad of Spain in the company of a Templar
knight who leaves a deep impression on him. The battle is won but there are
losses, losses that change the course of Arnau's life.
Despite the sweeping saga promised by the
preface, this is a more contained piece, detailing events that occur for the
majority over a week and in the space of a couple of square miles. This is one
of the strengths of the novel, the ability to make a small community of
Templars interesting, concentrating on a handful of characters who never roam
far. The detail of the Templar life is quite astonishing, the minutiae of being
a knight and the trappings of knighthood are a joy to discover, if you are of
that mind, and the brutality is laid bare of what a sword or mace is going to do
in battle in a manner rarely seen in most historical fiction, bringing a layer
of understanding to the genre.
However, there are a few drawbacks, the
cover art being the greatest. It is misleading at best. The title may be
'Daughter of War' but the cover image on the copy I read was of a character who
never appears in the book. A case of a traditional publishing house marketing
department not having a clue what the book is actually about. There were a few
typos, I'll forgive those as this was a review copy, but there were also a few
slips in the research, language being another major one for me, more obvious as
I have spent significant time in Catalunya where the novel is set.
But negatives aside, this is a good novel
with a believable, consistent storyline that ends as well as it can. Any fan of
military history and knights will thoroughly enjoy this.
© Nicky Galliers
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