Customer Reviews

The Adept 3: The Templar Treasure

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After admitting that I am an avid fan of Kurtz, I was somewhat disappointed with this series. The first book I thought was terrible. The characters found in the book are wonderful, but the story is just too out there for even this fantasy lover's taste. The second was better however, and the third was better still. Although not up to par with the Deryini series, it has its good moments. As the title suggests, it is a story that has a great deal to do with the history of the Knights Templar; their fall from grace, and the legends that still surround them. That was what I found fascinating about the book. Well researched, with mention of various books that tell of the Templars, it makes for interesting reading for anyone who is interested in these enigmatic people. Without giving away the ending of the book, I would like to say that it was very disappointing however. Going from the lords and ladies of Scotland to an all out gorilla warfare scene pushes the limit of the imagination just a tad too far

THE TEMPLAR TREASURE is the third of THE ADEPT novels. The best written book in the series, it is also somewhat like a prodigal son, having a storyline and plot totally divorced from the rest of the books.

Rather than doing battle with The Lodge of the Lynx as in the rest of the series, Sir Adam and his associates are faced with a renegade French archaeologist and occultist, Henri Gerard, who has discovered the secret of King Solomon's treasures and is on a mad quest to recover them and the wealth and power he believes they represent.

Kurtz and Harris are indefatigable here in providing literally chapters' worth of lore about the Knights Templar and their connections to historic Scotland, as well as finally defining the occult traditions of their protagonists.

THE TEMPLAR TREASURE is spiced with some really intriguing medium/seance/reincarnation scenes that seem entirely plausible within the scope of the novel.

Best of all, Kurtz has "borrowed" General Sir John Cathal Graham from her wonderful novel LAMMAS NIGHT. Gray Graham brings a whole nuanced texture to THE TEMPLAR TREASURE which makes it unique in the ADEPT series. It's clear Kurtz adores the character of Graham and his scenes make up some of the best writing in the book.

The scene descriptions are detailed without being heavy-handed. Sir Adam, Peregrine and Inspector McLeod seem to have settled into an easy camaraderie. The stilted "drawing-room" tone of the first two ADEPT novels is muted, and the characters all exhibit a certain dry wit and a sense of poking fun at themselves throughout that makes THE TEMPLAR TREASURE a minor gem.

Give this novel FOUR AND ONE-HALF STARS and a chance to grow on you.

Suspend your logic for a trip into a magical world with The Adept series. Yes, Kurtz and Harris make good use of just enough historical fact to maintain plausibility, while adding a good dose of fantastical magic for a wonderful read. While The Templar Treasure may not contain enough fact for fans of that bygone order, it does contain some reasonably accurate description of Qabalistic ritual. I am certain that either Kurtz or Harris are familiar enough with the Golden Dawn tradition to have fashioned their psychic detective in similar tradition. A delightful read.

Having renewed my interest in fantasy/sci-fi book reading just recently, i came across this book at a second hand bookshop. Being familiar with the author's past works, i expected the same Knight/Chivalry stuff from the author with the added magic/sorcery mix added. The book was a good read. The mix of historical fact and fictional elements were very interesting and made me very interested about the stories of the Templar Knights and Scottish history.

However it wasn't a perfect book with the ending a little too predictable.

I just finished this in the Adept series, and plan to read 'em all.I am SO at polar odds about these books, though. Kurtz and Turner REALLY know their stuff about cerimonial magick, the Knights Templar, Fae folk, Reincarnation and the Quabbalah-just for starts! That they so seemlessly weave it into a rousing adventure is enough to make me keep on(I cant wait to read #4, Dagger Magic where they will hopefully make good the promise in Lodge of the Lynx that Hitler was a black magician)But WHY are the characters so shallow!?!Peregrine is never described as any more then "blond and owl eyed" Adam has "distinguished greying temples" and drives a Jag. FORGET about any female characters, except for Adams mother they are convienent background material. I find it almost hard to care about these people, but the elegant and descriptive writing, the lushious depections of castles, magickal artifacts and the most beautiful mansions you ever wished you lived in PLUS the AUTHENTIC (And so rare to me)weaving of real magick and lore into the plot will keep me reading anyway. Better then most fantasy fiction. And I hear their new Knights Templar series is better.

The Adept series started with some promise but quickly slipped into a bland ensemble of "very good" endlessly resourceful heroes without a flaw "fighting" against "very bad" unredemable villians. The occult aspects of the novels read as tiresome padding. Basically a low budget Saturday B movie. I threw my copy of this book away.