Alamut [Paperback]

Judith Tarr (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Bantam Books (1990)
• ISBN-10: 0553287869
• ISBN-13: 978-0553287868
• ASIN: B0013SQOEE
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

More About the Author

I have a lot of academic credentials (PhD from Yale, MA from Cambridge University, AB from Mt. Holyoke) and taught writing and Latin at Wesleyan University in Connecticut--before I ran away from it all to live on a mesa in Arizona. I breed and ride Lipizzan horses, read and study history (and make up my own alternate and fantastical versions), and write--novels, short stories, articles. I teach writing online (details at http://capriole.smoe.org) and blog on the livejournals as dancinghorse. My alter ego is author Caitlin Brennan, who also has a plog on amazon.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorite books of all time!, June 25, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: ALAMUT (Mass Market Paperback)

Judith Tarr is the queen of historical fantasy! Magical creatures and the mundane world blend seamlessly in this novel set in the time of the Crusades: occasional appearances are made by kings, warriors, and even Saladin himself! One can almost believe that the world was once like this, and that we are unimaginably diminished by the loss of the magic and wonder that once was a part of everyday life. This novel has mystery, romance, adventure, and some of the most fascinating and memorable characters in all fiction. I've read this book over twenty times, never tiring of it, and loving it each time more than the last

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good for fans of both fantasy and history..., August 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: ALAMUT (Mass Market Paperback)

It's well written, not cliched. It shows the Arabs to be just as human as the European crusaders...and more civilized and advanced, as they were during those times.

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully Memorable Story, January 20, 2012

By 

BlueDoll (Pittsburgh) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alamut (Hardcover)

I first read this book when I was in high school, working as a page in the local public library. I read it several times, often enough that I would locate it by its location on the shelf rather than looking up the author in the now defunct card catalog.

Years later I could remember the plot, the color of the cover and elements of the graphical layout of the cover but had forgotten the author or the title. It took me a bit of sleuthing, but thanks to persistence and my degree (by then) in library and information science I tracked it down in a database and had the joy of rediscovering it.

Judith Tarr, in Alamut, created a world in which the boundary between historical events and magic was very thin, and handled the characters beautifully. This book was wonderful to rediscover, and I highly recommend it to fans of historical fantasy. I give it five stars for being one of those stories that embedded itself into my consciousness and never let go.