Customer Reviews

Pagan's Crusade: Book One of the Pagan Chronicles

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

A big man in brown, sitting behind a table. Big hands. Big chest. Short and broad. Head like a rock, face scarred like a battle axe. He looks up and sees--what's this? A street urchin? Whatever it is, it's trouble. Trouble advances cautiously.
      "They said I should report to the Standard-Bearer."
      The big man nods.
      "You can call me sir," he says. (Voice like gravel rattling in a cast-iron pot.) He pulls out a pen. "Name?" he says.
      "Pagan."
      "Pagan what?"
      "Pagan Kidrouk."

This is the reader's introduction to 16-year-old Pagan, a half-Arab Christian, who is applying to join the Knights Templar. The year is 1187, and Jerusalem, held by Christians, faces the approach of Saladin and his Muslim army. Pagan is chosen to serve as a squire to Lord Roland, a Templar knight. As danger mounts and the Holy City is besieged, Pagan finds friendship--and risks everything to keep it.

The above excerpt, which is the beginning of the book, gives a good indication of Catherine Jinks's extremely spare writing style with its constant peppering of incomplete sentences. It is as though Pagan himself, who has been raised in a monastery and is therefore very literate as well as observant, is speaking to us. It also makes for a fast-paced and absorbing story that simply cries to be read aloud. I realise historical novels are not all that popular among children, but a class of, say, 12-year-olds would soon become engrossed if their teacher was a good reader and read this book to them.

This is the first book in the Pagan series. The others (in the order in which they should be read) are Pagan in Exile, Pagan's Vows and Pagan's Scribe

Is it just me or are there very few teen series out there in a guy's perspective? Yeah, Harry Potter. And Calvin and Hobbes just HAS to be compared. The wit, the childishness and the wisdom combined. Pagan is cute and clever, good and wicked. I'm a person who normally only buys books so that I can make FULL use out of them (read them to tatters, basically). This, I picked off the shelf, read the first page, and bought it automatically. I have not been disappointed.

The first book is pure Crusade stuff, with dates and smelly old lepers and annoying tourists. It gives you a day-in-the-life perspective with Pagan's cutting (yet observant) remarks. It also draws you into both his own and his lord Roland's character, making you buy the next, then the next, then sit patiently and chew your fingers for the next book.

Catherine Jinks, you've got a new big fan.

Pagan Kidrouk looks like a street urchin when he first arrives at the doors of the Order of the Temple in the great city of Jerusalem. Just sixteen years old, Pagan has had a very checkered life, one full of hardship, cruelty and vice. He has little reason to trust people, find goodness in them, or even grow attached to them. Jerusalem in 1187 is a city of holy places on the one hand and a city of beggars, thieves, corruption and poverty on the other. Pagan finds himself in the employ of the almost saint-like Templar knight Lord Roland Roucy de Bram. Pagan calls his new master "Saint George," as he finds it difficult to accustom himself to the pure and honorable ways of the knight. Pagan himself views the world in a very different light, seeing only the grime, the misery and the corruption.

As Lord Roland's squire, Pagan must accompany him when the knight escorts a group of pilgrims from Jerusalem to the River Jordan and back. These were difficult times, when infidels often attacked pilgrims, and the Templar knights were needed to protect the pilgrims as they traveled through the Holy Land. No sooner are Lord Roland and Pagan back in Jerusalem when terrible news arrives. The greatest infidel of them all, Saladin, has crossed the River Jordan and taken one of the cities. It is not long before Saladin is at the very walls of Jerusalem itself, and Lord Roland finds himself leading the Templar knights and playing a large role in the future of the great city. It is at this time that Pagan learns he is capable of new emotions; he discovers that he can feel pity and care for someone else.

Written from Pagan's point of view and in his own voice, complete with his sarcasm and disdain for those around him, PAGAN'S CRUSADE is an extraordinary book. We can laugh, be shocked and feel pity all at the same time. Catherine Jinks shows us, through Pagan's eyes, how harsh life was during the time of the Crusades and how distorted each side's view was of the other. It is only when they are face to face that they see and hear that they are in fact not much different from one another; we too learn that infidels and Christians were very much alike. When Jerusalem was taken from the Muslims, terrible crimes against its people were committed by the Christians. Now, in turn, Saladin's soldiers are having their revenge. Except, when they get to Jerusalem, Saladin shows the world that he can be generous.

As we close this first book in a planned series of four, we wonder what Pagan and his master will do next, and are left to ponder what people have done in the name of religion.

--- Reviewed by Marya Jansen-Gruber (mjansengruber@mindspring.com)

Pagan is a 16-year-old boy who was born in Jerusalem during the 1100's. Pagan is half Arab, and he is an orphan. He needs a place to live and money, so he goes to the Knights Templar center to sign up as a Templar squire. He ends up as the squire of Lord Roland Roucy de Bram. They are assigned to escort and protect groups of pilgrims visiting Jerusalem's holy sites. The pilgrims have a very annoying tour guide named Joscelin. Joscelin tells the pilgrims false facts. And then the tourists start playing a game that would likely be called "Name That Saint". It's funny because instead of playing games that we play now, such as "Name That State" it's "Name That Saint".

Near the end of the book the Muslims conquer Jerusalem. The Christians have to pay to be free or become a slave. What I thought was the funnies part was when the Crusaders, Balian, and Lord Roland, are haggling with Saladin over how much a person should be worth to be free. I find that funny because when they are haggling it sounds like haggling over something like a pound of cheese, not a person.

Pagan's Crusade is the first book of the "Pagan Chronicles". One problem with the Pagan Chronicles is that once it gets onto the second book it turns into more like a book for 13-year-olds. The second book has a lot more bad words and a lot more violence. It is kind of like Star Wars, because all of a sudden instead of being rated PG, Episode III is rated PG-13. Pagan's Crusade is funny, exciting, and a little bit informative about the Crusades. It does have some bad words. Little kids SHOULD NOT read this book, especially if they have a brother or sister. There are a lot of mean insults that they might repeat. I am ten, but this book is really for eleven-year-olds.

Ben (age 10)
May 16, 2007

Pagan's Crusade and its sequals (Pagan in Exile, Pagan's Vows, and Pagan's Scribe) are some of my favorite books. Pagan's first person narration is fast and witty. He and Lord Roland are perfect foils for one another, and their friendship is one of the book's best attributes. Read the first few pages, and see if you're not hooked!

This is a wonderful book, very easy to read, and full of emotion and angst and drama. Written in the first person, the reader is invited into Pagan's world, and an interesting place it is too.

There are 4 books in the series, this is the first, I highly recomed the others.

Her most recent book, 'Eye To Eye' is also excellent!!

Catherine Jinks is the finest author for this age group around.

This fast paced story will be sure to bring a smile to anyone's face, as our narrator and main character Pagan Kidrouk wittily tells us of his adventures. Set in Jeruselem when it was under Christian rule in the 12th century, Pagan is a half Arab, therefore a half enemy for the suspicious minded, a fact that can cause him trouble from time to time. Previously enrolled with the city garrison (and involved with some of the city's low-life), Pagan owes money and is therefore forced to enroll elsewhere. He went to the Knights of the Templar, or Knights of God. Hillariously told through his eyes, Pagan must learn about being the page for the knight Lord Roland deBram. As time and events wear on, these two build their friendship, and as the Turks threaten the holy city, Pagan is faced with losing that friendship, and so pushes his luck one more time in an effort to save it.

This book is about a boy called Pagan and his adventures through life and in particular when he is made a sqire to a knight called Roland. The setting is the crusades of the middle ages. Told with amazing wit this book is throughly readable and a must for all! Especially enjoyable for readers 12-16 years old - but for anyone who appreciates a good laugh.

I read the entire Pagan series and loved it, even laughed out loud a few times. I would recommend it to anyone who likes historical fiction.

I pounced on this book the second our YA librarian pulled it out of the box when I saw the cover art by Peter de Seve. Sadly, I think these editions are being phased out - they're worth it if you can track them down, though. Sometimes it's okay to judge a book by its cover, and I was not disappointed by the story. It's extremely witty - many times I wondered about the age level that it was really aimed at - as jokes ranged from silly to complex to vaguely inappropriate. Set in Jerusalem in the 12th century, the book is told from the point of view of Pagan Kidrouk, a wisecracking orphan seeking refuge from his past, who's been appointed squire to a Templar knight, as the army of Saladin lays siege to the city of Jerusalem. In a way, this is also a story of "first love," since Pagan will eventually risk everything he has to keep his "love" alive.