Customer Reviews

The Prester Quest

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The participants in this mission, Nicholas Jubber and Mike Hirst set out to deliver a letter written by Pope Alexander III in 1177 to Prester John.

On their journey to deliver (albeit 824 years late) Nicholas Jubber manages to combine historical knowledge and legend with contemporary reality in a way which is simultaneously eccentric, amusing and highly informative.

There are a number of different journeys being depicted in this novel, and they are each worth reading about. Read it as a contemporary travelogue on a medieval mission, read it as a commentary on some of the issues that are as topical today as they were when the original 12th century missive was written. You choose!

I recommend this to anyone with an interest in the legendary Prester John, as well as to anyone who likes reading about the travails of travel.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

In 1177 Pope Alexander III wrote a letter to the Priest-King of the Indies and chose his physician to delivery it -even though the legendary monarch's kingdom was hidden. Master Philip set out to find it and delivery the letter and vanished: centuries later author Nicholas Jubber fond a copy of the pope's original letter and decided to deliver it himself. THE PRESTER QUEST blends history with an adventure travelogue to make for an extraordinary odyssey.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I have just started reading this book, and am already fascinated by it. I am, by nature, always curious about ancient history and/or myths/legends such as Prester John. Whether or not he actually ever existed is anyones guess. However, this will definitely be a 'good read'. The author, Nicholas Jubber, shows his own incredibly wonderful sense of humor from the beginning. I would highly recommend this for anyone who has an inquisitive mind and enjoys exploring, via books, a long ago mysterious person who, whether in fact of myth, sparked the interest of all and sundry including Pope Alexander III in 1177.

This is a terrible book that could be a good book. The IDEA for the book was solid, and some of the historical tidbits are interesting.

It COULD have been an entertaining quest, but there is one enormous problem: the author is a pretentious, self-centered, pseudo-intellecutal child with a very high opinion of himself and the most irritating writing style known to man. Don't waste your time with this book unless you enjoy being patronized.

Shame.