Customer Reviews

The Road to Jerusalem: Book One of the Crusades Trilogy

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3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

In 1150 Sweden Arn Magnusson is born; the second son of an aristocratic Swedish family. While still a child, he is air lifted by a rock, which when he lands below the castle should have killed him. Instead he returns from the dead leading his parents to believe he is special especially with the hair covering his forehead from the day he was born. His parents send Arn to a monastery where the monks teach him to read and write. However former knight, Brother Guilbert becomes his mentor teaching him archery and swordplay as well as guiding him into understanding the metaphysical spiritual realm.

Arn is attracted Cecilia; especially loving her voice when she sings. However Cecilia's jealous sister Katarina seduces Arn and subsequently confesses her sin. Excommunicated for his transgressions Arn is sentenced to serve his penitence as a Knight Templar for two decades in the Holy Land.

The aptly named THE ROAD TO JERUSALEM (Arn is still in Europe by book's end) is a fabulous historical thriller that provides a refreshing perspective on twelfth century religion and society in Sweden. Arn is a terrific lead character who holds the vivid story line together; the support cast enhances the deep look into Swedish medieval society while also propelling the plot forward. Crusades historical readers will appreciate this opening gamut and anxiously await the hero's return hopefully in Jerusalem.

Harriet Klausner

As a medieval historian and a big fan of historical fiction, family members from Sweden have been telling me for years to learn some Swedish so I can enjoy the fabulous bestselling Crusades Trilogy from Swedish author Jan Guillou. I still have yet to improve my language beyond basic Swedish, fortunately this isn't a problem anymore. The first book in the trilogy, The Road to Jerusalem, which has done very well in Europe also, is now available in English to American readers.

The title may be somewhat of a misnomer, with an emphasis on "road to," as the main characters never even make it near to the Holy Land. However as this is a trilogy, readers know they'll get there eventually. In this first book, the year is 1150, and readers are introduced to Arn Magnusson, a boy of noble birth who is sent to a cloister where he learns the ways of the church, as well as some expert training in weaponry and horse riding from a master. Eventually leaving the cloister, Arn is reunited with his family who is expecting a humble monk, find a powerful, but pious warrior. After committing and being charged with a grave sin, he is forced to become a member of the Knights Templar at the end of the book.

On the surface this seems a simple story, and readers may have a little trouble with the many Swedish names and words (a pronunciation guide would've been helpful; fortunately I at least know how to sound those foreign letters: å sounds like "awe," ä with a soft "e" sound like "egg," ö and ø [ø is the equivalent in the Norwegian and Danish alphabets] have an "er" sound), but Guillou does an incredible job of analyzing and revealing medieval twelfth-century life in Scandinavia. In the style of Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth and World Without End, Guillou isn't obvious and overbearing with the history, but reveals it through plot and story, allowing readers to make deductions for themselves. And for those who've seen the Swedish tre kronor or three crown flag and symbol prevalent throughout Sweden will have their questions answered in The Road to Jerusalem.

Guillou probably could've combined the trilogy into once massive book à la Ken Follett, but instead you have a fun trilogy that begins with a strong foundation and background for those not too familiar with the period and area, continuing in the second book, The Templar Knight, due out May 2010.

[...]

This is the first novel in a trilogy written in Swedish and recently translated into English. It is said to have been a best seller in Europe. I only learned of the book because it was given to me as a get well gift. The presenter recommended the book saying he had enjoyed the story because it had a lot of details on what it was like to live in medieval Sweden in 1150. And for the most part it does do this rather well and this unusual setting elevates the reader's interest. But the story becomes rather corny as it develops as its hero is similar to every super human strong man, in this case a sensitive and reluctant warrior who is brought up by monks to be a knight after his mother delivers him to the church. Our hero's name is Arn Magnusson, a second son. I am not saying the book is a failure but I did have difficulty staying with it (I did stop reading it at one point to read another book). It may have been the translation or the author's style but the writing in English is extremely flat in tone with a very simple use of vocabulary. And although I know this is book one of a trilogy it is called ROAD TO JERUSALEM and I was surprised that in this volume our hero hardly makes it out of his drive way. The plot in this first volume is split in part by Arn's childhood and parents' back-story as Arn becomes educated by a clergy man who was also a Templar Knight. Arn, of course, becomes a reluctant master of the sword which is made especially for him and laughed at by the locals until he is forced to use it on them. The second part the story finds the church throwing Arn into the real world to learn the ways of common people where he immediately gets taken advantage of by a lovely young lady. And it's at this point in the book that the action picks up in a really unbelievable way as this young lady you see has a sister. Well I'm sure you get the picture. One of the sisters get jealous and Arn is caught unawares and finds himself cast off in sin to fight for 30 years in the Crusades only to leave behind his true love. I don't see me reading volumes two and three. (I understand number 3 is not even translated yet.) But I am invested in the character and if I am in need of a beach read I could see myself giving volume two a chance. A slim chance.

My husband and I both found the first two books of this trilogy to be outstanding. When I put the second book down I told my husband I was going to miss reading about the main character Arn. He is a likeable guy! Really wanting the third book to be published in English.

Jan Guillou is one of Sweden's best writers. To me he far outshines Stieg Larsson. The Crusades Trilogy, that actually became four books, combines history, religion, romance in a can't put down until the last page read.

I have tried to read this novel numerous times. I'll read a few pages and put it down. Try a few more pages with the same result. It is boring! boring! boring! I enjoy historical fiction and especially this period and the Crusades but it is rough going.
I'm a little beyond half through the book and am determined to finish.
Aside from boring, the writing is stilted and flat.
Perhaps that is due to translation from Swedish to English. Probably not.
Unfortunately, I also bought the second novel in this series when I bought the first.
Foolish me!
If interest in medieval Scandinavia try Sigrid Undset.

*Brilliant depiction of medieval times, centered in the land that would become Sweden*
Caught between the turmoil resulting from the crusades and the medieval rivalries of kings and church, a young man discovers his inheritance and sets out to realize his destiny.
In fulfillment of a promise made to God, a woman of noble means, commits her young son to the care of the Cistercian monks. The boy is Arn, and at first he is crushed to be torn away from his family. But his natural brightness, intelligence, and curiosity soon have him excelling at everything the monks teach him. Brother Guilbert, a master swordsman, recognizes Arn's natural gifts of speed, balance, and dexterity, and teaches him about swordsmanship, archery, and horsemanship.
As Arn grows to adolescence, the monks realize Arn needs to experience life outside the monastery if he is to ever find out what his destiny may be. However, his sequestered life has left him completely unprepared. Honest and without guile, Arn has no idea about ulterior motives, manipulation, or political intrigue. Nor does he know he comes from a titled family. In this innocent state of mind he is sent on a homeward journey and of course immediately gets in trouble.
He encounters a bride running down the road, fleeing the oaf she must marry, and is then surrounded by the pursuing groom and his drunken friends who accuse him of being a bride robber; they are ready to cut him down. Trained in submission and prayerfulness, Arn bows his head and prays for his would-be murderers' souls. Feeling sorry for the lad, someone tosses him a heavy iron sword. Arn tries not to fight, but with his lightning fast reflexes two men end up dead. Before the bridal party can take revenge, an emotional priest runs up claiming it was a miracle, that he saw the Angel Gabriel guiding Arn's sword. Arn is allowed to leave but he is mortified at what he's done, and even after later confessing to the monastery prior, Father Henri, he is filled with remorse.
This is an example of Arn's character - a harsh judge of himself who seeks to be nonjudgmental of others. He is honest, brave, and generous - and in time he will become a brilliant knight.
When he finally arrives home, his father and brother welcome him but soon avoid him for his lack of "manly" traits, such as drunkenness, gluttony, and general rowdiness.
However, Arn's prowess with sword and bow - and his excellent horsemanship - are gradually revealed to his family, kinsmen, and enemies alike.
As his reputation spreads, he grows in stature in their eyes - yet he is nearly undone by his own naivete and suffers greatly because of jealousy.
As events move toward the Third Crusade, Arn has learned many harsh lessons yet he is becoming as strong as the tempered steel of his sword.
This is a brilliant novel - political intrigues abound - as Arn comes of age amid medieval turbulence of clan, church, and king.

If you like historical fiction, you will enjoy this series. I would say the book is comparable to Ken Follet's "Pillars of the Earth" in its historical background and high-suspense action.

Historical novel: a young boy in 12th-century Sweden grows up in a Cistercian monastery; owing to his natural talent and intelligence, and the Cistercians' wisdom and teaching, he grows up skilled in all sorts of practical crafts and also (thanks to one monk who's an ex-Templar) a master fighter, but completely innocent in the ways of the world. Released from the monastery, he quickly gets swept up in political and romantic hurly-burly and has to learn fast. Which he doesn't do quite fast enough, and at the end of the book he is sent off into penitential exile to become a crusading Templar himself. Which wasn't a terribly rude surprise, as it was clear on the cover that this is just the first book of a trilogy.

The historical content, the research, is excellent as far as I can tell: in-dialogue references to Perceval, while extremely apt, were the only anachronism that leapt out at me. The storyline is fairly straightforward, nothing especially complex or Machiavellian, and the writing style is very clear. The characters and the characterization are well-written and probably the book's best feature, although the protagonist Arn is maybe just a little too good to be true - Guillou is prone to "Mary Sue" characters in some of his other books as well. Steven Murray's translation is faithful and clear; I only noticed one idiom he stumbled badly over (plus the odd way he tried to translate Edessa as Odessa).

This book promises good things for the trilogy as a whole, but by itself it is so incomplete, so obviously just a prologue, that it rates slightly lower as a stand-alone.

This is a compelling, engrossing story about three characters: Arn Magnusson - a boy who is placed in a monastery and is trained to become a warrior by a former Templar knight; his love interest, Cecilia Algotsdotter (who is a simple woman and who has a much larger role in the later books) - and above all about the early birth of the Kingdom of Sweden. This book takes place in the 1100's, when Sweden had competing clans and lands. Much of the book is about the Folkung clan, one of whom is Arn, and their relations with the other clans and the Church.

This is not a war-action novel, but the first book of a great epic. This is, in many ways, a prologue to the second book which focuses on Arn's 20 so years in the Holy Land as a knight Templar. This first is interesting and, after the first few chapters, enjoyable, because it is about life in medieval Sweden, and as I previously said the birth of Sweden. I am no expert in Swedish history, but I do know that many of the characters mentioned in the book, as well as the places, did exist. Most medieval era stories about Scandinavia tend to focus on the pagan Vikings - but this book has no real reference to the pagan days, with all of the Scandinavians devout Latin Christians under the influence of the Church (by Latin, I do not mean they speak Latin but in contrast to Orthodox).

The trilogy is a hero's journey. Like many an archetypal hero his journey is indirect, guided by older and wiser men (and women), and reluctant. Arn's only desire is to live a happy life, but repeated personal tragedies as well as Swedish politics send him not to a nice, quiet farm life but, as the title says, on the Path to Jerusalem.

This trilogy were a small phenomenon in Sweden; not only because of the historical and geographical basis, but also because the character building is compelling and, for better or worse, generally detailed and drawn out.

On a final note, the author is a controversial figure, with innumerable extremist views - but none of these are clearly apparent in this book, and while sympathetic to Muslims in later books there is not really an extreme anti-Western slant. At worst he perpetuates the idea that Saladin was honorable, generous, and intelligent - which in fact history seems to substantiate... but all of this is in the second book - the Knight Templar.