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| The Templar Legacy: A Novel | 
| Author: Steve Berry
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Category: Book
List Price: $9.99
Buy Used: $0.14
You Save: $9.85 (99%)
New (37) from $4.70
Avg. Customer Rating:  148 reviews
Sales Rank: 32306
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Edition: Reprint
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 544
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 4.2 x 1.4
ISBN: 0345504410
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780345504418
ASIN: 0345504410
Publication Date: November 27, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: 2007 paperback. Tight & clean.
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Product Description
The ancient order of the Knights Templar possessed untold wealth and absolute power over kings and popes . . . until the Inquisition, when they were wiped from the face of the earth, their hidden riches lost. But now two forces vying for the treasure have learned that it is not at all what they thought it was–and its true nature could change the modern world.
Cotton Malone, one-time top operative for the U.S. Justice Department, is enjoying his quiet new life as an antiquarian book dealer in Copenhagen when an unexpected call to action reawakens his hair-trigger instincts–and plunges him back into the cloak-and-dagger world he thought he’d left behind.
It begins with a violent robbery attempt on Cotton’s former supervisor, Stephanie Nelle, who’s far from home on a mission that has nothing to do with national security. Armed with vital clues to a series of centuries-old puzzles scattered across Europe, she means to crack a mystery that has tantalized scholars and fortune-hunters through the ages by finding the legendary cache of wealth and forbidden knowledge thought to have been lost forever when the order of the Knights Templar was exterminated in the fourteenth century. But she’s not alone. Competing for the historic prize–and desperate for the crucial information Stephanie possesses–is Raymond de Roquefort, a shadowy zealot with an army of assassins at his command.
Welcome or not, Cotton seeks to even the odds in the perilous race. But the more he learns about the ancient conspiracy surrounding the Knights Templar, the more he realizes that even more than lives are at stake. At the end of a lethal game of conquest, rife with intrigue, treachery, and craven lust for power, lies a shattering discovery that could rock the civilized world–and, in the wrong hands, bring it to its knees.
From the Hardcover edition.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 143 more reviews...
an interesting melange of history, theology and poetic license December 1, 2008
Facing a long (long) flight, I was given this book to while away the time. It certainly did the trick, as the plot is interesting, tying together equal parts early Chuch history (ala Elaine Pagels and the Rt. Rev. Spong), Tom Clancy (the hero is a retired government covert agent), and speculation about the Knights Templar. In the end, however, it is a story line that Dan Brown did a much better job of writing.
At issue is the search for the lost wealth of the Templars, wiped out in 1314 by the Capet King Charles IV. Clues are liberally provided as three groups each seek to solve the puzzle of wht the Templar treasure is and where it is located. The story certainly held my interest, although the writing was a bit hackneyed (" the blood ball of sun set...") and, as a previous reviewer pointed out, the Latin was abominable. (I'm taking his word for it.)
The concluding 1/3 of the book is the strongest part of the story, as it should be - I had to finish it rather than go to sleep. The history and theology are woven well together with a healthy dose of speculation and literary license - I did like the book. However it is a story line that has been done before (and frankly done better) by other authors - hence the 3 stars.
Not bad, readable, though a lot of language errors November 23, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Well, I tried his "The Romanov Prophecy" and had to pretty much pan it in a review...but flipping through this one, it looked more promising, and indeed it is a much better book. He did a decent amount of research on that fascinating body, the Knights Templar, and I think developed a genuine interest in them and appreciation for the countryside of southern France, where he places them as secretly surviving into the 21st century.
Of course he has to posit a powerful secret, being sought by the bad and the good, with many twists and turns along the way. The secret is related to the divinity or otherwise of Jesus, and I suspect that your hard-core born-again Christians might not like the implied conclusion (even though, as he stresses in a note, this is all a work of fiction.) The Catholic Church doesn't come off too well, either, at least in the mid-to-late medieval period (the time which also saw the horrors of the Albigensian massacres and the weirdness of the Crusades.)
What makes this book much better than his Russian one is that he maintains focus on the central theme. Some reviewers complain about a dearth of character development: I think it's adequate to support the main theme, which is actually the plot itself. It all added up to a basically satisfying read.
The only real niggle I have is with the sloppy errors in word usage and French and Latin translations. You'd think that Berry would have given serious attention to that area, or that if he slipped up, his editors would have caught it. But this is an American novel...enough said.
To show what I mean, I'm going to list some errors I noted. But don't let them put you off reading the book for its other merits - just ponder the interesting question of how a book can make it all the way through the editing and publishing process with these errors in it. Page numbers are for the Ballantine/Random paperback.
95. "..noted that none of the others stirred the solemnity of the challenge.." What?? Context might suggest "sensed" or "shared."
99. "Two buses were already there, their drivers milling about smoking." Steve, "milling" inherently refers to a crowd. Two people can't mill! Also it indicates random, uncoordinated motion, which seems inappropriate anyway.
100. "..a cluster of olden stone buildings.." Please! "Olden" is for those with zero knowledge of history, to whom everything before about 1920 was "the olden days." Ghastly word, especially when "old" would have been fine.
188. The papal palace in Avignon is NOT the "palais des popes." The French for "popes" is "papes."
264. Translation again - or ignorance of historic English: "Par ce signe tu le vaincras" does not mean "by this sign ye shall conquer him." "Ye" is plural, "tu" is singular, so the translation is "By this sign thou shalt conquer him." Or the simple modern "you shall" would have been fine, if less specific.
269. A major mess-up here! A long Latin inscription is quoted and characters comment on mis-spellings in it, and suspect that they are deliberate clues to a mystery. Only problem is, the Latin is not misspelt at all! The book prints correct Latin, not the incorrect version they are supposedly looking at! This was the one thing that made me seriously consider throwing the book aside. How that ever happened I cannot imagine.
361. "..she was half Muslim and these days that raised, if nothing else, a red flag." Comment is superfluous.
384 (and others.) Another Latin blunder. "I conceal the secrets of God" is supposed to be the translation of "I tego arcana Dei." Just one problem - "I" does not exist in Latin. "Ego" is the closest, but generally, since Latin is an inflected language, no pronoun is needed. "Tego" itself means "I conceal." Does Berry even know what an inflected language is? Why didn't he get some competent help with Latin?
408. "Summers here were brief, the days short." Hey, he's in southern France, what is this nonsense? In summer the days are at their longest, but in any case there's not much variation in that latitude.
481. Two characters, who have had a tough relationship, say their goodbyes in private and appear to have reconciled. Or, as Berry inscrutably puts it, "Apparently their salutation had been amenable." Does this guy own a dictionary? Is English his first language?
484. Something "...does in fact harken back to another century." That's HARK back. "Hearken" - with the "e" - is to listen. "Harken" isn't anything, though sadly common.
Ah, the state of publishing today...
great storyteller, boring book November 20, 2008
I am a fan of Steve Berry. There is something exciting about following the adventures of Cotton Malone throughout Berry's novels, and he tells the stories in such a way that it is easy to get caught in the book as if you were right there with him. The Alexandria Link is one of those novels, and is what made me interested in reading Berry more. So, I picked up the Templar Legacy, and expected just as much of a suspenseful thrillride as The Alexandria Link. It wasn't what I hoped for.
The Templar Legacy made me feel less like I was in a story, and more like I was in a history lesson. The best part about Steve Berry is his novels are so well researched that they are often considered "too smart" by some whom I have discussed his books with. They see him as pretentious, even snobby. I don't think this is a fair judgement. Steve Berry instead seems to insist more of himself as a writer, which is why his books are researched to the point that nearly every location mentioned in his books is a geographical location for which he as visited. The issue here, is that it at times took away from the story.
The start of the novel was very interesting, but toward the middle, it was harder and harder for me to keep the book in front of my eyes without them getting heavy from sleep. Also, the adventure taken by Cotton Malone was not nearly as much of a rush as the first novel I read of Berry's. This was more of a treasure seeking crossword puzzle aimed at the elitist who refuses to read anything other than The New Yourker with their morning coffee.
There is never such thing as being too informative, but there is a such thing as too wordy. The storyline seemed to drag on infinitely and all I wanted was for the finishline to come out of the dark so I could finally see when it would end. The only way I knew was the number of pages I had left. It was not a "bad" book, but it was just boring.
Steve Berry is a great author, one of my favorites. But it was hard to read this novel only because the adventures of Cotton Malone simply were not as exciting as I had anticipated. I look forward to reading more, and seeing more of his adventures in other novels, but for now, I will just let this one sit on my shelf as another novel I was able to complete cover to cover.
well, i finished it... October 8, 2008
not bad, like most have posted already, more character developement would have really helped out the story,
that being said, i did enjoy the book and will continue with the series.
 Should've been better September 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Unfortunately, this book left a lot to be desired. Mediocre character development and almost obsessive overuse of "big words", almost to the exclusive point of proving the author can use them. For example, the word ensconse was used 2-3 times in the the course of 2 or 3 chapters, and then dissapeared completely from the author's vocabulary. And who uses the word eidetic in everyday conversation?
Perhaps the biggest problem I had w/ the story was how the author conveniently "forgot" to reconcile the resolution of the story w/ the well described goal of Cassiopeia Vitt's desire to bring down Christianity. It was an incomplete story.
For its good points, the author did develop some suspense and did hold my attention at times. He was able to create a very intricate story line and built-in mystery.
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