SILK ROAD by Colin Falconer |
These are all facets that I look for in an historical fiction and if they hit the right points of balance then when I come to sections that I may not like, and even the best books in the world have those, it does not ruin the book for me. And Silk Road, she was nearly a perfect girl. Nearly.
The description on the book makes one think that the book is going to be a love story. Between the Tatar princess Khutelun and the Templar Knight, Josseran Sarrazini, but it isn't, well, that is not entirely true, there is some love story in Silk Road although it is not dramatically present. Not a festival of murmured love words and swooning, which is a festival I do not want to buy a ticket to. It is background fodder concerning two adults who knew a dalliance was a waste of time due to their immensely disparate cultures.
As I say though, it was
there, but it was background fodder. To my reading eyes the star of
the show was the aggravating and annoying Dominican Friar, William.
To me this felt like his story and not the story of Khutelun and
Josseran. Others may have an alternate view on that, but to me it was
all about him and his intractable belief that he could bring Christ
to the barbarians. To the Khans of the Steppes. On his way to achieve
that he makes life difficult for everyone and everything around him.
The tribes, the individuals charged with escorting him, Khutelun,
Josseran. He had no allies, only enemies on his pathway over the Roof
of the World into the bosom of the worlds greatest Khans.
I found myself wanting
often to see him get killed off as he was not a pleasant creature. While I cannot tell you if he is killed off or not, I must admit, he
is integral to the story from the beginning and the source of as much humour (the
laughing at him, not the laughing with him kind) as the angst.The world Colin Falconer described here is now piled on top of impressions I already had of the Silk Road. He describes them magnificently and makes you feel and see what the characters feel and see. Falconer dealt with it as if he had been there himself, and I suppose maybe he has if he has travelled to these parts of Asia and the desert nations, for many of these very same markets and landscapes detailed in the book still exist to this day.
The one failing I had with the book was enough for me to give the book 4 stars out of 5. Although, more accurately, 4.5 stars out of 5. There was a section that I cannot go into without spoiling the story for you, where there was nothing happening for about a hundred pages of what was a 460 page book. No real plot or story evolved in this section and I got bored. Luckily the story got back on track and I was able to continue on and enjoy the book enough to feel comfortable in recommending it to others who like this era historical fiction.
Silk Road by Colin
Falconer. If you like Templars, Mongols and desert. Think about it.
It might be what you are looking for.
- MM
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