The Temple and the Stone - Hardcover

Kurtz, Katherine; Harris, Deborah Turner

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0446522600 ISBN 13: 9780446522601

Publisher: Aspect, 1998

Synopsis

Originally founded during the time of the crusades, the military Order of the Knights Templar becomes embroiled in Scotland's wars of independence during the late thirteenth century as two Templars set out to restore the powers of the famed Stone of Scone and save Scotland.

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Reviews

Kurtz and Harris's Adept series established the authors as reliable voices in fantasy. Here, as in two story anthologies edited by Kurtz (On Crusade, etc.), the subject is the enigmatic Knights Templar, the powerful religious-military order renowned for its role in the Crusades and medieval world politics. This novel's heroes, Arnault de Saint Clair and Torquil Lennox, belong to le Cercle, an initiated inner order possessed of good magic with Hebrew, Christian and Celtic sources. Their goal is to establish a Fifth Temple in Scotland?but this means Scotland must be free, while King Edward and even fellow Templars seek to institute English rule. Against the magic of le Cercle is set evil, ancient blood-magic, leading to exciting conflicts and a final banishment of the goddess Gruagah and her servants. Yet reviving the Stone of Destiny?seat upon which all true Scottish kings are crowned?demands a sacrifice, though a willing one in imitation of Christ. This seamless combination of historical novel and fantasy offers rich background and, especially in the second half, substantial suspense and adventure. The magic scenes will please fantasy readers, while the atmospheric and well-detailed setting holds promise that the novel might cross over to fans of historical fiction.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Following the recent volume of Knights Templar stories (On Crusade, 1998, edited by Kurtz), here's a Templar novel from this established collaboration team (Death of an Adept, 1996, etc.). As the 13th century draws to a close, the frail child Margaret of Norway, last of the Scottish royal house of Canmore, dies, allowing Edward Plantagenet of England his ambition of grabbing Scotland by force, or by absorption, in order to dictate who the next king of Scotland will be. Meanwhile, on Cyprus, the Templar inner circle accepts that it will never recapture Jerusalem and so will need a safe, secure retreat to build a new temple for housing its treasuresand Arnault de Saint Clair's vision shows him Scotland. It's also no coincidence that Arnault was present when Margaret diedby sorcery. With Torquil Lennox and Luc de Brabant, Arnault travels to Berwick, where Edward is ready to place his lackey, John Balliol, on the Scottish throne. But the Stone of Destiny, upon which the Scottish kings sit to be crowned, has lost its mystical potency. In another vision, Torquil learns that the last king of Scotland, Alexander III, was also killed by sorcery. What the Templars don't yet know is that the Comyn family, which secretly controls Balliol, worships the Pictish old gods and is plotting to overthrow the entire Christian tradition in Scotland. So the stage is set for an intricate power struggle, religious, secular, and sorcerous, connecting William ``Braveheart'' Wallace, Robert the Bruce, Scottish independence, and the fate of the Templars themselves. A skillful and involving blend of real history, speculation, and elements of controlled, credible fantasy. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Following a vision that foretells the formation of a new Temple of Solomon in Scotland, Brother Arnault de Saint Clair, a member of a secret magical order within the Order of the Knights Templar, becomes involved in the struggle for Scottish independence. The authors of the Adept series (featuring modern-day Templars) vividly re-create one of Scottish history's most compelling periods, as Robert the Bruce and William Wallace share the limelight with fictional, but no less credible, characters. Solidly researched medieval history and legends of Templar magic blend seamlessly in a fascinating tale of faith and high magic that belongs in most fantasy collections.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The creators of the Adept series, each a master of historical fantasy in her own right, take up the nightmarish Anglo-Scots wars of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. Arnault de Saint Clair and Torquil Lennox, two Knights Templar driven from the Holy Land, are assigned secret work aimed at finding a secure place for their fellowship's fifth temple. That place seems likely to be in Scotland, so the ruthless ambitions of England's Edward I to rule the Scots must be opposed. Meanwhile, the blackest ancient sorcery is working against the survival of Christianity, let alone independence, in Scotland. The tale sprawls more than even its large-scale story quite justifies but is packed with treats for the historical fantasy buff--such things as portraits of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce. Kurtz and Harris have lost none of their intensely visual quality, though, leading one to hope that this apparent prequel to the Adept will have a sequel of its own, featuring Robert the Bruce and the epic Battle of Bannockburn. Roland Green

Edition details

• Publisher: Aspect
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0446522600
• ISBN 13: 9780446522601
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 454