Personal Statement

Due to circumstances entirely within the writer's control no further entries will be posted on this blog in the near future. I regret the disappointment to my host of readers.

Crusader Gold

The hero of David Gibbins Crusader Gold is underwater archeologist Jack Howard who as the story opens is conducting a dive in the harbour of Istanbul. Here he is hopin to discover treasures dumped of the Golden Horn by Crusaders who ravaged Constantinople at the beginning of the thirteenth century. Many works of art condemned as Pagan were disposed of in this way and the one that Jack Howard is after is the Menorah. Taken from Jerusalem by the Romans the Menorah was a seven branched lamp made of solid gold which stood on the altar table in the Temple of Solomon. Lodged in the Temple of Peace in Rome it was removed to Constantinople when the centre of the Empire moved to the East but all trace was lost after the pillaging of 1204. Discoveries in Hereford Cathedral bring the Norwegian King Harald Hardrada into the mystery and take Jack Howard and his team to Greenland and South America before the mystery is solved. Also in the plot is a secret brotherhood dedicated to the spirit of Hardrada. Yes folks another secret brotherhood! There are so many of these around I feel I must be the only bloke who is not a member of one. Brotherhoods aside David Gibbins has followed his excellent Atlantis with another ripping yarn of adventure on and under the high seas guaranteed to entertain through a sunny or rainy afternoon.

The Sun King Rises

The Sun King Rises by Yves Jego and Denis Lepee (regret no accent on my keyboard) is another historical novel brought to English readers by the French Embassy backed Gallic Books. The court of the flamboyant Louis the Fourteenth has always been a favourite backdrop for the novelist and Messrs Jego and Lepee have chosen the opening years of the young King's reign to set their intriguing tale. Cardinal Mazarin, whose influence guided the young King through the destructive days of the civil war known as The Fronde, is dying. Now a struggle ensues to take his place at the King's side. Mazarin has recommended his adjutant Colbert but equally powerful is the Superintendant of Finance Nicolas Fouquet. However other forces are at work and an armed group invades the Cardinal's rooms and makes off with his personal papers though the most damaging dossier falls into the hands of Gabriel, the young secretary of the playwrite Molliere, who himself is hiding his true identity. Thus commences an intricate and entertaining story of an unpublished Gospel and a secret brotherhood whose task it is to guard it until the time is judged right to reveal it to the world. Underlying it all is the conflict between Fouquet and Colbert with Gabriel an often bemused player in possesion of the key pieces of the puzzle but unable to make the connections that will enable him to bring events to a conclusion. Translated from the French by Sue Dyson the narrative canters along in the spirited fashion of the best historical novels and is definately recommended to cheer one through a rainy weekend.