Christopher Taylor's Reviews > The Road to Jerusalem

The first of a trilogy about a Templar crusader named Arn Magnusson, this story is about his parents and the circumstances that surround the birth and teaching the young man. Apparently a classic and one of the biggest sellers and most praised books out of Sweden, it is quite long and contains significant information about early medieval Sweden.

This is a period of moving away from the old ways, although fairly established as Christian, and Sweden's politics have much of the old system and its fights. This is a part of Medieval history I know little about, instead of France, Germany, and England. The young character is somewhat naive at this point having been raised in a Cistercian monastery, but is very skilled and gifted with combat in all its forms.

The book ends with him being sent to Jerusalem to fight along side the rest of the Templar knights, in a period of difficulty and struggle for the Outremer forces.

Its pretty well written, and well translated but at times drags a bit with side plots and political actions that are probably quite important to Swedish history, but I would have preferred a bit more tight a focus on young Arn and his life.