Standard of Honor

September 17, 2007
This second entry in Whyte's Templar trilogy (after Knights of the Black and White
), covering Richard the Lionhearted's crusade, finds the author in top form. Alexander Sinclair, a Knight of the Temple, is part of a 50,000-man army headed to battle in the Lower Galilee. At stake for the Christian army is its claim to the Holy Land, now under the jurisdiction of Kurdish Saracen leader Saladin. The coming disaster will force English King Richard to raise an even larger army and set sail from England himself, along with Henry St. Clair, the English army's master-at-arms, and Henry's son, Andre, a member of the secret Templar society, Brotherhood of Sion. Whyte gilds the tangled political complications of the late 12th century with a rich trove of Templar lore—a treat for some readers, but superfluous for the more action oriented. And action is the point here: few authors can match Whyte when it comes to epic battle scenes involving blazing heat, choking dust, rearing horses and thousands of sword-wielding knights and Saracens locked in mortal combat.

October 15, 2007
Whyte follows up Knights of the Black and White (2006) with this rousing adventure set in the late twelfth century. Templar Alexander Sinclair, survivor of the bloody Battle of Hattin, has gone into hiding in the Holy Land until his wounds heal. Aware that the other survivors have been executed (because they are Knights Templar), he keeps his own affiliation with the much-despised order to himself. Two years later, Sir Henry St. Clair is recruited by Richard the Lionheart to be his right-hand man in his latest Holy Land crusade. But Sir Henrys son, Andr', is a rising star in the Order of the Temple, and his allegiance lies with his cousin, Alexander. The stage is set for a family drama played out against the epic backdrop of the Third Crusade. Whyte, whose multivolume Camulod Chronicles told the King Arthur story, has turned his hand to the Knights Templar with equal skill and panache. A must for both historical adventure fans and anyone whose interest in the Templars has been sparked by the spate of recent books and movies.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)