On Crusade: More Tales of the Knights Templar

Katherine Kurtz has collected eleven original stories based on the legendary Knights Templar in a book that serves as a sequel to her earlier collection, Tales of the Knights Templar. The stories, written by such authors as Andre Norton, Diane Duane and Kurtz herself, are separated by interludes that chronicle the actual history of the Templars and that also set the background for each successive tale. As with most collections, the stories vary widely from about average to pretty good. What's most compelling here is the Templars themselves, a mysterious order of knights founded in the late 11th century, ostensibly to protect pilgrims in and around Jerusalem. But the Templars grew to become one of the most powerful political and religious orders in the world, only to be brought down by a jealous King Philip IV of France. In the aftermath of their destruction, tales and legends that persist today sprang up around the Templars, creating fertile ground for Kurtz's band of imaginative storytellers. --Craig Engler