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Apr 23, 2009

Larry rated it:

I had thought of L'Amour as only a Western writer and thought this to be a book about the American Indian. Very suprised that the action took place in Europe and the Middle East. Very interesting book and I would recommend it for anyone who might reject it on the bases of L'Amour's stereotyped westerns. Of coarse, any hard core L'mour fan will read it anyway.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 16, 2009

Gina rated it:

This book was really fun to read. The swashbuckling, womanizing, philosophizing adventurer Kerbouchard trapses around 11th century Europe, alternating between escaping death at the hands of half a dozen armed guards and bedding beautiful, exotic women. He also strikes revenge on the man who murdered his mother by throwing his dead body into the cesspool that is the mythological Druid opening to the underworld precisely as lightening strikes. And every single adventure is that over the top. It's More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jan 18, 2012

Jenifer rated it:

I didn't really know what to expect when I started this except that I had been told that it wasn't "a western". I think this is the first L'Amour book that I have ever read. My grandpa had hundreds of his books around, and I wish he were here so that I could ask him how he liked this one.

I, myself enjoyed it quite a bit. After the first couple of chapters I fell into the formulaic rhythm of the plot; our young hero-for-the-ages Kerbouchard runs into fortune and misfortune, More...

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Nov 28, 2009

Amanda rated it:

I really like Louis L'Amour. At least, I did before I read this. Love his Westerns, his short stories, and especially loved The Lonesome Gods. This one teaches some really good things...like learning for the sake of learning and having a good memory and gleaning everything you can from a situation to learn from it. Basically, to learn from books and your life and to always desire to learn. I can totally agree with that. But the main character was not very likable to me. He would just as s More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Sep 25, 2009

Jesse rated it:

This was the second L'Amour novel I've read, the first being The Haunted Mesa nearly a decade ago, and I have gained an enormous new respect for the author. Known primarily for his Westerns, L'Amour tackles an entirely different venue with this story that sweeps across all of Northern Europe, the Eurasian Steppes, and on down through Constantinople all the way to Persia and beyond, near the end of the 12th Century. The geography involved is as thorough and accurate as any of Mr. L'Amour's depict More...

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Nov 15, 2009

Adam rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Mar 20, 2011

John rated it:

I could barely remember this book, which I first read over 20 years ago, so I recently reread it. And liked it a lot. Louis L'Amour's strengths and weaknesses as an author are on display, while the story is set around the Mediterranean during the time of the Crusades, instead of America's Old West.

What I liked about the book was it's hero, Kerbouchard. Like the best L'Amour protagonists, he is a seeker of knowledge and skills. The author's belief in constant self-improvement as th More...

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Jan 17, 2012

Kurt rated it:

Not my usual choice of fiction, by any means -- and, yes, strange that my first Louis L'Amour novel is about a 12th century Celt searching for his father in Muslim Spain.

This is a "rollicking" adventure tale that takes the reader through myriad historic regions, cities, and strongholds that were central to the greatest cultural developments of the time period -- Cordoba, Paris, Kiev, and Constantinople, to name a few. Along the way, Mathurin Kerbouchard wins over his acquain More...

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Sep 26, 2009

Angela rated it:

This book annoyed me. It was just barely good enough to keep reading. I usually like historical novels, but this one missed the mark. The main character goes off to find his father, and falls in love along the way. Ought to be a decent enough book. It might have been, if he'd had that as a plot line and stuck to it. But he didn't. The main character keeps taking detours, all of which involve separate subplots where he conquers some other beautiful woman's heart and acquires some other sor More...

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Oct 22, 2011

Ruthette rated it:

Contrary to what I'd expected when I first started reading L'Amour, his books are all fairly different from one another, even his Westerns. This one, however, is the most different of all. It was for that reason that I'd been so looking forward to getting my hands on it. Well, that and its length: if there's one complaint I have to offer about L'Amour in general, its that although his books are always satisfying in the plot department, they lack the heft that I enjoy.

Concerning The W More...

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Aug 16, 2010

Jennifer rated it:

This book was a feast of cultural history research mixed with a hero's journey. L'Amour winds his wealth of information into the story well; I never really felt overwhelmed by extras.

Kerbouchard, the main character in this novel, is glorified beyond belief; even the name itself, apart from all glory won by the main character and his father, is said to have a certain ring to it. He is stronger, faster, smarter, wittier, more cultured, more adept at love and more manly than any normal More...

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Oct 04, 2010

Christa rated it:

This was the first Louis L'amour book that I read. My dad said that it was his favorite out of all the authors books so that's the one I started with.
I couldn't have picked a better one because now I'm completely hooked and always have at least two of his books in my room,

My favorite thing about this book is that it gives a very different view of the middle ages then you get in most history books.
The difference is that the main character spends most of his time on the o More...

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May 30, 2010

Jacob rated it:

I quite enjoyed this one. In my education as a youth I had to listen to Marty Robbins 8-tracks, travel the remoter regions of the West (to include a summer trip through Death Valley in a '76 Land Cruiser), and read Louis L'Amour westerns. At the time, none of this sat well with me, now they have a certain nostalgia for me. However, I must say I was quite surprised at the quality of this book.

Louis L'Amour is an excellent storyteller if not always the most detailed craftsman in his More...

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Jun 12, 2011

Shyla rated it:

My uncle made me read this after I told him I didn't believe Louis L'Amour wrote anything but American westerns. I was wrong - and I was surprised by this book. I really did think Louis had a different writing voice here. The book was interesting but it's a little weighed down by a bunch of historical facts Louis can't resist throwing in. I didn't love the main character and got a little tired of hearing about all his excellent learning and memory skills. Also, got a little tired of every r More...

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Dec 12, 2011

JoDean rated it:

I found this book to be at times sappy and inconsistent, but there are some obvious points about a person being responsible for the learning they acquire.

Oh, the ending is terrible!

"Reading without thinking is as nothing, for a book is less important for what it says than for what it makes you think." pg 201-202

"It is a poor sort of man who is content to be spoon-fed knowledge that has been filtered through the canon of religious or political belief, More...

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Dec 27, 2011

Hparsley rated it:

I LOVED this book for many different reasons. I know that many people get annoyed with the protangonist because he can do everything, and do it better than anyone else; I think I did hear some complaints about all the women he had, too... :) For me, however, it just struck me as rather humorous because it seemed that with every adventure in every place/city he would find (and win) the most beautiful woman! And who could resist such a perfectly manly man? He can sword fight, fist fight, sail a More...

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Sep 28, 2010

Terri rated it:

I'd never read a Louis L'Amour book before and honestly I'd never been that interested and now I'm still not. Let me be clear - it wasn't a bad book. There is a ton of good adventure with sword fights, damsels to rescue, etc and I have read books of this style before that I did like. However the story kept getting bogged down with the history. Although the history was fascinating, (I previously knew practically nothing about 10th century Europe), the story seemed to be sacrificed to the hist More...

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Dec 19, 2011

Rachel rated it:

My father is a huge fan of L'Amour and has a near complete collection of his works. I have read a few, and then I stumbled upon this one. I fell in love with this book. The Middle Ages have always been an interesting time period to me and this book opened my eyes to possibilities I had never imagined possible. As always the author has done his homework. And quite thoroughly too. Which always makes any work better, in my opinion.
The biggest disappointment is that fact that this is the first More...

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Aug 20, 2008

Margaret rated it:

The only Louis L'Amour book I've read, but I really liked it. It's fun adventure. It is unrealistic, but exciting to see how many crazy situations the main character can make it through.

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 12, 2010

Amy rated it:

The Walking Drum is one of the few books Louis L'Amour wrote that is not a western. This is a historical fiction. It's very interesting and very well researched. He explores medieval Europe and the Middle East and focuses on some very exciting, little known events. He has a couple of pages that list parts of the book that are non-fiction. Heck, I wish he had a bibliography, there are so many things I want to delve deeper into.

I had read this book in high school and really enjoyed it. More...

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Jan 23, 2008

John rated it:

One of the most favorite reads. Excellent characters, story line, historical references, and grand adventure. If you liked the Count of Monte Cristo you will love this epic story.

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 20, 2011

Kami rated it:

Okay, I'll admit up front that I'm not a huge Louis L'Amour fan. This is one of his books that isn't a western-- it takes place during the middle ages in Europe and the Middle East. I find this to be a very fascinating time period, but this book didn't do anything to increase my appreciation or knowledge of it. And I am downright annoyed with a main character that moves from woman to woman and philosophizes about how a woman just wants to be remembered and that is how she knows she is loved. More...

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Sep 08, 2010

Angie rated it:

This book is set in Europe during the 12th Century. A young boy named Mathurin is set adrift in a violent and unjust world when his father is assumed dead, and his mother is murdered. He roams the world becoming a sailor, a scholar, a merchant and always a lover. Mathurin falls in love with any woman that happens to pass by. So by the end of the book when he finds his one true love, It seems like a bit of a joke. Very exciting, but the view of women as a whole angers me. I know it's supposed to More...

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Feb 16, 2011

Susan rated it:

Other than his memoirs, the only non-western book L'Amour wrote. This one got me started on my interest in the Moors in Spain. As always with a L'Amour book, thoroughly researched, with characters that are believable. Mr. L'Amour had definite ideas about what values a person should have, and I agree, as these were the values of the people I grew up knowing.

This is a book to curl up with and lose yourself in. Lots of action, adventure, suspense. A bit along the lines of Marco Polo, More...

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Sep 08, 2008

Alyssa rated it:

An excellent picaresque historical fiction, well-researched, with an enormously magnetic protagonist.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 04, 2010

Jeremiah rated it:

When you read technical literature day after day, you cherish the moments of reading good fiction- fiction that takes you to a far- off place, or envelopes you in another world. Louis L'Amour has done that for me in his timeless epic- The Walking Drum. L'Amour's wit shines through the characters, and his knowledge of the historical settings in the novel help convince you that what you are reading may have been real. Indeed, if a reader is looking for a adventurous historical fiction- they need n More...

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Jul 10, 2010

Glenn rated it:

This book was recommended to me as part of a reading list in preparation for a historical European adventure. Louis L'Amour writes with a very comfortable style that the reader can immerse themselves very quickly. The characters are well developed and you care about them very quickly. The scenes are full and easily followed. This is one of L'Amour's few non-western and he writes to both genre well. Definitely a page turner. My only regret is the he did not write the sequel that he said he More...

1 comment like

Aug 01, 2009

Greg rated it:

A bit of a departure for L'Amour, but still characterized by his wonderful style and research. This historical novel set in times of intellectual re-birth and growth, and amid the adventures of a young viking, Kerbouchard, is a rip-roaring good yarn. It follows him in his quest for knowledge, love, martial skill, and his father through ancient lands and cultures. Cultures in which knowledge is revered and others where it is threatened. As has been true for past L'Amour novels, this one inspired More...

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Mar 22, 2010

Gary rated it:

Someone once asked me why I haven't read any of Louis L'Amour's books. I didn't really have a good answer. I told him that if he loaned me one, then I would read it so he loaned me "The Walking Drum". When I started reading it, I couldn't take the way that it was written seriously but I plodded on. I ended up enjoying it. I feel like it is a romance novel for boys. I find it interesting how the main character treats women and then describes men. The main character is certainly over the More...

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May 19, 2011

Dirk rated it:

A non-Western by L’Amour. This was also a reread, but it’s been a lot longer since I read this one the last time. We had a thread going on the jakedog forums about books and L’Amour came up and made me nostalgic. I don’t know that I’ve read every book he’s written, but I certainly have read most of them. This one is set in the 12th Century and involves a fellow named Kerbouchard and his adventures across Europe and into Asia. I liked this book a lot more when I was younger, but it’s stil More...

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