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Cyberquest #2
Knight's Honor
As the test of his faith in virtual reality continues, Mok, a Plebot from the twenty-first century, finds himself in the Middle Ages in a castle besieged during the Crusades
60 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1997
About the author
Sigmund Brouwer
279 books411 followersSigmund loves going to schools to get kids excited about reading, reaching roughly 80,000 students a year through his Rock&Roll Literacy Show.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 12, 2022
Why does this kind of work?
November 22, 2024
The improvement from Pharaoh’s Tomb to Knight’s Honor is unbelievable. Where the first book is rushed, messy, and heavy-handed, in book two of CyberQuest, Sigmund Brouwer takes the time to develop his protagonist, set up a more gripping scenario, and increase the odds to keep the series’ momentum moving.
After succeeding in his first cyber-simulated test, Mok (a young man chosen by a mysterious Committee as their final candidate in a series of morality tests) finds himself in his next scenario: in 1296, as the son of Count Reynald, inside the last English fortress in the Holy Land, under siege by a legion of Mameluke troops who are tunneling their way beneath the castle. As Mok attempts to acclimate himself and learn about his newest world, he is shocked to discover that Raha, whom he met in his previous incarnation as the Pharaoh’s daughter, has followed him and now bears the name of Rachel, a servant girl to Mok’s mother. Mok’s cleverness is put to the test as he must scheme up a way to escape the inescapable fortress, but he is more interested in learning about the Galilee Man, whom he is demanded to renounce in exchange for his life.
Knight’s Honor picks up exactly where Pharaoh’s Tomb leaves off — with Mok tossed into another perilous historical setting in which he must make a terrible choice. Here, we get to experience the tense atmosphere of a stronghold under siege by Mameluke legions, punctuated by the constant tap, tap, tap of the enemy slaves digging their way under the fortress — kind of like The Alamo, but medieval. Brouwer gets a chance to slow his storytelling down in this book, filling his 58 pages with a story that teaches an excellent lesson: even under insurmountable odds, Christians never need to fear death and must stay true to their faith even with the threat of death.
We also finally get some character development for Mok, who uses his natural cleverness to adjust to his surroundings, learn about his predicament, and scheme a third way beyond the two hopeless options he is given. His spiritual journey, searching through the ages for Christ, is especially well-handled here, and it’s nice to see Brouwer presenting the Gospel clearly instead of just alluding to it or teaching a little life lesson. We start to see hints of who Mok will become later in the series and why he was chosen for this experiment in the first place. Mok’s increasing maturity, as well as his relationship with Raha/Rachel, makes Knight’s Honor a much better book than its predecessor.
Of course, this is CyberQuest, so we still have the hilariously bad scenes featuring the Committee and its traitorous member who reports to the president of the World United. I can forgive the people in the cyberspace simulation for talking like NPCs (because that’s what they are), but the people who apparently are the most gifted minds of their generation sure do talk like they’re the ones who are computer-generated. Every conversation plays out like a 12-year-old trying to write The Manchurian Candidate from memory. Most of the framing story (including the prologue about Benjamin Rufus) plays out like a cartoon, but the cyberspace adventure is good enough that the book’s other sins can be forgiven.
But as long as you don’t think about the present-day plotline, you’ll be okay, because there are a lot of ethical quandaries presented by this Committee who are supposedly the last group of Christian leaders. When Cambridge expresses regret at throwing an unprepared and unaware Mok into a simulated world where he could be killed if he does the wrong thing, the Committee members reassure Cambridge by reminding him that Mok grew up in a place where he had to risk his life every day, so it’s fine for them to jeopardize his life for their own purposes and without giving him a choice to decline. There’s too much to unpack there, so let’s just throw away the whole suitcase.
With that said, Knight’s Honor is actually one of the best books of the series, featuring a stronger protagonist, a hinted-at romantic attraction, and an excellent moral for young readers. We also get a hint of what’s to come in the third book, Pirate’s Cross — a cyberkiller being sent after Mok by his enemies — which adds another level of suspense to keep things interesting as Brouwer presses on with this funky little series.
After succeeding in his first cyber-simulated test, Mok (a young man chosen by a mysterious Committee as their final candidate in a series of morality tests) finds himself in his next scenario: in 1296, as the son of Count Reynald, inside the last English fortress in the Holy Land, under siege by a legion of Mameluke troops who are tunneling their way beneath the castle. As Mok attempts to acclimate himself and learn about his newest world, he is shocked to discover that Raha, whom he met in his previous incarnation as the Pharaoh’s daughter, has followed him and now bears the name of Rachel, a servant girl to Mok’s mother. Mok’s cleverness is put to the test as he must scheme up a way to escape the inescapable fortress, but he is more interested in learning about the Galilee Man, whom he is demanded to renounce in exchange for his life.
Knight’s Honor picks up exactly where Pharaoh’s Tomb leaves off — with Mok tossed into another perilous historical setting in which he must make a terrible choice. Here, we get to experience the tense atmosphere of a stronghold under siege by Mameluke legions, punctuated by the constant tap, tap, tap of the enemy slaves digging their way under the fortress — kind of like The Alamo, but medieval. Brouwer gets a chance to slow his storytelling down in this book, filling his 58 pages with a story that teaches an excellent lesson: even under insurmountable odds, Christians never need to fear death and must stay true to their faith even with the threat of death.
We also finally get some character development for Mok, who uses his natural cleverness to adjust to his surroundings, learn about his predicament, and scheme a third way beyond the two hopeless options he is given. His spiritual journey, searching through the ages for Christ, is especially well-handled here, and it’s nice to see Brouwer presenting the Gospel clearly instead of just alluding to it or teaching a little life lesson. We start to see hints of who Mok will become later in the series and why he was chosen for this experiment in the first place. Mok’s increasing maturity, as well as his relationship with Raha/Rachel, makes Knight’s Honor a much better book than its predecessor.
“That was the single greatest decision to be made in any life. Legend, or Son of God. For if the man of Galilee was the Son of God, every life must be lived in the light of that great truth. A truth that would echo through the centuries.”
Of course, this is CyberQuest, so we still have the hilariously bad scenes featuring the Committee and its traitorous member who reports to the president of the World United. I can forgive the people in the cyberspace simulation for talking like NPCs (because that’s what they are), but the people who apparently are the most gifted minds of their generation sure do talk like they’re the ones who are computer-generated. Every conversation plays out like a 12-year-old trying to write The Manchurian Candidate from memory. Most of the framing story (including the prologue about Benjamin Rufus) plays out like a cartoon, but the cyberspace adventure is good enough that the book’s other sins can be forgiven.
But as long as you don’t think about the present-day plotline, you’ll be okay, because there are a lot of ethical quandaries presented by this Committee who are supposedly the last group of Christian leaders. When Cambridge expresses regret at throwing an unprepared and unaware Mok into a simulated world where he could be killed if he does the wrong thing, the Committee members reassure Cambridge by reminding him that Mok grew up in a place where he had to risk his life every day, so it’s fine for them to jeopardize his life for their own purposes and without giving him a choice to decline. There’s too much to unpack there, so let’s just throw away the whole suitcase.
With that said, Knight’s Honor is actually one of the best books of the series, featuring a stronger protagonist, a hinted-at romantic attraction, and an excellent moral for young readers. We also get a hint of what’s to come in the third book, Pirate’s Cross — a cyberkiller being sent after Mok by his enemies — which adds another level of suspense to keep things interesting as Brouwer presses on with this funky little series.
August 28, 2012
These books are just too short. There is so little room for lot or character development beforre the next book and another round of rather lengthy introductions, since the setting is so unusual.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews