Labyrintti

Languedoc #1

by Kate Mosse, Katariina Kaila (Translator)

Heinäkuussa 2005 Alice Tanner viettää kesää arkeologisilla kaivauksilla Pyreneiden vuoristossa lähellä Carcassonnen keskiaikaista kaupunkia. Sattumalta hän löytää vuorelta ikivanhan hautaluolan, jonka lattialla makaa toisiaan syleillen kaksi murenevaa luurankoa, välissään kivisormus. Outo tunne valtaa Alicen, kuin hän olisi ollut paikassa ennenkin. Tietämättään Alice tulee vapauttaneeksi voimia, joiden oli tarkoitus pysyä kätkettynä.

Heinäkuussa 1209 Carcassonnea uhkaa kerettiläisiä vastaan suunnattu ristiretki. Nuori Alaïs saa isältään kirjan, jota hänen on suojeltava henkensä uhalla. Kirja kätkee sisäänsä Graalin salaisuuden, ja sen suojelijoiden tunnusmerkkinä on labyrinttikuvioinen sormus. Mutta Alaïs ei voi aavistaa, millaisia uhrauksia vaatii piilottaa salaisuus, joka juontaa juurensa tuhansien vuosien taakse aina muinaisen Egyptin aavikoille.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery, Historical, Thriller, France

656 pages, Hardcover

First published July 7, 2005

About the author

Kate Mosse is an international bestselling author with sales of more than five million copies in 42 languages. Her fiction includes the novels Labyrinth (2005), Sepulchre (2007), The Winter Ghosts (2009), and Citadel (2012), as well as an acclaimed collection of short stories, The Mistletoe Bride & Other Haunting Tales (2013). Kate’s new novel, The Taxidermist’s Daughter is out now.
Kate is the Co-Founder and Chair of the Board of the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction (previously the Orange Prize) and in June 2013, was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to literature. She lives in Sussex.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a long time, The Da Vinci Code put me right off books about the Cathars or the Holy Grail, so I was hesitant to pick up Kate Mosse's book. Still, I gave this book a chance, as I'd been impressed with Kate Mosse's work as an interviewer on the BBC's Radio 4. I'm glad that I read it.

This book focuses on the Cathars, a gnostic sect centered in the Pays d'Oc, (modern southwestern France). Several legends have been told about the Cathars, including that they practiced ancient mystical rituals and that they were the guardians of the Holy Grail. What is known is that the Cathars rivaled the established church in parts of Western Europe. In the 13th century, Catholic churchmen and French nobles led an invasion of the Pays d'Oc and a bloody suppression of the Cathars, whom they regarded as heretics.

Mosse combines two stories: a historical fiction, set against the invasion of the Pays d'Oc; the other, a modern thriller set in the Languedoc region of France. In these parallel stories, bad people with suspect motives are searching for the treasures that embody the secret wisdom of the Cathars (symbolized by a labyrinth). In both stories, the protagonist is trying to figure out what these treasures can be, along with how to stop the villians, without getting killed in the process.

The Labyrinth dealt with many of the same themes as The Da Vinci Code, but it was superior in so many ways. I'll mention four: 1)Mosse does a good job of maintaining a sense of suspense. I wasn't able to guess what was going to happen three chapters ahead. (I always thought the Da Vinci Code's protagonist was a bit thick.) 2)Mosse doesn't make careless, glaring factual historical errors. 3)I got the feeling that Mosse knew the locales in which she set her story. 4)She's a good writer, one who doesn't rely on cliches and cheap narrative tricks.

All in all, a good read, one that has got me digging through my old Medieval history books.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Review
3.5 of 5 stars to Labyrinth, the first book in a three part series entitled "Languedoc," written in 2005 by Kate Mosse. I enjoyed this book. Many people felt it was a bit boring and inconsistent. It was one of the earlier books I read in the adventure genre, around the time I got hooked on the Da Vinci code book and series. Ultimately, I love this genre... when you go back and forth in time periods, cover adventures, try to connect ancient peoples to someone current, find devastating secrets, a little bit of romance... all works for me. What appealed here was the French backdrop and the labyrinth puzzles. I quickly moved on to book two and recently learned of the third book, which I purchased and plan to read in June. I liked the main character, though she was a little distant at times... Enjoyed the descriptions and scenery. It had a bit of a fantasy / ghost appeal to it, too. Felt like it had a bit of everything for me. Not top notch in the genre, but still strong to me.

About Me
For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by. Note: All written content is my original creation and copyrighted to me, but the graphics and images were linked from other sites and belong to them. Many thanks to their original creators.

[ghost · Rating 2 out of 5]

This pulled at me and repulsed me simultaneously. As a medievalist and amateur historian, I was addicted to learning how Mosse laid out this Grail fantasy. She treats the Cathar subjects well, clearly having spent at least a few hours on Wikipedia researching the matter. My repulsion was, however, centered on the regrettably mediocre writing. Mosse relies on heavy exposition and tosses adjectives and adverbs in like my grandmother does salt. Her characters are poorly developed, largely one-dimensional folk and her story suffers from a densely-packed exposition. As Mosse reaches a climax, she relies on her modern protagonist and characters to tell about the climax's thirteenth century events instead of allowing the reader to be present and to witness them ourselves. The additional lack of explanation about why certain items (i.e. the Labyrinth, the cave, the ring, the grail, etc.) were important or how they had come to be were entirely ignored.

Bah humbug.

[Rachel Burton · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read a lot of books on the Holy Grail in my time (some may say an obsessive amount, I prefer to think of myself as thorough) from Le Morte D'Arthur to The Da Vinci Code and sadly this falls into the latter category.

The main difference between Kate Mosse and Dan Brown is that Kate appears to have done her research. Her story's relationship to legend and even actual historical events is a little less tenuous that Brown's, her grasp of English is infinitely better (not hard), as is her grasp of basic French geography (note to Dan Brown: Try looking at a map of Paris at the very least before writing about the City. If you turn left out of the Louvre you do not … oh I digress, you get the picture, this is not meant to be "Rachel slating Dan Brown again"). Like The Da Vinci Code there are times when the bad writing style (that endless use of italics to denote a character is thinking, what's that about? I am capable of working that out for myself) is so bad you want to throw the book across the floor but sadly the plot is so gripping that you have to read it until the very end.

Having said all that, Labyrinth has a lot of redeeming qualities. Firstly it's a time-slip book - half of it being set during the 13th century when the Crusaders began to turn on their own. Mosse has done a lot of intricate research into this time and really conjures up the atmosphere of medieval France as well as many who have gone before her. Secondly, the characterisation is very strong and you actually feel for all the characters in one way or another. Thirdly, it's a Grail book in which women actually get heard. If what I've deduced about Grail mythology is correct women did play an important role and I think this is what Dan Brown was rather clumsily trying to say with all his very badly misinformed Mary Magdalene information. Mosse gets the message across a little better.

In conclusion: overly long, overly hyped and badly edited, but conversely I did enjoy it and it's a thousand times better than anything Dan Brown could write

[Shovelmonkey1 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh the inner turmoil. Did I enjoy Labyrinth by Kate Mosse or not?
Hold on... what Kate Moss the supermodel lady has written a book?
No, Kate Mosse the author, not THE Kate Moss ... come on, keep up people.

My two inner voices have clashed over this story and so I've given this book a middling 3 out of 5. Here is what my chatty inner voices are bickering over:

LUMPEN ADVENTURE SEEKING BOOK LOVING WEEKEND SOFA SURFER BRAIN
Brilliant. Archaeology ladies get into all sorts of European adventure hi-jinx with a parallel time slip story line and get caught up with sinister occult goings on which ultimately wind up being tied into their own personal family history making it a sort of GRAIL LORE: THIS TIME IT'S PERSONAL style read. More murders, maniacs, manoeuvring and mendacity than Murder on the Orient Express.

ACTUAL ARCHAEOLOGY BRAIN
Whoa. You let someone wander around on an excavation randomly digging holes wherever they like? That is NOT how it is done. Now they've found something and are tramping into a cave and moving finds and relics around without photographing or drawing them first? And they're not even an archaeologist? Ok, that's it my head just E-X-P-L-O-D-E-D , really it did, there's brain all over the place. Good job my brain exploded before the introduction of the fact that the Assistant dig director is also stealing antiquities. And obviously because there is archaeology and the grail involved then they all have PhD's. Let's face it, after Dr Robert Langdon of DaVinci Code fame, only giving these ladies a Masters degree would make you feel like they were not quite clever enough to be dealing with the subject matter.

I've recently come to realise that this historical duality/ time slip story telling method is a lot more common than I thought. Ackroyd, Amis, Smith and Mosse all embrace and employ this technique and if you have an author who is equal to the task of producing two well written narratives with different tones and styles then it works well. Mosse achieves this and both stories are equally well written and engaging. Archaeology brain overrides weekend sofa surfing brain on this review though because this book sailed a little too close to the chick-lit equator for me and that is an invisible line that I sail across with great caution. Wilbur Smith ( River God: A Novel of Ancient Egypt ) and Agatha Christie ( Death on the Nile ) therefore remain Crown King and Queen of archaeology fiction for me and I don't think they'll be abdicating or getting deposed any time soon.

[Melindam · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ah, one of those instances where my review has disappeared without a trace in the GoodReads Labyrinth of user-unfriendly tailoring and non-development.

I have my original review on Amazon, as far as I remember, but cannot quite be bothered to find and re-paste it here. I still remember being equally mystified and frustrated at the fact that this book was a bestseller and that her female MCs stayed alive after all the stupid things Mosse made them commit in the name of driving-the-plot-forward. Ah, also, it was a kind of Da-Vinci-Code-bandwagon-thing that all the world was jumping on back in the days.

Suffice to say that it's a case of missing book-chemistry and Kate Mosse is just one of those authors I didn't get. I think I'll leave it at that.

[Hannah Elizabeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this book some time ago, and have recently been reminded of its sorry existence by the fact that a dramatisation is due to be screened in the not so distant future. Personally, I am proud of having made to the end where so many others fallen in the effort. The writing was diabolical, the plot completely over-blown and all over the place, and the characters were pitifully one-dimensional. Although, I do think it takes a special kind of genius to come up with something this bad, I really do. Personal, er, "highlights" for me included, the main character (Alice) wandering around some village in the middle of nowhere only to bump into a bloke she once met yunks ago in another country. They knew each other straight away. Sure, happens all the time.

Well, it has been some time since I invested (badly) two weeks of my life to reading this (ten times too long) novel. But I had to leave this review simply because others may be misled by the upcoming dramatisation. If you see it, and are tempted to buy the book: save yourselves while you still can. Others have been less fortunate. One final point: please remember the innocent trees that died so this book could be printed.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a bed time read; the time when I will read things I otherwise may not. In this case historical fiction in the guise of yet another (yawn) grail quest. All these medieval storytellers (Chretien de Troyes; yes I do mean you!) have a lot to answer for. This is split between early 13th century France at the time of the Cathars and France in 2005; the main protagonists being Alais in 1205 and Alice in 2005 (Of course there isn't a link of any sort; familial, psychic or anything!!!!) . The background of the 13th century is the persecution of the Cathars in Languedoc; in the 20th century it is an archealogical dig in the same area.
The whole grail thing is dressed up in slightly different robes; three old Egyptian books, a ring with a labyrinth on it, a similar bit of stone, a special cave, several dudes who live for centuries, a small amount of blood from people of different religions: liberally mix them up and chuck them around France and there you have it. Add some splendid villains, a few manic Catholics (a la Opus Dei in Dan Brown) and you have a mystery; spice with a few romances, some infidelity, some hopeless yearning and a spot of medieval siege warfare and serve to the readers.
I think any archaelogist reading this would be horrified as I'm pretty sure that digs don't function in the way this one did. The historical part is full of holes, the switching centuries can be irritating and the whole plot requires a significant suspension of disbelief.
However, it is well written, better than Dan Brown and reads easily. It also had the merit of sending me to sleep on a number of occasions. This may sound like I didn't really like it, but I've read many worse books in my time (anyone remember The Late Great Planet Earth; yes I really read that in my teens!) and it rattled along at a decent pace. It didn't seem 700 pages long; assuming of course I haven't dreamt reading half of it!

[Judith E · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two converging timelines (13th and 21st centuries) portray the never ending quest for the Holy chalice and its contents. There is some interesting historical information, such as the ancient Egyptian origination of the chalice myth and the persecution of the Cathars in southern France by the Catholic Church. The plot and characters were flat and static in this overlong audible listen.

[Rusty's Ghost Engine (also known as.......... Jinky Spring) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

From the start I had a love-hate relationship with this book. One minute I was excited the next I was bored out of my mind.

Review at
https://edwardsghostengine.wordpress....

[Sharon Metcalf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having books chosen for you by others - think book club books - can be a hit and miss affair but in this case Labyrinth by Kate Mosse (no, not that Kate Moss) was definitely a hit. The title, the cover, the blurb, the size, even the genre (historical fiction) did not excite me so I delayed, procastinated, snuck other books in ahead of it. When eventually I started reading I was fascinated from the first page and found it a riveting story.

There were two stories running concurrently though 800 years apart. Each had a strong female protagonist, and the stories were cleverly linked. In the earlier thread, in medieval Carcassonne, seventeen year old Alais puts her life at risk to protect and keep hidden three ancient books which are said to hold the secret of the true Grail. Meanwhile, in contemporary southern France Alice has been volunteering on an archeological dig and has uncovered a cave which has remained hidden for eight centuries. Her discovery leads to a chain of events in which treasure hunters are desperate to get their hands on the missing books of the Grail. Readers are provided with a suspenseful story as mysteries in both times are resolved and the links between our protagonists are revealed.

Clearly it's not the only one of this ilk as it has been compared to the Da Vinci code and other similar titles, none of which I'd read. Being new to this line of story I was engrossed. It exposed me to unfamiliar topics which sometimes had me confused but which I found interesting. For example, my total lack of knowledge about Cathars, about Grails and religious persecution in medieval times meant everything I read was new and exciting. I noted plenty of 1 and 2 star ratings amongst reviewers and these people seemed to have a broad base to compare it against, so perhaps it's not the greatest in the genre but I was impressed. A surprisingly good albeitit very long read (752 pages).

[Nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book isn't very good. It's poorly written and badly edited. The story is okay, but you have to fight through moments of nausea, sadness and fury to reach the final 300 pages where it almost becomes interesting but then becomes embarrassing again. By the time I reached the end of the book, I was so bored that I speed-read until I could finally call it a day.

There are grammatical errors and anachronisms that I found really irritating (for example, references in 1209 to 'Saint Francis' when he was in fact not sainted until 1228) and some incredibly clunky prose.

Some gems that I saved:

"Baillard ... felt the years falling away, a sudden absence of age and experience. He felt young again."
(It is full of tautology like this. She also uses simile to describe the subject of simile, for example the light that 'cut through the darkness like a searchlight' and 'words repeated over and over like a mantra'.)

"The air was hot and humid. It seemed to squat over the yard and buildings like a malignant Buddha." (!?!?!?!?)

"She straightened up and felt the back of her head with her fingers. Already a bruise was forming." (How can you see a bruise with your fingers??)

There is an awful lot of blushing, a lot of emotions getting stuck in throats, a lot of waking up with sets of 4 smells penetrating people's noses and mouths, a lot of implausible emotional moments, a lot of gasping and eyes filling with tears.

Basically it's like being jabbed persistently with a pin for 700 pages and I wish I gave up on it as soon as I realised it was awful.

[Francisca · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprising mix of historical fiction, fantasy and ghost story all very well rolled into one intriguing novel.

I got this book in an airport and I've to say it was not the best idea. Not because it was a bad choice, but because after I started reading I couldn't stop, so I didn't sleep in the eleven hours that took to land. Needless to say, I got down the plane tired but utterly fascinated by the world created by Mosse.

The book is written as two stories that run in parallel time-lines. One in the past within one of the Cathars' last standing fortresses (the Cathars were Christians considered heretics by the Catholic church for no aligning with the rites and rituals of Rome, and for not recognizing the Pope as supreme leader). The second story in the present, with a young archeologist as the protagonist who's about to discover her past guards many more surprises than she could have ever imagined.

It's a long book, but it's easy to read, the pages fly one after the other, and Mosse does an excellent job grabbing the reader and never letting go. Moreover, her description of the life within the Cathars fort are enrapturing. And the end is very satisfying.

A well written and interesting book, worth of a chance.

[Michelle F · Rating 3 out of 5]

A reread, because I had forgotten absolutely everything about it. At some point I acquired the second book in the series and have yet to read it, so...

A Grail story, at heart, set in two time periods – modern(ish) day and the early 1200's during the Albigensian Crusade. (This was interesting to me, having recently read A Booke of Days, which is set during the First Crusade. It's handy to be adding to the same framework. The author notes that the Albigensian Crusade is the first where Christians were actively targeting other Christians, and also the first whose goals were focused in European lands. Like many of the preceding crusades there is much evidence that, although cloaked with theological ideals, the actual motivations were highly political and territorial.)

I've seen a handful of comparisons between Labyrinth and Dan Brown books and....I guess. Labyrinth has secret societies and questionable religious motivations. It has relics and symbols and a wee bit of romance. But Labyrinth doesn't feel like Dan Brown to me, despite the topical similarities.

Kate Mosse, for starters, is a far better writer – though not always a more interesting one. There are no formulaic gimmicks in Labyrinth so its got a bit more literary heft. The historical detail seems genuine and deliberate and informed. The downside here is that Mosse is often overly descriptive; in history, in conversation, in actions, in emotions...in everything. Many paragraphs feel like a statement of a thing followed by an elaborate restatement of the exact same thing. This would have some charm in moderation, but really bogs down the experience as the main method of writing.

There is a supernatural or mystical thread running through the heart of the story that goes beyond the base Grail mythology and I am not sure it was entirely justified. Our two protagonists share a bloodline, and modern-day Alice gains some of her insight from dream memories and never-explained intuition. It felt as this was ultimately a device used to hasten exposition and draw character parallels. It was muddy and removed opportunity to liven up the modern story-line with actual research and puzzle solving.

There was a disparity of quality between the two time lines. The author is clearly in love with (and well-versed in) the history. The plotting, the immersive setting and the characterization are all far richer when we are with Alais in the 1200's.

A mixed bag, really. I like it, but for its breadth and sometimes overreaching detail, I can see why it didn't stick with me the first time I read it. Even if the second book knocks my socks off, I should just remind my future self that this one is probably not worth a third slog-through.

[Baba · Rating 1 out of 5]

An archaeological historical thriller which came across as a very commercially motivated English-language novel written by Kate Mosse, in light of the success of the The Da Vinci Code. Like other works by Mosse works I've read, it's set in the present and in the past; in the present day and in the Middle Ages, with the tales set in the same locale and at times intertwining. It also taps into real historical events. I can't remember much about this book, other than than at time I thought it did get anywhere near my expectations being such a bestseller ad much hyped. 3 out of 12.

2006 read

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rating Clarification: 2.5 Stars


Had potential to be a thrilling, page-turning read, but the story never seemed to take off. Instead, both the present and past plotlines meandered on with short moments of good suspense, then with abrupt stops containing filler that did nothing to advance the mystery. The ending, when it finally arrived, was anticlimatic.

2.5 stars because Mosse can write a lovely sense of place. Made even me want to visit southern France, especially the medieval walled castle city of Carcassone (try googling Carcassone and see if you don't agree - breathtaking).

[Ariannha · Rating 3 out of 5]

"¿Crees que puedes cambiar tu destino? (...) Así es, porque si no fuera así, nada tendría sentido. Si simplemente estuviéramos siguiendo una senda predeterminada, entonces todas las experiencias que nos convierten en quienes somos (el amor, el dolor, la alegría, el aprendizaje, los cambios...) no servirían de nada."

Es una historia de secretos y misterios centrada en la vida de dos mujeres separadas por 800 años, y aunque la trama es un tanto compleja, es fácil de seguir. Dos protagonistas a las cuales, el destino de la providencia une sus vidas conectándolas a través del laberinto dibujado en un anillo.

El estilo narrativo de la autora es bueno, te mantiene conectada a la historia a través de un equilibrio entre los géneros abordados, sin exagerar en ninguno de ellos. Está escrita con un estilo muy directo, sin grandes descripciones, ni siquiera de los personajes, lo que te hace entrar pronto en acción en una historia que engancha, aunque a veces los continuos cambios de escenarios, hace que te desconciertes.

PD: Hace poco me he enterado que hay una serie de TV, pero no la he visto aún.

“Lo que dejamos atrás en esta vida es el recuerdo de quiénes éramos y qué hicimos. Una huella, no más.”

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is too long, too slow and takes itself way too seriously! I got about halfway through the book and i was still waiting for something to happen! The author was still developing the characters 200 pages into the book.

This book had the potential to be historical fiction, suspense or romance and the wuthor's wrtiing style leaned a little too close to the romance genre for my tastes. Her characters were too typical and too perfect. They were either perfect good people or perfect villians and she spent too much time with physical descriptions. Good character descriptions are much harder than they seem and some authors have a real gift for it (Jane Austen & Susannah Clarke are two examples). The most important rule for them is that less is more. An author can say more about a character with a few well chosen words than he can in a page of adjectives.

I had high hopes for this book because the plot soudned intriguing and I think it could have been fun and interesting with the right editor.

[Zaki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Labyrinth kept me reading in bed under a nice comfortable duvet for many nights. I love the transition between the two time periods. It was done with finesse.

[Nanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book, for me, really developted in the last 300 pages. It took me a long time to get past the first part of the book (mainly because of all the not so important descriptions of everything), but after that an amazing and mysterious story was created, which was what I expected when I started to read the book. I would love to give it five stars, but because of the first part I must give it four.

[Bill Muganda · Rating 4 out of 5]

"We carry the past within us, in our bones, in our blood,"

I went into this book thinking about how long and historical it looks, But on the contrary I was captured from Page 1.
Kate Mosse really challenged me as a reader, to expand my horizon from my normal books to Historical Fiction and by God I'm glad, because this book

It was so thrilling jumping back in time and the beautiful scenery that is Paris... I loved this book

[Laurel Bradshaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Description from Amazon.com
In this extraordinary thriller, rich in the atmospheres of medieval and contemporary France, the lives of two women born centuries apart are linked by a common destiny.

July 2005. In the Pyrenees mountains near Carcassonne, Alice, a volunteer at an archaeological dig stumbles into a cave and makes a startling discovery-two crumbling skeletons, strange writings on the walls, and the pattern of a labyrinth; between the skeletons, a stone ring, and a small leather bag.

Eight hundred years earlier, on the eve of a brutal crusade to stamp out heresy that will rip apart southern France, Alais is given a ring and a mysterious book for safekeeping by her father as he leaves to fight the crusaders. The book, he says, contains the secret of the true Grail, and the ring, inscribed with a labyrinth, will identify a guardian of the Grail. As crusading armies led by Church potentates and nobles of northern France gather outside the city walls of Carcassonne, it will take great sacrifice to keep the secret of the labyrinth safe.

In the present, another woman sees the find as a means to the political power she craves; while a man who has great power will kill to destroy all traces of the discovery and everyone who stands in his way.

Series info:
Languedoc trilogy
1. Labyrinth - read
--------------------
2. Sepulchre
3. Citadel

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The inside cover stuff instantly intrigued me. I'm all about mysterious/secret, lesser-known histories. And the story of the Grail is one of the most well-known of the lesser-known histories. Or even myths. While this one doesn't go into my favorite theory, it's such a page turner.

You learn of both Alice and Alais in alternating chapters, and I really have to give the author credit, for both the creativity and the amount of research that went into this book. The language, the history. Truly amazing. I'd like to own this. Even though it won't have that same suspense in a second reading, I think I'll pick up on smaller nuances. And ya know what? There's real history in there, too. The Crusades, obviously. Some history of the Cathars, history of France, real people that existed.

Seriously. Read this.

[Renée · Rating 1 out of 5]

ugh... this one promised to be slow.I couldn't get past ch.4.The premise has been over used lately.

[Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had hopes for this: massive bestseller in the UK, feminist retelling of the Grail legend, shuttling between the 13th and 21st centuries, lots of sex and swords -- promising! Unfortunately, Mosse only seemed able to display her legit historical chops and obvious devotion to France's little-known historical nooks through a poorly-edited vomitorium of words -- the writing isn't bad, but there's too much of it, and turning a page knowing nothing is going to happen on the next one is a pretty defeating experience. And when your big ideas involve reincarnation and historical symmetry, and when the main manifestation of this symmetry is both heroines losing consciousness every ten pages, it basically flogs the sex and the swords into one big pile of MEH. Obviously, the true test of any Grail-themed work is how well it stands up to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade -- and even correcting for the cinematic awesomeness of immortality-hunting Nazis and the kooky knight intoning "You have chosen...wisely", Labyrinth doesn't come close.

[Rakib Hasan · Rating 3 out of 5]

আমার কাছে খারাপ লাগেনি, মোটামুটি বেশ ভালই লেগেছে কিন্তু কেন যেন অনেক বেশি সময় লাগল পড়তে। প্লটটা বেশ ইন্টারেস্টিং লেগেছে, বর্তমান এবং অতীতের বর্ণনা অনেক ভাল ছিল, একদিকে যেমন দুর্দান্ত লেগেছে তেমনভাবে বইটা শেষ করার জন্য যে আগ্রহ থাকা উচিৎ তেমন কোন আগ্রহ পাইনি। সবমিলিয়ে ভাল লেগেছে আবার খুব বেশি ভাল লাগেনি।😷

[Rebecca Crunden]

GENERAL SPOILER WARNING

I really love that the author’s note includes explanations for the differing languages and the reason for it. There’s a whole note at the start explaining langue d’oïl and langue d’Oc. At the back the author’s even included photographs and a tour of the modern day location for anyone curious. I just think that’s so cool.

The focus on the Cathars immediately intrigued me. I’ve found the Cathars fascinating ever since the film Like Minds, which I watched a few times growing up. For those who don’t know, the Cathars were a sect of Christianity that the Catholic Church denounced and ultimately got rid of by instigating the Albigensian Crusade.

The story itself is split between two timelines: 2005, France, with (mainly) Alice; 1209, Carcassona, with (mainly) Alaïs. You get some POV chapters from others in their periphery or those whose journeys intersect with theirs. I admit, I did skim the other characters’ scenes a bit. I’m sure other people will wholly enjoy them, but I just preferred to find out what the main characters were up to and it was a bit on the long side reading all the different characters’ plots. Like there is a lot happening re: the mystery of the Grail, but I was mostly interested in the character development scenes, lmao. This happens to me a lot while reading. I love really detailed plots, but sometimes I just want to know what’s happening between the characters. That said, the Cathar history absolutely fascinates me, so I really appreciated those scenes. I suppose I mostly didn’t care for the modern day villains or setting. I wanted to read the historical fiction side of the book rather than the modern part. (This is a me problem, not the book’s problem.) So when you go into a book for the historical fiction and half of it’s set in modern times, you just want to get through those scenes and get back to the others, lmao. So, again, don’t take my skimming those bits as a sign that they aren’t important to the book. They totally are, I was just in the mood for historical stuff during my read.

What I did really find fascinating was how Mosse wrote the Cathars’ beliefs around life and reincarnation and how that could be intertwined with the Grail stories. It was really cool how she interpreted that and I found the whole thing very compelling. I liked how much emphasis there was on mutual respect and working together between the guardians of the Books: Jewish, Muslim and Christian; men and women.

I really enjoyed Alaïs’ story. I loved reading about the side characters in her time, too. Her father, her husband, her sister, her friends around the Cité. And the villain being her sister was a horrifyingly fascinating twist. And I think because of that, I was a bit frustrated that Alaïs’ later story was summarised by a certain character in the present story rather than actually told through Alaïs herself. Like we spent so much time with the start of her journey, why couldn’t we have read the middle and end of her journey? Although again this could be me craving a historical fiction novel as opposed to a mystery that starts in the past and finished in the future.

All in all, I did enjoy it and I’m compelled enough by Mosse’s writing to definitely give more books of hers a try. I did really want to know what was going to happen and I loved the religious and philosophical aspects of it. I just preferred the historical setting and characters to the modern ones.

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[Nicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this audiobook by Kate Mosse, the first book in the Languedoc trilogy.
I actually read this back in 2011, and going by my original brief 3 star review on Goodreads, I thought it was very slow and confusing, but got better in the second half.
This time however I was hooked from the beginning, and loved every minute of it. It was one of those stories that I felt fully immersed in, because the writing, characters, and plot were all so compelling. I loved both the 1205 and 2005 timelines.
Louise Brealey’s narration was superb, bringing the story and the characters to life beautifully.
Highly recommended if you enjoy historical fiction with dual timelines on audio.

[Elentarri · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an entertaining, moderately fast-paced novel set in the Languedoc region of France, featuring the Albigensian or Cathar Crusade in the "past" timeline, a secret society mystery in the "present" timeline, and the link between them. In July 1209, 17 year old Alaïs is given a mysterious book by her father which he claims contains the secret of the true Grail. In July 2005, Alice Tanner discovers two skeletons in a forgotten cave in the French Pyrenees... followed by being harassed by strangers, friends vanishing and people being murdered. The story starts simply and slowly, but gets more complex. I did find Alice Tanner to be somewhat annoying, but Alaïs made the book for me. A fine romp through France and Cathar history, with some Grail legends thrown in, so long as you don't expect anything too deep, or terribly well written.

PS: Archeologist would not approve of the way this dig was run! It's almost as bad as what happened when Otzi the Iceman was found.

[Tiffany · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like some of the other reviews, there were times I liked the story and there were other times where I was just down right bored. The story line drew me in - two different lives were connected by history yet born centuries apart. Yet, there were several loose ends.

Why did the father hate Guilhem du Mas? And if he disliked him so much, why would he allow his daughter to marry him? Then in the future, I suppose when all was forgiven, why did Mosse not include the story line of Alais' rescue and the time they had a child together and then jump 30 years later to an older Alais? After this part, I just had no interest to finish the book. But, considering I had already made it 500 pages, I thought I might as well finish it.

What is Marie-Cecile's connection to the characters in the 13th century period? Is she the reincarnation of Oriane? Is Will also the reincarnation of Guilhem? Why were so many of the main characters not given enough of a background? Why is the history of the cave and the elements of the ritual itself not discussed? More detail please!!!

I guess my main issue is that there were so many characters, not enough story line, and then loose ends. I am giving the book 2 stars because the story itself was intriguing and at times had me sitting on edge. But, it just felt like there was an entire section of the book that Mosse wrote but then chose not to include. It read like a bad movie adaptation.