The Fall of the Templars: A Novel (Brethren Trilogy) Paperback – Illustrated, January 26, 2010

This, the third volume in this excellent trilogy, follows the main protagonist through the period of King Edward vs William Wallace and through the events leading up to the dissolution of the Templars. King Philippe of France has a plan to fill out his coffers by seizing all of the French Templar properties and treasure; an insidious plan brought forth by his insidious adviser, the chief lawyer, Nogaret. Front and center in all of this action and intrigue is Will Campbell, the Templar Knight and main character in the series. In a lot of the historical fiction that I read, the history of the events portrayed are well known and therefore you know how it ends before you start reading. The way the author crafts the story to meet the historical end is what captures my interest. The author did her job and has crafted a wonderful tale that accomplished that goal. The integration of the fictional Campbell into the fabric of these events had me thinking that, yes, things could have happened in the manner written. The story is full of the duplicitous nature of kings and the ruthlessness they employ to achieve their ends. The characters are larger than life, from the hair shirt wearing Philippe, the Scottish rebel William Wallace, the evil incarnate Nogaret and most especially William Campbell. I hesitate to give anything away plot wise so suffice to say William Campbell goes through a multitude of trials and tribulations, some good but some not so good.I highly recommend not only this volume but the whole Brethren series. 4 stars.

While I will leave any additional commentary regarding this work until I have actually read it, I am EXTREMELY unhappy with the Author, Publisher and Amazon for perpetrating this charade!I read and very much enjoyed Robyn Young's first book in this series, Brethren, while on my last business trip overseas. When I returned home, I suggested to my Wife that I thought she would enjoy this book as well. During the course of a subsequent trip overseas, my Wife told me how much she enjoyed reading Brethren.Due to the length of my current trip, I thought I might surprise my Wife by purchasing the rest of the series along with any other similar works by Robyn Young. I ordered Crusade, Requiem and The Fall of the Templars. The books arrived and my Wife picked up the series where she left off and gobbled them up. After reading Requiem, she moved on to The Fall of the Templars only to find that they are the EXACT SAME BOOK with two different titles??? I have never in all my years run into this before!??? Yes, titles change occasionally when translated from one language to another, but we are talking strictly English here?In going back and looking at Amazon's listings once again, the books are offered as follows...Requiem (Brethren Trilogy 3) (Hardcover)The Fall of the Templars (Hardcover)Obviously, had I realized that they were in fact the very same book, I would not have purchased both titles! As for an actual review of the book, when I have finished the trilogy I'll be happy to report back on the contents of the book. In the interim, I simply hope that this "review" will prevent any of you from accidentally purchasing two copies of the same books under different titles!Why Amazon doesn't make this clear in their listings is beyond me?Respectfully submitted,John P. Sheehan

I really liked the Brethern and it inspired me to read other authors who wrote about the Templars and the Crusades. I felt compelled to continue to read Ms. Young's second installment about Will Campbell and was disappointed, but I figured it is hard to top a great book like the Brethern and decided to give The Fall of the Templars a try. This was hands down the worse book of the three. First of all the Fall of the Templars is really a secondary story here as the real story is Will and his desire to go after King Edward, this alone would have made a nice story. Instead the book just jumps around and covers alot of time and ground and has one story line after another which just got confusing after a while. The other thing I really did not like is Will is an old man during this story line and he escapes death time after time, after a while the story no longer made sense. I think the fall of this story was the author's desire to try and do way to much, instead of sticking to one story line and perhaps giving us a 4th book we get way more than we bargined for.

Ms. Young's final volume of her Templar Trilogy is a nice wrap-up to the series and I enjoyed reading it very much. In the last half of the book I felt as though we were being rushed through many events and the way that Will Campbell is moving around in the world you get the impression that he has his own speedboat or business jet rather than the weeks and months it took to move from Scotland to France to Italy, etc. All in all I think it is a good read, an interesting tale, and a nice wrap-up to the series. If you liked the first two volumes you will like this one too.

This was the first book of an absolutely amazing trilogy. Thoroughly enjoyed the books. But, the first book was very slow going for the first 100 pages or so. Once the setting and characters are finally set up. These were among the best books I have read. Though, the last book was less impressive due to the content being on a less grand scale compared to the first two books, as well due to it leading to the expected end of the Templars.

Reading is very important to me because I am disabled. And don't get out as much as use to. I've read both Robyn Young and Jack Whyte an they are marvelous writers. They keep you reading not wanting to put the book down. I've read the Brethren Trilogy and am on the last book of the Templar Trilogy an am sorry to see it end. I have had a great experience reading these books. All were in great shape an I will continue to order from Amazon. com

A great story of the Knight's Templars and the end of their glory days. It was a powerful story with part truthand part fiction. The characters are well developed and so is the plot. This is part of a series about theTemplars and is told well.

Read this book in 2008, and its the 3rd and final volume of this amazing "Brethren" trilogy.It starts off in the year AD 1295, and Knight Templar, Will Campbell, after having left the Holy Land in ruins and just managing to escape the slaughter, he's going home to his native Scotland.When home in Scotland he finds his land under attack and in war with King Edward I of England, and this King has forged an alliance with the Temple in a bid to make war together against Scotland in a bid to subdue the Scots, and all this actions will strike at the core of Will's faith and allegiances towards the Temple, while at the same time his daughter Rose is being led into a dangerous situation at the French court, so the questions remains what must he do.For the hard fact is, In Paris this warrior King has declared war on the Templars to fill his coffers with all the riches this Brethren had assembled, and at the same time annihilate all the leading figures of the Knight Templars to destroy them once and for all, so Will Campbell must make a decision, to save his Brethren of more importantly his near family.What is to follow is an intriguing final historical battle by the Knight Templars, and the war between Scotland and England, and in these environments of devotion, courage, treachery and death, Will Campbell must make his final decision and fight his ultimate battle for Christianity and family.Highly recommended, for this is a superb final outing to this incredible trilogy, and that's why I like to call this episode: "A Brilliant Requiem"!

Having just finished reading the 3rd and final book in the trilogy I can honestly say it has been a thrilling and incredible journey with Will who is the main character. I’ve never read a book more eagerly, let alone a trilogy! Anyone who’s ever read Pillars of the Earth and World Without End will so enjoy this book.It gives such a fascinating insight into how life was lived in that time, how news was conveyed. The build up to battle scenes are just phenomenal and so vivid and so disturbing, the author superbly paints a picture of the unfolding tension. descriptions of tent colours and horns and drums sounding.I love the way Robyn describes the clothing of the time, the stitching on cloaks and the fabrics.The utter futility of all the bloodshed makes you weep.It is a brilliant way to learn about history.Reading these type of books of course, can cause you to lose faith in humanity because peace is so untenable - people placing so much importance on the here and now and in the grand scheme of things all their desires are meaninglessP.s I’m surprised to read so many references of scorching sun and heat in Scotland! Lots of cold weather was mentioned in the Acre section of the trilogy. Is the author sure she didn’t get the countries mixed up!

I have been waiting to read this book for some time now after reading the previous two books. I am reluctant to pay for hardback additions and prefer to wait for the cheaper paperbacks to come out. This was worth the wait.The story continues with pace and excitement building all the time to its finale.Its imperative to the reader to have read the first two books so that they know and understand the diversity of characters, although they are all listed in the back of the book.I dont want to give away too much of the storyline here, suffice to say that its worth taking the time to read if you like novels based on history that take poetic licence [this is explained by the author] with parts of the more detailed facts to make the book more readable.Great trilogy, one which I shall be reading again in the not too distant future.

Having read the first two books and absolutely loved them, this last book of the trilogy really finishes off the series perfectly. All the way through the characters have had depth, the storyline credibility, and each was a page-turner.As with the first two books this one may feel quite heavy at first with what at times seemed too much detail. However stick with it, clearly Robyn Young has done a huge amount of research into this time period, to make you really feel you are there, with characters that you can understand and relate to.In the end as with the other books the 700 pages flew by, and gripped me all the way through. This is an excellent book and a fitting end to the trilogy. Overall a great story with great characters, well written, gripping, and highly recommended. If you like historical fiction and haven't tried Robyn Young then you really should give her a go.

For readers interested in the Crusades this is a "must read". The background to the courts of Edward I of England and Phillipe of France reflect the power of kingship and their need to produce wealth in the form of taxable income and forfeitures for the preservation of their kingdoms.The tale goes from success to tradgedy and back reflecting accurately the suffering of those citizens who fall from royal favour. The scenes are fully described of battles, skirmishes, and back-room gossip in the royal palaces and courts of papal manipulation.Altogether an excellent read, but it is essential to know Robyn Young's first two books in this trilogy: Bretheren and Crusade.D B Wright 10.09.10