The Flowers of Evil [Kindle Edition]

By the end of the first book in this series, The Waste Land, I had become quite fond of the hero Hugh de Verdon. He'd been turned by his brutal experiences on the Crusade from being rather prissy and monkish into a brave man of action, but still capable of thinking about his actions. So I was shocked by the ending and left anxiously wanting to read the sequel - flagged very clearly in the first book as The Flowers of Evil. In fact I was a bit cross at the author's blatant attempt to sell more books.

At last the second book came out, and I think I enjoyed it even more than the first. It gets into its stride faster, perhaps because there has to be less scene-setting at the beginning. There is also less history because the First Crusade itself is over so the plot focusses more on Hugh de Verdon's quest for revenge and his search for the meaning of life. The modern day St Lazarus story comes to life a bit more than in the first book and provides an amusing foil to the medieval tale. I've read a lot of the Templar books and I laughed at the fun that the author pokes at some of the legends about them.

I also enjoyed the development of Hugh's character - something you often don't get in adventure stories that move at this pace - and the anachronistic introduction of what I guess was some existential philosophy. The end of the book is more complete than the end of the first, but I hope that there will still be a third book in the series. Overall I found it really exciting, but it also made me laugh. Definitely five stars.

As promised by the ending of his prequel, Simon Acland returns his readers to the Crusader period and the adventures of his hero, Hugh de Verdon in The Flowers of Evil, available later this summer. When the reader last saw Hugh in The Waste Land, captivity in the stronghold of by Hasan-i-Sabah, the mysterious Old Man of the Mountains had broken him. Hugh also learned that the woman he loved was not his ideal. Hugh's story unravels through the lens of history, where the old Master of a bankrupt college, collaborating with several of his counterparts in administration and a former student, a Best-Selling Author, attempt to piece together Hugh's later years. As in the prequel, there are other forces at work intent on keeping the work a secret. One by one, the college's administrators suffer mysterious deaths and mishaps, as the Best-Selling Author starts to wonder whether he isn't putting his own life at risk in the endeavor.

The Flowers of Evil parallels the misadventures at the college with the hero's life. Hugh moves as easily between the Christian and Muslim worlds, as The Flowers of Evil dovetails his life and the events befalling the administrators. Initiated into the Hasan-i-Sabah's rites, Hugh embarks on a quest for vengeance that claims the life of a beloved fried. As before, he questions his faith and finds similarities in religions that claim to be disparate from each other. He meets several strangers, each of whom will have everlasting effects on his life and events of the Crusades. The story explores the convoluted period, including the origin of the Templars and some of the myths surrounding them. When Hugh returns to his birth country of France, a chance encounter with a little boy named Chretien ensures his name in history.

Reading The Flowers of Evil was like visiting an old friend. Most of the characters I enjoyed in The Waste Land returned, though those who had met a terrible, if justified end in the first book gave rise to newer, more malevolent characters in this one. The only figure that completely puzzled me was the old hermit in the desert; I'm off to ask Mr. Acland for a little insider knowledge on the ideas behind the character, so I hope he'll indulge me. Most of all, I anticipate there will be more to follow on Hugh's life. If not, there should be. Mr. Acland still writes with confidence and skill about the period. Anyone with an interest in the period will enjoy this novel.

I don't recommend reading this latest book before exploring some of the mysteries of the prequel. If a reader does not know of some of the adventures Hugh has in The Waste Land, it might be difficult to comprehend the heart-breaking circumstance he finds himself in at the beginning of The Flowers of Evil.