These are the kinds of historical fiction books I dream of. Richly detailed, well researched, a natural harmony between dialogue and non dialogue - never being too much of one or the other - a lesson in history and some engaging characters thrown in. Oh, and I am a little partial to journey stories too. They are one of my favourite ways for an author to channel an historical adventure story. These are all facets that I look for in an historical fiction and if they hit the right points of balance then when I come to sections that I may not like, and even the best books in the world have those, it does not ruin the book for me. And Silk Road, she was nearly a perfect girl. Nearly.The description on the book makes one think that the book is going to be a love story. Between the Tatar princess Khutelun and the Templar Knight, Josseran Sarrazini, but it isn't, well, that is not entirely true, there is some love story in Silk Road although it is not dramatically present. Not a festival of murmured love words and swooning, which is a festival I do not want to buy a ticket to. It is background fodder concerning two adults who knew a dalliance was a waste of time due to their immensely disparate cultures.As I say though, it was there, but it was background fodder. To my reading eyes the star of the show was the aggravating and annoying Dominican Friar, William. To me this felt like his story and not the story of Khutelun and Josseran. Others may have an alternate view on that, but to me it was all about him and his intractable belief that he could bring Christ to the barbarians. To the Khans of the Steppes. On his way to achieve that he makes life difficult for everyone and everything around him. The tribes, the individuals charged with escorting him, Khutelun, Josseran. He had no allies, only enemies on his journey over the Roof of the World and into the bosom of the worlds greatest Khans. I found myself wanting often to see him get killed off as he was not a pleasant creature. While I cannot tell you if he is killed off or not, I must admit, he is integral to the story from the beginning and the source of as much humour (the laughing at him, not the laughing with him kind) as the angst.The world Colin Falconer described here is now piled on top of impressions I already had of the Silk Road. He describes them magnificently and makes you feel and see what the characters feel and see. Falconer dealt with it as if he had been there himself, and I suppose maybe he has if he has travelled to these parts of Asia and the desert nations, for many of these very same markets and landscapes detailed in the book still exist to this day.The one failing I had with the book was enough for me to give the book 4 stars out of 5. Although, more accurately, 4.5 stars out of 5. There was a section that I cannot go into without spoiling the story for you, where there was nothing happening for about a hundred pages of what was a 460 page book. No real plot or story evolved in this section and I got bored. Luckily the story got back on track and I was able to continue on and enjoy the book enough to feel comfortable in recommending it to others who like this era historical fiction.Silk Road by Colin Falconer. If you like Templars, Mongols and desert. Think about it. It might be what you are looking for.
Josseran Sarrazini is a Christian Knight Templar who has a mission to guide a Dominican monk, William, to the far side of the world in what is present-day Beijing. It's the time of the Crusades in the 1200s and there is just as much in-fighting among the Christians as there is against the enemy Muslims who have captured and hold Jerusalem. The novel begins in Aleppo and covers for years the entire Silk Road from Palestine to Xanadu; not a day passes in which there is not unbridled adventure, murder, passionate challenges and so much more.Josseran is cynical about his own faith because he is guilty of a great sin, a burden that haunts his days and nights, a darkness the vile monk William senses and never ceases to salt with his sarcastic, scathing words. For William is the worst of sinners, a man tempted in all ways but externally appearing to be an ascetic who disciplines himself by self-flagellation, a hard thin man whom all dislike because of his mean, vicious, quarrelsome, critical nature. Josseran finally meets the daughter of a Khan, Khutelun, a spirited warrior who is stronger and braver than any of her brothers, a woman who should have been born a man. She rides a horse with a wooden saddle for hours without tiring, can shoot an arrow better than most Mongol warriors, and she is chosen to accompany Josseran and William on their journey. Their mission is to forge a union with the highest Khan, to fight together against their common enemy. But Josseran gradually comes to realize the Mongols have no need of any one's assistance. What shock then to find that the Great Khan has died and his family is divided as to who should be successor. Indeed Josseran and Michael might wind up as prisoners rather than emissary friends of whoever is victorious!All the wonders and life-threatening difficulties of the Silk Road journey are gradually revealed to Josseran as they travel, described with vivid beauty and wonder. At the same time Josseran is falling in love with his guide, Khutelun, a woman who is destined to marry a prince and perhaps future Khan. She will save Josseran's life more than once along the way. William proves to be useful many times although he never stops being a perpetual irritant to all; the reader is surprised that no one eventually tires of his tirades to kill him. To say more would be to spoil a truly amazing and wonderful story that manages to stir every emotion and race the heart with tension in realistic ways on multiple pages. Colin Falconer has taken a tale often told and fashioned it into a classic historical novel. Superb and delightful!!!
What do You think about Silk Road (2011)?
This book was not for me. Too much violence, brutality and cruelty. Once the Mongols were established as vicious and ruthless, why keep subjecting the reader to such excesses? Depictions of the filth and disgusting living conditions were overblown (one reviewer commented that hygiene in the time was better than described). Descriptions of geography were compelling, from mountains to desert and the Silk Road. I appreciate the research into Tatar society, and complexities of the plot in Kubilai Khan's court. Some characters were intriguing but others seemed flat (William the priest, who was also one of the most despicable characters I've met in books). The ending was disappointing and left me feeling unresolved.
—Leonide Martin
This book deserves a full 5 points for depth and credibility of historical research. As I read I felt as if I was riding across the Silk Road myself astride an ugly Tatar pony, frozen by Himalayan snow and blasted by Taklimakan sand, eating nothing but boiled mutton and drinking mare's-milk booze. Wonderful stuff, and quite unforgettable. The main reason I shied off a five-star rating was Falconer's characterisation. While Josseran the Templar makes a very likeable hero, I found the character of William, the Friar who accompanies him, disjointed and two-dimensional. In the end, William perpetuates stereotypes of monkish sexual repression and hypocrisy. Perhaps if William's past history had been suggested in greater detail, providing him with psychological motivation/explanation, I might have found his extreme actions and behaviour more credible. Finally, history, being stranger than fiction, furnished Silk Road with three instances of violence near the end which initially struck me (thumped me in the solar plexus with all the force of a heavyweight boxer would be more accurate) as quite unnecessarily gratuitous. Horrifyingly enough, these instances turned out to be products of history and not writerly imagination. The author is forgiven my initial diagnosis of closet psychopath. Interesting people, the Mongols.
—Venetia Green
‘When we begin any journey, we cannot know where that road may lead us. Obstacles fall across the way and force us to other paths. It is the way of things.’Early in 1260 AD, news of the death of the Great Khan, Mӧngke Khan four months earlier reaches Qaidu, khan of the high steppes, in the Fergana Valley where his headstrong daughter Khutelun has bested yet another suitor. A world away, in Acre, Josseran Sarrazini is commissioned by Thomas Bérard, Grand Master of the Knights Templar, to chaperone William of Augsberg , a Dominican friar, to the prince of the Tatars on a mission from the Pope. Thomas Bérard has also given Josseran a mission: to secure an alliance with the Tatar against the Saracens. Josseran and William’s journey will be a long one. First they meet Hülegü Khan at Aleppo, and are told they must travel to Qaraqorum to meet Mӧngke, Khan of all the Khans. The journey, they are told, could take four moons – or eight.‘The wind blows cold on princes and goats alike.’While William is uncompromising and suspicious, Josseran has demons of his own to contend with. And life quickly becomes complicated when Khutelun is appointed as their escort. The story revolves around these three characters, as they each struggle to achieve their individual objectives. Ariq Böke and Khubilai are rivals to be Great Khan, and eventually this results in civil war. William and Josseran’s journey is intercepted, and they are taken to Shang-Tu (Xanadu) to meet Khubilai Khan. Will any of them achieve what they desire? Will William and Josseran return to Acre? Can Josseran leave Khutelun behind to fulfil his vow to escort William?There’s plenty of action and adventure in this novel. From the plains of Palestine, over the mountains of the Hindu Kush, through the Taklimakan Desert to Xanadu, from the austerity of life on the steppes to the decadent luxury of Xanadu, there is much to see and be experienced. While the holy wars of medieval Europe provide a context for Josseran and William’s expedition, it is the lives of the people along the ancient Silk Road that brings the novel to life.I enjoyed this novel, and developed an extreme dislike for William which somehow seems appropriate at the end of the novel. While the story is complex, Mr Falconer tells it in a way that is totally absorbing. And the ending? You’ll need to judge its effectiveness for yourself.‘A man’s fate was certain, for we all owe God a death, but now all he wanted was to find either strength enough to die, or reason enough to live.’ Jennifer Cameron-Smith
—Jennifer (JC-S)
