Teutonic Knights

Rating:
Summary: A fascinating account of the Middle Ages
Review: This book was written in 1900. It took the author over four years to write it. I advise anyone interested in literature, not just historical novels, to get this book. It is a monument of extraordinary literature. It is written sharp as a diamond, and throughout the 800 pages, there is no boring paragraph to be found. The plot is so well thought-out that you will be amazed. The last words of the author in the book are "So to you, sacred past, and to you, sacrificial blood, be praise and honor for ever and ever." Not only do you get a great account of life in the middle ages, but also a detailed and fascinating tale of many memorable characters and their adventures. After you read this, I STRONGLY recommend the trilogy. "With Fire and Sword" is a very different book, but just as good, if not better, than this one. "The Deluge" is a very long book: 1800 pages. But don't let that scare you away -- just like "Teutonic Knights," every page is fascinating. And the last volume of the trilogy is "Fire in the Steppe." Right now, Amazon.com is offering the latter two. Get them. It's worth it. "With Fire and Sword" is not available through amazon.com, though, unless you want to get a used one. You might want to try doing it directly through the publisher, Hippocrene books. Once again, for anyone who loves to read, I recommend all four of these books and all of Sienkiewicz's books. Don't let the long name scare you away. In my opinion, he is the greatest author of all time.

Rating:
Summary: A Unique Masterpiece above everything!
Review: This is by far the best novel that I ever read,a compelling and fascinating masterpiece above literature that only Tolstoy's "War and Peace" is equal of.Even "Quo Vadis" is the most famous book of Sienkiewicz,here is proved to be more mature and describes with a perfect and understandable way,a combination of love,romance,battles,intriques,suspence,drama.All the characters are easy to be understood,interesting and you can feel them easily.Sienkiewicz manages in general in every of his books,that every page not to be boring at all and the analysis of his characters and places have some limits,so as not to tire the reader.Worth also is to be mentioned that while other famous authors of Sienkiewicz's time,wrote about their time/era..Sienkiewicz chose the difficult way to bring us with amazing detail,the Roman time,Medieval time and also the 17th century...Only Sienkiewicz could accomplish to write books about previous times,with such wonderful way.I recommend you to read all the books by Sienkiewicz,especially "The Teutonic Knights" which has many messages I believe...in our days we have lost our honour and pride...we must remeber again these gifts and be better humans...

Rating:
Summary: a little disappointing
Review: Yes, I found this novel to be a bit disappointing, but it is still a great novel which I highly recommend. I agree with most of what has already been stated so I will not repeat for sake of time. I would like to point out a few, what I found to be disappointing or detracting, elements of this novel which have not been discussed. The most surprising and even somewhat disappointing facet is the fact that this is a love story, albeit a very good love story. I was expecting more battles, one-on-one combat/duals, tournament scenes and the like which you just don't find here in abundance. There is one battle which takes up the last 20 of the 800 pages, one good dual, and no description of tournaments or castle seiges; not what I was expecting in a novel concerning medieval European knights. Being that this is considered historical fiction, I realize that not all of the characters are actual historical figures. However, I found some of these characters to be rather unbeleivable. Zbyszko, the main character, was just far too perfect, physically and morally, to be beleivable even in a fictional novel. I would have liked to have seen at least one human flaw in him. Also, some of the character's fighting capability and physical strength were reminiscent of Conan the Barbarian's in those stories, which detracted from the novel's sense of authenticity. One specific instance in the novel which was a great disappointment to me was the sub-plot of the two main character's personal vendetta against the Teutonic Knight Kuno Lichtenstein. This was developing over 700 pages and when it finally concluded in the last 10 pages of the book, the author took but a few lines to describe the one-on-one dual which took place. This was extremely anti-climactic. The author had a gem of an oppurtunity to add suspense and to exhibit his descriptive ability with this dual but it seems like he just wanted to wrap up the novel ASAP. Needless to say, very disappointing. I also came away from this novel with a conviction that this was one huge propaganda pamphlet against the German's. The author made the German's rotten to the core in every way and the Poles so perfect and superior in every way that it again detracts from the story. I would have liked to have seen some flaw in the Poles and some positive attribute or action of the German's. Having made all these negative comments, I still would highly recommend this novel, but keep in mind the above points and you will probably come away with a better lasting impression.