Road From The West by Rosanne E. Lortz

Title/Author: Road From The West (Chronicles of Tancred #1) by Rosanne E. Lortz
Publisher/Date published: Madison Street Publishing, September 2nd 2011
How I got this book: received it from the author as part of the Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tour

Summary: "A tale of Courage, Conquest, Intrigue, and Honor.
You know the Knights Templar, you know Richard the Lionheart — now learn the story that started it all in the adventures of the First Crusade.
Haunted by guilt from the past and nightmares of the future, a young Norman named Tancred takes the cross and vows to be the first to free Jerusalem from the infidels. As he journeys to the Holy Land, he braves vast deserts, mortal famine, and the ever - present ambushes of the enemy Turks — but the greatest danger of all is deciding which of the Crusader lords to trust. A mysterious seer prophesies that Tancred will find great love and great sorrow on his journey, but the latter seems intent on claiming him before he can find the first. Intrigues and passions grow as every battle brings the Crusaders one step closer to Jerusalem. Not all are destined to survive the road from the West."

I really love historical fiction and getting to know more about the periods that flashed by in my high school history classes, but we never really delved into. I sometimes wonder that we skipped over the interesting things like crusades and ancient Greece and Rome and discussed the first and second World War until I snoozed through it all...

Anyway, I have never read a book about the crusades before, sure it was mentioned, but not in detail. So I was really excited to be reading this book and discover more. And it succeeded on the acount of teaching me more about this time period.

As for the story part of it: I felt there was something missing for me. I think it might have been that I didn't really connect with Tancred and didn't really care what happened to him. Like when his brother died. Seriously, his brother was the perfect example of too-stupid-to-live and he actually died because of it (appropriate right?). Also, something that happens towards the end, where he chooses meeting a pretty girl over fighting in a battle that was HUGE and what he was actually there for... This didn't seem realistic to me and I didn't really like the whole romance.

Maybe it's also the fact that I'm not religious. At all. I don't kwow, there were just several things that bothered me.

BUT: that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the book. Cause I did. I enjoyed reading about the intrigue among the different captains leading the crusade. I really liked the woman who is in love with Tancred, though he doesn't know it. And you know, it made me curious to find out more about the crusades.

My rating: 3 stars



Road From the West Book Tour links:

Tour Schedule
Rosanne E. Lortz's Website