phungus's Full Review: Tim Willocks and Simon Vance - The Religion
My purchase of The Religion, by Tim Willocks, was rather random since I had a gift card for a bookstore I don’t normally visit, and I wanted to use it before I left. I perused the fantasy/sci-fi aisles several times before setting on this book, mainly because I thought historical fiction would give me a break from my usual stories of dragons and vampires. As it would turn out, I really enjoyed this book.
The story begins with a young boy working in a blacksmith shop when Muslim raiders come in and slaughter his village. The boy’s life was spared only because a Muslim leader saw him brandishing a brilliant looking dagger and realized the boy had made it himself. This boy, named Mattias Tannhauser, eventually grows up and gets away from the Muslims, only to find himself getting close to them again as the Crusades sweep across Europe.
Mattias is soon contacted by a member of royalty who ashamedly admits she bore an illegitimate son and gave him up for adoption to some monks. She wants Mattias to help find the boy before the war breaks out again, but he’s a little too late. What this all amounts to is like a Holy Crusade version of Saving Private Ryan where Mattias must travel into the middle of a warzone to rescue a boy he barely even knows. In between all of this, a long triangle develops and he makes some new enemies. Everywhere he goes, something further complicates his rescue mission.
What makes the character of Mattias Tannhauser so interesting is that he’s been on both sides of the Crusade and knows both the Christian and Muslims ways very well. This allows him to adapt to whatever situation arises, regardless of which side of the battle he is on. Although he does participate a little in the fighting, Mattias is mostly neutral to the entire situation. He has experienced hypocrisy and brutality from men who claim to be holy, and for the most parts he thinks wicked men use religion as an excuse to do cruel things to others.
This is an extremely brutal and gory book that pulls no punches in its overly descriptive battle scenes and acts of violence. Because most of the story takes place on or near the battlefield, there are numerous scenes of people literally wading through blood and feces, and almost every character spends half the story caked in guts. The author kept most of the violence as the backdrop for the story, with the main characters not actively participating as much as you might expect.
Other than the excessive gore, I have no major complaints about this book. The characters are all very well-developed and the plot unfolds at a steady pace. The overall presentation is rich with detail and very realistic in terms of setting and dialogue, and that’s often the hardest part to get right when writing about different time periods. The title of the book comes from the name that the knights call themselves, as if they were representing the religion.
The Religion paperback weighs in at a very wordy 660 pages. It does not have chapter breaks and there is very little white space, so it took me longer than usual to get through it. Despite the length, I found it to be a very engrossing read where there was never a dull moment. I highly recommend this book.
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