Colin Falconer

Stigmata is a good enough story. But there is a big BUT… It seems there are some common elements from Silk Road; the book before it. When I say common elements I mean common elements as in same plot structure and story wide occurrences. Common elements…. Molestation of women by Priests, Men jumping off cliffs into raging water in order to save them and loss of faith by holy men falling in love with the natives. Some may call that weak writing. The Epic Adventure series is comprised of many books and since book one and two both have what seems like carbon copy plot structures it is highly likely that the others will have the same. That may be true…it may not be true. But that possibility is enough to keep me from spending money on any of them in the foreseeable future. Silk road was great, Stigmata is ok.
On the positive side. The characters are believable. They have personality and for the most part are well written. Falconer is great with his historical structure. That in itself is enough to keep the reader interested. But for now I will move on to something else instead of reading about dramatic cliff jumping Knights and sexy damsels in distress. Anyway it is still better than Labyrinth by Kate Mosse, which revolves around the same so called crusade.… (more)

I review everything I read and as a compulsive reader I love to discuss what I read. It is with great pleasure that I stand corrected on my views of Silk Road. Sometimes I jump into another book before the one I finished is even out of my hand. That can be a good thing or a terrible thing. In the case of Silk Road it was terrible. I initially gave this book a less than stellar and very disappointing review and that crushed me because I was so excited to read it.
I am pleased to admit that I was wrong….very wrong about my initial review. Deciding to sit down and give it another go changed my view most considerably.
Since I was a child I have been fascinated with the Silk Roads, their purpose, geography and all around importance to the formation of the ties between East and West. (Thank you Alexander the Great)
Colin Falconer has crafted a story of cultures on the edge during a time when communication and understanding between cultures was pure, raw and brutal. A time when men gave their lives for a pound of salt or any other type of spice or luxury item. Most spoke with the tip of a sword and the word of their God. Silk Road, despite a few editorial gaffes, is an excellent story of courage, devotion, curiosity and ironically love.
The author has taken the Silk Road and put upon it characters that have major depth and personality.
Templar Knights in literature can easily be overdone. As curious and tragic as they are, they are written about ad nauseum. Falconer destroys the stereotype and gives us a very real and layered main character. He is devoted, stubborn and brave yet leans follows his heart which to him is personal damnation.
Over Zealous Monks, Mongolians and the burgeoning empire of Kublai Khan are all part of this adventure. The Geography of the story is second to none. This book is gritty and at times barbaric and sad. The characteristics of the Mongolians, hygiene and their dietary preferences are vivid.
I will take one star off for the layout of the book. I honestly think this is the editors fault. Story wise it is a solid five stars and I am glad I decided to give it another chance.… (more)

This has been reissued as Feathered Serpent. This is a novel depicting the dramatic and horrific events of Cortes and the Conquistadors' conquest of the race now known as the Aztecs (though this is a 19th century coining for a range of warring ethnic groups living under the domination of the Mexica led by the Emperor Motecuhzoma (Montezuma)). The plot pivots around the Aztec woman Malinali who becomes Cortes's interpreter and eventually lover, betraying the wider civilisation in the end as her own tribal group chafes under Montezuma's domination. Aside from the bloody horrors perpetrated by both sides, the strongest theme to emerge from the story for me is the clash of civilisations and utterly different mindsets. Modern readers will understandably view Cortes's actions in modern terms as the crudest imperialist conquest and subjugation, yet he would have defended his actions in terms of bringing the benefits of Christian civilisation to a race that practised the bloodiest forms of human sacrifice on an industrial scale. So each had their own utterly opposing and utterly mutually incomprehensible conceptions of religion. Notwithstanding these fascinating ideas, this was not a pleasant read, with all the torture and killing - and yes, I know it is historically accurate, but I felt it could have been leavened with some deeper character development. Perhaps one of the most interesting characters was the Spaniard Norte who had lived among the Aztecs for some years, and adopted their customs, married an Aztec wife and had children, and yet still yearned eventually to be accepted again by his former Spanish comrades in arms. Malinali is still a famous and very controversial figure in Mexican history for the ambiguous role she played.… (more)