The Book of the Lion
List Price: $6.99
Price: $6.99
"Fans of history and adventure will devour this well-crafted, dramatic quest." (Publishers Weekly, starred review)
"God wills it!" the Crusaders cry in battle. In this richly detailed and lovingly crafted story, Michael Cadnum explores the terrible paradox of holy war through the eyes of Edmund, a young apprentice metalworker, who finds himself unexpectedly rescued from prison and pressed into service as a squire to a knight. Without a bit of experience with horses or swords, Edmund goes off in terror and delight to help rescue the True Cross from the infidels in Jerusalem, and finds his manhood in surviving the siege of the sea-fortress Acre and the terrible bloody battle of Arsuf.
I can't get over the graphic sexual references in a book intended for young middle-school aged children. For example, "Wenstan and Miles disagreed on a song about a woman in a citadel who grew her hair long, so any passing knight could climb up the long tresses and join her in corporeal delight. Miles contended that the hair in question was her privy hair, while Wenstan said this was the most irritating example of twisting a jolly song into something sinful. 'It was the hair of her head,' stammered Wenstan, 'Her head hair!'" (page 67).
It is one thing to reference some examples of prostitution and rape to give an idea of the zeitgeist of the Crusades; it is another to intersperse them throughout the book in such a cavalier manner, seemingly designed for the shock value or perhaps the entertainment value of the author as he knows he is writing for young children. I picture the author chuckling to himself as he slips these things past the parents and the teachers who are assigning the book.
Accurate But Overly Gross
Was looking for young adult books to supplement our homeschool study of the Middle Ages. This one looked promising, but it finally grossed me out too much. I wearied of all the descriptions of bodily functions, bug infested armpits, and squishing lice off their own skins. Not to mention the graphic descriptions of rotted bodies, etc. If you don't mind reading these things over and over, this may be the book for you. We passed on it.
Is this appropriate reading for 12 year olds
I wanted to use this book in literature circles this year with my 6th graders but I am somewhat concerned about some of the references in the book with regard to pleasure women and rape. I am not sure I could use this book in the classroom without offending some of my more conservative parents. Thoughts from any teachers who have used the book in the classroom would be appreciated.
not a bad book
The Book of the Lion, by Michael Cadnum, is an interesting book. It begins with a boy named Edmund who is a coiners apprentice. But it turns out the coiner is cheating on how he makes his coins and his hand is chopped off by order of the king, he later dies from the blood loss. When they are interrogating Edmund he lies and says he's rode a horse and used a sword before. So they send him off to fight the holy crusade with a group of knights and squires. In the end he becomes the squire of a feared knight, because his first dies in a storm, and he fights the holy crusade with a war hammer given to him by his master, who is also the knight he works for.
This book I great for detail it describes every little thing they possibly could. When they walk into a city for the first time he describes the people, the buildings, and the shops with great detail. When Edmund and a friend are captured and put in jail he describes the chains on the wrist and every board in the jail cell. Some of the greatest description is in battle he would describe the bodies, dead or alive, as if you were looking at them right at that moment.
The battles are also very well descriptive, not just in the surroundings but in peoples' actions too. When the battles would begin he would tell about where everyone was and what they were doing and he would describe how loud it was. Then of course when the battle actually started the was also great detail, like in Edmunds first battle it described how he fought and when his friend fell he shielded him and smashed an enemies arm with his hammer. Then he would tell about people charging over rubble and slipping on blood.
Another thing described nicely is how everyone changed over the story, or how peoples' views on other people changed. Edmund, when the story first started was reluctant to go to battle, he also was afraid of the knight that most said was a murderer. In the end they were friends and Edmund knew the rumors were wrong and he was a good man. His friend Hubert however was just the opposite, when the story started Hubert was very brave and ready for battle, but in the end Hubert wanted to go home because he was scared after his first battle. So everyone changed.
I would recommend this book to someone who is very complex and can understand and respect a lot of detail. All in all it was a good book that most would love.
Book of the Lion?
Bleh. Add bawdiness to "..stink and bugs, random cruelty, drunkenness, and sudden death..." and you've almost got it. The story started out so good, but it got worse the more it went on. Frustrating. And the title had nothing to do with the story (unless I missed something).
List Price:
Price: $6.99
Product Details
- Notes: Kind New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
- ISBN13: 9780142300343
- <a title='Condition Guide' href='/content/Condition_and_S hipping_Guide.htm' target='_blank'>Click here to scene our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices</a>
- Mould: NEW
Description
Edmund, an apprentice, is seized by the king's men and thrown in jail for his master's crime of counterfeiting. Then Edmund is unexpectedly released into the custody of Sir Nigel, a knight in search of a squire. Edmund will train as a squire and accompany the knight on a journey to fight alongside Richard the Lionheart on the Crusades. As they travel across Europe, Edmund is fascinated by all he sees, but he fears for his safety in the days that lie ahead. How can he possibly prepare for the untold horrors of war? "This is a pulse-pounding tale, vivid and visceral." -Booklist"Fans of history and adventure will devour this well-crafted, dramatic quest." (Publishers Weekly, starred review)
"God wills it!" the Crusaders cry in battle. In this richly detailed and lovingly crafted story, Michael Cadnum explores the terrible paradox of holy war through the eyes of Edmund, a young apprentice metalworker, who finds himself unexpectedly rescued from prison and pressed into service as a squire to a knight. Without a bit of experience with horses or swords, Edmund goes off in terror and delight to help rescue the True Cross from the infidels in Jerusalem, and finds his manhood in surviving the siege of the sea-fortress Acre and the terrible bloody battle of Arsuf.
This is not the sanitized version of the Middle Ages that appears in so many young adult novels. From the first scene, in which the king's men punish Edmund's master by whacking off his hand, Cadnum gives us the authentic brutality of the period--its stink and bugs, random cruelty, drunkenness, and sudden death--as well as its colorful pageantry and lofty ideals. His previous medieval novel, In a Dark Wood, first showed his poetic skill with the small, vivid details that bring these times alive in all their strangeness. In The Book of the Lion, Edmund's journey to the Holy Land is full of such moments, as well as the heart-stopping adventure teens enjoy. The many young readers who are in love with the Middle Ages will come away from this story with their understanding of that time (and our own) enriched and deepened. (Ages 12 and older) --Patty Campbell
Customer Reviews
Not appropriate for 12 year oldsI can't get over the graphic sexual references in a book intended for young middle-school aged children. For example, "Wenstan and Miles disagreed on a song about a woman in a citadel who grew her hair long, so any passing knight could climb up the long tresses and join her in corporeal delight. Miles contended that the hair in question was her privy hair, while Wenstan said this was the most irritating example of twisting a jolly song into something sinful. 'It was the hair of her head,' stammered Wenstan, 'Her head hair!'" (page 67).
It is one thing to reference some examples of prostitution and rape to give an idea of the zeitgeist of the Crusades; it is another to intersperse them throughout the book in such a cavalier manner, seemingly designed for the shock value or perhaps the entertainment value of the author as he knows he is writing for young children. I picture the author chuckling to himself as he slips these things past the parents and the teachers who are assigning the book.
Accurate But Overly Gross
Was looking for young adult books to supplement our homeschool study of the Middle Ages. This one looked promising, but it finally grossed me out too much. I wearied of all the descriptions of bodily functions, bug infested armpits, and squishing lice off their own skins. Not to mention the graphic descriptions of rotted bodies, etc. If you don't mind reading these things over and over, this may be the book for you. We passed on it.
Is this appropriate reading for 12 year olds
I wanted to use this book in literature circles this year with my 6th graders but I am somewhat concerned about some of the references in the book with regard to pleasure women and rape. I am not sure I could use this book in the classroom without offending some of my more conservative parents. Thoughts from any teachers who have used the book in the classroom would be appreciated.
not a bad book
The Book of the Lion, by Michael Cadnum, is an interesting book. It begins with a boy named Edmund who is a coiners apprentice. But it turns out the coiner is cheating on how he makes his coins and his hand is chopped off by order of the king, he later dies from the blood loss. When they are interrogating Edmund he lies and says he's rode a horse and used a sword before. So they send him off to fight the holy crusade with a group of knights and squires. In the end he becomes the squire of a feared knight, because his first dies in a storm, and he fights the holy crusade with a war hammer given to him by his master, who is also the knight he works for.
This book I great for detail it describes every little thing they possibly could. When they walk into a city for the first time he describes the people, the buildings, and the shops with great detail. When Edmund and a friend are captured and put in jail he describes the chains on the wrist and every board in the jail cell. Some of the greatest description is in battle he would describe the bodies, dead or alive, as if you were looking at them right at that moment.
The battles are also very well descriptive, not just in the surroundings but in peoples' actions too. When the battles would begin he would tell about where everyone was and what they were doing and he would describe how loud it was. Then of course when the battle actually started the was also great detail, like in Edmunds first battle it described how he fought and when his friend fell he shielded him and smashed an enemies arm with his hammer. Then he would tell about people charging over rubble and slipping on blood.
Another thing described nicely is how everyone changed over the story, or how peoples' views on other people changed. Edmund, when the story first started was reluctant to go to battle, he also was afraid of the knight that most said was a murderer. In the end they were friends and Edmund knew the rumors were wrong and he was a good man. His friend Hubert however was just the opposite, when the story started Hubert was very brave and ready for battle, but in the end Hubert wanted to go home because he was scared after his first battle. So everyone changed.
I would recommend this book to someone who is very complex and can understand and respect a lot of detail. All in all it was a good book that most would love.
Book of the Lion?
Bleh. Add bawdiness to "..stink and bugs, random cruelty, drunkenness, and sudden death..." and you've almost got it. The story started out so good, but it got worse the more it went on. Frustrating. And the title had nothing to do with the story (unless I missed something).