The Jester

Rating:
Summary: Midieval Mythology
Review: 'The Jester' tells the story of a inn keeper turned crusader that finds he doesn't have the taste for the Crusades and leaves the Holy Land for home. When he returns to France, he discovers the Inn he and his wife, Sophie, had built has been burnt to the ground. Worse, he discovers that his wife has been carried away by rebellious knights. Seeking revenge, Hugh (the inn keeper) sets off in a fury weilding only a staff he picked up during the crusades. A fair lady attendant of the wife of a local baron rescues him from trouble and sets him up with the pretext of the role of a Jester to further his plot...

James Patterson teams up with Andrew Gross to bring us this novel. Readers of Patterson's other works, such as the Alex Cross series, will be familiar with the usual plot twists and short chapters that make his books page turners. However, although this book is set in the eleventh century, and the bibliography of sources the authors used suggests they did they research, it doesn't have the ring of historical accuracy. The story seems to have been modernized for current tastes, with the most notable example being the language.

Overall, the book is enjoyable. The plot is not entirely complex, and in a few points, somewhat predictable. My biggest gripe is that the authors would have us believe Hugh would be surprised to find that his wife was missing and his inn burnt down after the book starts with a scene of Knights doing just that in Hugh's presence when others had left for a "people's crusade." The language is frequently coarse, and there are some highly explicit sexual descriptions and violent encounters. I wouldn't recommend this novel for young readers, but older readers looking for a quick read should enjoy this.

Rating:
Summary: Fairly entertaining for light, non-critical reading
Review: 2 ½ stars

This novel is light reading for fans of medieval history. It is a fairly interesting read, by and large, but contains little of substance or historical accuracy. This tale of a simple innkeeper turned crusader turned court jester and then leader of a peasant army goes very fast and I'd be surprised if it was not turned into a movie; indeed, if it had already been set to film, it would star Erol Flynn. There is some fairly OK romance, some details on the crusades and 11th century French feudalism and some medieval swordplay and battles, but nothing extensive. Good triumphs over evil, fairly predictably. The perspective of life as a court jester is a new one, not quite Robin Hood, but definitely not Arthur Pendragon either. The evil doings in this book by the knights and nobility are pretty atrocious (really faint-hearted readers may be offended by the images of violence, torture and sex, which, if they were in a movie, would get an "Unrated" rating). I question whether 11th century lords really exercised such complete power over life or liberty of their serfs. The French feudalism described herein seems much more akin to Japanese feudalism and I doubt medieval European aristocracy would treat the lives of their subjects/tax base so casually.

I have two items of significant criticism with this light but fairly entertaining novel, aside from its cursory nature (it could have stood an extra 100 pages of details and description). First is the whole premise that the duke would know of the whereabouts of the relic and know to track it back to Hugh. Indeed, if he knew it was in Hugh's possession, why did his marauders commit outrages on other towns and slay the several knights in those small hamlets? Perhaps they were looking for other relics? The book is not clear on this point. There are several moderately clever plot twists relating to this relic, though, but an obvious, not-so-clever "twist" about the main love interest.

The second fault I had was the fact that its authors chose to make every fourth page or so the start of a new chapter. Out of the 467 pages of this novel (perhaps 10-20 of which are title pages or blank), its authors have managed to squeeze out ONE HUNDRED FORTY-EIGHT (148) chapters. That's right, folks, each chapter averages only three pages. This makes light reading go by even quicker and doubtlessly assisted its authors in churning out more pages more quickly (and more profitably), but before long it gets a bit old to be switching chapters so fast. If you have a full day of traveling with stopovers at several different airports, I bet the average person could finish this book before arriving at his or her destination; I'm a fairly quick reader and I finished it in less than five hours. I find it pretty amusing that the "spotlight" reviewer referred to this book as a "monster" of a novel - it's nowhere close to War and Peace, a James Clavell novel or even a Tom Clancy book in length, much less in complexity. It's definitely more than a magazine article, but probably a faster and easier read than any novel the typical high school student has read for English class; in fact, it would not surprise me to find that most of the five-star reviewers are either in their first several years of, or not yet attending, high school. Also, contrary to what the "spotlight" reviewer states, the novel is set at the end of the 11th century, not the 14th and the local nobles, not the king, were the tyrannical parties.

Overall, it's moderately entertaining, but few people will be satisfied if they shelled out the extra dough and bought the hardcover version rather than the much cheaper paperback. This book is definitely more Red Heat (Schwarzenegger and Belushi) than Doctor Zhivago, and more Xena than Lord of the Rings.

Rating:
Summary: Great and Original!!!!!
Review: Although this is off Patterson's usual beaten path, it is a wonderful read!!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: The Jester
Review: As an historical novel, this is a deplorable attempt. As an entertainment, it's so fake, falsely cheery, and insincere that it's barely readable. What in heaven's name has happened to James Patterson lately, anyway? His "letter" novels have been not bad but not nearly as good as the Alex Delaware ones, and now this??!!?

Rating:
Summary: Medieval Skit
Review: I had never read anything before by James Patterson...and based on this book, I never will again! Perhaps his contemporary novels don't grate on the nerves quite so jarringly? I had picked this book up because I'm interested in the Crusades era, and thought that this one sounded interesting from the description and the glowing reviews. What a disappointment. The story is set during the Crusades, but the characters act and speak in contemporary ways. The medieval setting is as shallow and unbelievable as a painted backdrop for a high school skit. The plot barrels along at breakneck speed, so I suppose if you want something quick and diverting to read on an airplane, this might be adequate. However, if you want a fascinating book that immerses you in medieval times with realistic characters...this isn't it.

Rating:
Summary: I personally loved this book!!
Review: I just read a great book called "The Jester". When I found out it
was a period piece set in France during the Crusades I didn't think
I would enjoy it, but I really liked the book enough to read it all
in two nights. It's a different kind of book for Patterson, but a
really good one.

At first it starts out with these archeologists finding something
that was buried underneath were they were building a strip mall.
Then they start telling the story of the Jester.

At first the Jester was actually an innkeeper along with his wife.
The innkeeper was raised on the road and learned many tricks. He
came to a town in which lived the woman he intended to marry, he
came to visit her each year on his travels until one day he made her
agree to marry him.

Together the innkeeper (he is not truly a Jester at this point) and
his wife run the inn and they are incredibly happy, except for the
fact that they are unable to have a child. One day a band of
travelers come by, they are on their way to the Crusades. The
innkeeper wants to join along with the travelers, but his wife holds
him back.

Well, later on the same night riders come through town, they are
knights from the lordship Baldwin, the town is under his rule. The
riders wanted to know about the travelers from the Crusades and who
had joined along with them. The riders wreak havoc on the little
French town. The innkeeper is inspired to join with the Crusades.

The innkeeper dreams of being free from Baldwin's rule and he feels
that the Crusades will help him do just that. Even though he is not
a religious man he thinks that the fighting on the side of the
Crusades is the side of the right, though he soon finds out that
they are just as blood thirsty as the Turks that were fighting. He
becomes disgusted by all the horror and blood, he deserts and makes
his way back home.

The innkeeper had been gone three years and when he returns he finds
only more horror. More riders came through the town after he had
deserted, his inn had been burned to the ground. His wife had been
beaten and raped and then dragged away. Also, he learns even more
horror because he had impregnated his wife on his last night there
and they had a son. The son didn't live past two years because one
of the riders threw him into the fire that was the inn.

The innkeeper promises vengeance and wants to bring his wife back.
It is a fool's quest but he goes on anyways. It is a story of the
weak trying to overcome the strong. I won't tell you anymore about
it, so that I don't go too far and ruin the ending, but it just gets
better from here.


Rating:
Summary: Fiction, yes. Historical? Only as a backdrop.
Review: I picked up this story hoping for historical fiction, that is, insight into another era using a storyline as a tool to stir interest.

What I found was --- blah. Predictable storyline, no character development, an egocentric "hero," 7th grade bathroom humor lacking any subtlety, and no more insight into history than one gathers as general knowledge through movies.

Where is the author that can write a true historical fiction on the middle ages, with the same depth and insight as found with Pearl S Buck and China? Please tell me!

However, if you're looking for a lot of brutal violence, template romance and tiresome "sex" jokes, and only care to spend 2 minutes per chapter, here is your book!

Rating:
Summary: The Jester
Review: I saw this book in the supermarket, read the summary in the back and put it down right away....Having just finished "1st. To Die, I was on a bit of a Patterson kick...two days later I was back at the market and found myself looking at the book again..Year 1089, the crusades, medevil times....??--oh what the heck on a whim I bought it and enjoyed every minute of it..Yes I cut throught it like a hot knife thru butter..and like many other reviews stated some of the "modern terms" used seemed a bit out of place, but to me at that point your so engrossed in the story, you kinda glaze over it .I loved the story and rooted for Hugh from the beginning, his determination, his strength.. My opinion of this book is if its set in medevil times, written in a way that has a modern tone and you still can picture the country side and characters it has done its job...and it did a dam good one at that :-)

Rating:
Summary: One word "Phenomenal"
Review: I would like to be frank and honest, I really love Patterson. Not because of his writing, it because he knows how to capture the imagination. I think its great that Patterson went a different direct than his normal genre of writing. Among friends, when discussing Patterson novels, we have a saying of normal Patterson, which is mostly detective/suspense or weird Patterson, which is out of the norm for us. This book is out of the norm. I feel in this book that he's just a great storyteller. Even though, I feel that some of the slang and words used weren't authentic of the time era. I imagined someone sitting down in front of an audience telling a story through his owns words. The story beings with archaeologists finding a relic from the past and with this relic a historical fictional story unfolds. The time era was in 1096 with the main character Hugh de Luc feels he must fight for freedom of his people. He leaves his wife behind and his quest begins. Through out the book Hugh is faced with pain staking realizations and no matter what had happened he had a lot of passion and heart. He had true beliefs in the goodness of things even though horrible things had happened to him. He continues to press on and the strange thing was that the thought of giving up never crossed his mind. Even though, there were many people around him giving much doubt, he still believed!! I felt Patterson (with some help of course) captured the true essence of that. Now, if an author can do that he is a great writer within his own class!!

Rating:
Summary: BEYOND OUTSTANDING!
Review: James Patterson is one of my favorite authors and this departure from his usual genre certainly did not disappoint. I read THE JESTER on March 21, 2003 in one sitting, because I simply could not put it down.

Reminiscent of Michael Crichton's TIMELINE, this novel is set in medieval times, and is flavored with anachronistic (but very believable) dialogue. Hugh is a wonderful character, who incites both sympathy and admiration, and the novel's villains give a whole new meaning to the word "monsters"--particularly the so-called noblemen, who seemed to harbor not a shred of humanity.

Readers who enjoy a thrilling roller-coaster ride, complete with vivid imagery, heart-pounding plot twists, and semi-historical storytelling, will LOVE this book! Incidentally, the Mystery Guild's reviewer not only misstated part of the novel's exposition, but also spoiled a significant element of suspense by disclosing the identity of the relic--making me glad that I had read the book before seeing the review.