Pagan's Crusade

I picked this up on a whim at my Friends of the Library sale. I found Pagan's voice engaging and hilarious. I love the stream of consciousness narration and I laughed out loud several times. I think this is the first novel about the Crusades I've read that felt real and was also snortingly funny. Recommended.

I read this series when I was in about 8th grade, and I forgot everything about it, but every once in a while I'll remember a detail or a turn of phrase and remember how much I liked it. I decided to read the first book again, and it's even better now that I'm an adult and I know more about the historical background. (Minor history peeve: the narrative mentions corn, sunflowers, and hot peppers, none of which existed in 12th-century Jerusalem.)

Pagan's Crusade would for sure be torn to shreds by YA Book Twitter if it had been published today, which by itself is probably a good reason to check it out. It relies on the reader to know right from wrong. It's a book with a moral core, but it doesn't MORALIZE, and its perspective on the show more Crusades is limited by Pagan's very limited POV. Pagan is primarily out to save his own skin, but his "odd couple" placement with Roland enriches them both.

Good book! And an interesting male POV in YA, which isn't super common. I'll be giving the rest of the series another look now. show less

Pagan Kidrouk is a teen desperate for a bit of protection from the nastiest of the nasty denizens of the Holy City. So, he does the only thing he can think of, volunteer to work for the Templar Knights. There Pagan becomes squire to the Holiest of the Holy, Lord Roland, the pride of the Templar Knights. However, Jerusalem is a city in peril and when the infidels invade it is up to Pagan to protect his new found Lord with every bit of the cunning, wit and street smarts he has at his disposal.

After having picked up the second volume of this series on a whim, I wasn't sure I could possibly like going back and reading the first anywhere near as much. However, this book is quite almost as enjoyable as its sequel. It is odd considering these show more young adult, historical novels have nothing of what I usually look for in a book, romance or fantasy. I think it just has to be the unique way the stories are written. Pagan is such an amazing character (not to mention pretty funny to boot) that I can't help but want to read more about him. I certainly would have no problem recommending this book to middle school and high school students, as well as adults. show less

Pagan is a short, clever, sharp-tongued, Arab-Christian orphan whose life as a runaway on the streets of Jerusalem has not been a picnic (well, unless it's a picnic set in a desert, with no food but lots of ants and stinging bugs). Caught out on a debt that he can't pay, Pagan is forced to take desperate measures: he signs up as a squire with the Knights Templar. Assigned to Sir Roland, a paragon of knightly virtue, the story follows Pagan as he struggles with his moral compass while guiding pilgrims, attempts to evade arms practice, comes to appreciate cleanliness, and endures a siege by Saladin.

Pagan is in fine form throughout. The descriptions of the squalor, sickness, and human suffering that made up the middle ages are on point. show more Pair this view of a besieged city with A Blood Red Horse for a view of the Crusades which encompasses the difficulty of travel from Europe to the Holy Land and a perspective from those doing the besieging. show less

I pounced on this book the second our YA librarian pulled it out of the box when I saw the cover art by Peter de Seve. Sometimes it's okay to judge a book by its cover, and I was not disappointed by the story. It's extremely witty - many times I wondered about the age level that it was really aimed at - as jokes ranged from silly to complex to vaguely inappropriate. Set in Jerusalem in the 12th century, the book is told from the point of view of Pagan Kidrouk, a wisecracking orphan seeking refuge from his past, who's been appointed squire to a Templar knight, as the army of Saladin lays siege to the city of Jerusalem. In a way, this is also a story of "first love," since Pagan will eventually risk everything he has to keep his "love" show more alive. It's also the first of four books, which are being reprinted with de Seve's gorgeous cover illustrations. show less

Pagan Kidrouk, an orphan from Jerusalem, joins the Knights Templar in order to escape his debts to the underworld of Jerusalem. He becomes squire to a true paragon of Christian virtue, Lord Roland, just before Saladin leads his army in a siege of the Holy Lands.

Pagan brings an air of common sense and worldliness to his master, who often gets caught up in lofty ideals with little understanding of true human nature. The character was very engaging, and his asides throughout the book showed off the smart-aleck nature of a real teenaged boy.

The novel itself, however, glosses over much of the action leaving the reader with many unanswered questions. We never learn exactly what Pagan's backstory is (although that might come in later books), show more and both the everyday life and the siege of Jerusalem are only cursorily described.

The basis of this book may be accurate history, but, despite the plucky narrator, the events depicted are not described in enough detail to bring them to life.

Hardly a stellar example of young adult historical fiction, but good enough that I wouldn't mind reading the others in the series. show less

Pagan Kidrouk turns to the Templar Knights for work as a squire. He's had some trouble and needs their protection. He goes to work for Lord Roland, right as Saladin brings his army into Jerusalem.

This is a medieval character you haven't seen before, clever, witty, sarcastic, and all his clever, witty, sarcastic thoughts brought to the page if not to the ears of his much less clever and less witty listeners. Roland is quite the opposite, salt-of-the-earth, serious, and, sadly, illiterate. The two, nevertheless, form a friendship that works for both of them.

A story full of all the intriguing details of medieval life that only a scholar like author Catherine Jinks could provide.