Labyrinth: An Epic Quest For The Holy Grail Featuring The Most Boring People Around
Labyrinth By Kate Mosse
The book review today is a twenty five cent special from a yard sale. I picked it up with a slight interest in it, and the lady running the sale quickly went. “That is an amazing book. Once you pick it up, you can’t put it down.” Whether she was wrong or right, who knew? But I gave the book the benefit of the doubt and bought it. The book is called Labyrinth by Kate Mosse.
The book is a paired telling of two separate women. One is Alias who’s a dame in southern twelfth century France who comes into a position of protecting a sacred book when she stumbles across a murder that brings her into a web of a secret society whose sole purpose is to protect the Holy Grail. The modern day tale focuses on her descendant Alice who is volunteering at an archaeological dig to discover what may be the doorway to a labyrinth. Quickly after the discovery, the police take control of the site. She’s thrown out of the project. And mysterious people start stalking her sure that she has a ring and book that were supposed to be at the sight.
The good? This is somewhat a book for history buffs so may enjoy it on that level.
The bad? This book is just boring. The author plays with the ideas of reincarnation and immortality at a couple points but it done in the dullest fashion. Alias’ tale is boring. Whenever something goes wrong, she runs to her father for help every time. Alice is boring having no story arc other than stumbling from one place to another. And in the climax, I really didn’t care about what happened at all. I just wanted the book to over with so I could read something else. And I think the worst part about it, was the author tried to paint the two leads as such heroes. With how far they come and exaggerated portrayals of them in the last act, the author tries to make it look like something grand. And the author wants to you to accept it. But no! I don’t accept that. They didn’t do anything. Nothing at all. They weren’t heroes. They’re not anything. Just because they lived boring lives doesn’t make them heroes.
Overall, the book feels like a rip off of The Eight, which was the exact same concept only with mythical chest pieces rather than the Holy Grail. And that book wasn’t that good. This book is much worse and I wouldn’t recommend this book for anything other than an insomnia remedy, because this book is very good at putting you to sleep.
1/2 smoothie out of four.
Overall Rating: An Epic Quest For The Holy Grail Featuring The Most Boring People Around.
