want a real life adventure? come to Australia we have spiders bigger than your hand.

I dont know what it is about these books, but there's something.... that i just purely enjoy about them. The swash buckling, old school hand-to-hand fighting of monsters and devil spawn is just awesome. I feel my 13 yr old boy (don't lie everyone has one - no matter your actual gender) come out and cheer in delight every time an amazing feat is committed in the nick of time to stop the good guys from getting be-headed or skewered, though i must admit quite a few good guys went down in this book - at least 4, 5? but that just adds to the feeling or dread and excitement!!

Armand the french duelist is by far my favorite character, every time he's in a scene, getting into mischief or boasting his good looks, i feel my self smiling in delight. He's just such a character! and he's well rounded, while he's fighting skills may be at times unbelievable, he's not the best, he has his moments of weakness, and he hides behind a front of french courtliness, claiming how all the ladies chase after him, but when the time calls for it he's savage and loyal and wise. pretty sure I'm in love with a fictional character that spends a good chunk of his time flapping around a handkerchief (how low i have fallen - i need to read more cassie palmer books, and rekindle my mental affair with pritkin.....lol).

The main character of this book, Jakob is also pretty great, its fun to run around as him, he's young and not always brave but he is loyal and smart (though i totally figured out the puzzle before him! Yes I'm proud of that, don't judge me) and resourceful, his faith in god and his brothers-in-arms is admirable (plus with this shit he's seen i can't blame him!) he's just a really good lad, and you can see him - as a character - just brimming with potential. I also really appreciated the add of a great female character in this book - who was seen as a crucial part of the team, while being not only exceptionally clever, could kick ass better than jakob. which is impressive due to the era this book takes place in.

Speaking of which, the setting for this book is fantastic! i love how it is set so many years ago, where the thought of terrifying creatures from hell is actually (somewhat) believable, and they don't have the modern weapons to fight the monsters with, that we today do, and there for must use what is at hand with the best of their ability, its incredible to read about. I'm alsi a big fan of how its set with the holy roman empire in mind, and that for the most part the book is set in German, or references to it (this particular book was set physically else-where, a tomb in fact, riddle with traps! - that held all the artifacts of god - but the feeling of German-ness? never left) though it does complicate things when it comes to names. I for one have difficulty keeping track of who was who due to the unusual names and my inability to pronounce them, well the sir names - which they mainly use to refer to people - their first name (which i wish they used much more frequently) are much easier to keep track of! 

Anyways I'm rating this book 4 stars, my review, my rating > due to the fact that i had a blast reading it. It was fun, adventurous, puzzling and death-defying set in a period where witches and the undead seem much more reasonable and tangible. What more could i ask for??