The Last Templar by Michael Jecks: Some Cover Musings

I recently started on a mystery novel I have been waiting for the time to enjoy reading. Michael Jecks' "The Last Templar" grabbed me from its cover the very first moment I saw it.

I like it, I like it!Makes me think of Medieval tapestry.

I love to read a multitude of genres, not just fantasy. Historical mysteries are things that I like having in my reading shelves, right along with books on world religions, fantasy, folklore, sciences... However, I must admit that this is one of those books where I did judge it first by the cover. Now if only I could find a Templar with a unicorn... How would a story like that turn out?

Bad me.

What's that saying again? "Don't judge a book by its cover!" Luckily, so far the book is as good as the cover. What grabs me about the cover is the medieval stylings. I have fond memories of books illustrated in the older styles, and it always felt right to me to have book art match the time period. I like knights, and have no beef with pictures taken from men posing in armor of the time for covers. For a novel like this though, it's got to be illustrated.

Not bad, really. Just doesn't "do it" for me.
It's...just more like something I'd expect for a movie...

Another thing that grabbed me was that, as the title shouts, it's about what happens with the Templars. The prologue was a vital part of the story since it sets us in the time period and provides vital details that most won't be getting in their school classes. I got to read a bit more about the Templars than I had previously in my World History class for university, but that section I had been wishing covered much more. So here we have another good fit for me as a reader.

Looking in the back to check out the author I found out that he left the computer industry to study medieval history and to concentrate on his writing. That explained for me how he was able to get the scenes so clear and knew what details to emphasize for those that might have no idea that back then a trestle was what you sat on, or how often one ought to be changing the floor rushes (or that there was even a debate about it).

I'm not very far in. I'm only at page 54 out of 374, and I'm going back and forth between reading this and another book (that's even longer than my school text was), but I'm looking forward to the rest of the story (and will pick up the rest of the series as I can). I just wanted to point out how a different cover will grab different audiences for the same book.