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Relics
 
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Relics (Hardcover)

by Pip Vaughan-Hughes (Author)
4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

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11 new from £0.65 22 used from £0.01 8 collectible from £4.00
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Paperback (New edition) £6.99 £5.49 223 used & new from £0.01

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Orion (22 Mar 2006)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0752868616
  • ISBN-13: 978-0752868615
  • Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 16.2 x 2.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 402,425 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

MY SHELF
'A rattling good yarn... Highly enjoyable and probably the best thing I've read for at least six months. More please.'

Review
'An impressive debut, with vivid period atmosphere, colourful personalities and stirring action.' (Susanna Yager SUNDAY TELEGRAPH )

'A debut that will hopefully spawn many sequels... A rattling yarn... 'Relics' is high entertainment readers will relish.' (WATERSTONES BOOKS QUARTERLY )

'A rollicking adventure thriller... suffused with intelligent writing and a dash of violence the book is a satisfying read.' (BOOK AND MAGAZINE COLLECTOR )

'It packs power, fear, rage and revenge into a fine 13th Century thriller... Right now it's the answer to your prayers.' (LADSMAG )

'It's a pleasure to discover something so fresh and gripping.' (NEWMARKET JOURNAL )

'Vaughan-Hughes portrays Petroc's adventures with lip-smacking relish, conjuring up a colourful cast of pirates, cut-throats, scoundrals... all things considered he has a whale of a time. And by and large, so do we.' (YORKSHIRE EVENING POST )

A good old-fashioned yarn... my biggest disappointment was that the ending came too soon.' (PETERBOROUGH EVENING TELEGRAPH )

'A superb debut novel from Vaughan-Hughes which takes readers on a rollercoaster adventure through medieval England and Europe.' (LANCASHIRE EVENING POST )

'A picuresque tale of strange lands and dark deeds with Petroc as it's appealing hero... the action scenes are exciting, the turns of the plot unpredictable and the Knights Templar is a deliciously nasty villain.' (HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW )

'Petroc's journey from religious, innocent monk to relic dealer and pirate takes up most of the book. It is an exciting one, and changes the boy to a seaman, willing to do almost anything to stay alive. This is the first book by Pip Vaughan-Hughes. May there be many more.' (REVIEWING THE EVIDENCE )

'A rattling good yarn... Highly enjoyable and probably the best thing I've read for at least six months. More please.' (MY SHELF )

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Relics
77% buy the item featured on this page:
Relics 4.1 out of 5 stars (11)
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Customer Reviews

11 Reviews
5 star:
 (6)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:
 (5)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.1 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars A Decent Debut, 14 Jan 2007
By C. Green "happily low brow" (Faringdon, Oxon, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
This review is from: Relics (Petroc Trilogy 1) (Paperback)
Relics by Pip Vaughan-Hughes is a decent a debut novel and an entertaining start to what is undoubtedly intended to be a series of novels.

Set in the thirteenth Century, Relics introduces readers to Brother Petroc, novice monk studying in the (I assume fictional) English town of Balcester. No sooner have we been introduced to Petroc however, than events conspire to leave him framed for murder and on the run from both the authorities and those behind the killing he is wanted for. Fleeing or his life he falls in with a bunch of pirates commanded by the enigmatic Captain de Montalhac. From there the plot spins of into a complex conspiracy involving religious & political power, early Christian relics, both real & fake, more murders and revenge. Meanwhile our protagonists are sent haring across Medieval Europe and as far north as Greenland before events reach their conclusion.

With the novel written entirely from Petroc's first person perspective he is our guide to this world of religious corruption, superstition and political intrigued. Vaughan-Hughes draws this world well, giving the diverse locations a real sense of place and atmosphere. He also manages to avoid for the most part clunky anachronistic dialogue or lapsing into too much interminable exposition. His characters too are well conceived and recognisably human, from Petroc and the Captain to the obligatory love interest Anna and the villain of the piece, Kervezey.

Where weaknesses are apparent is in the story's pacing and some of the plotting. Whilst Petroc's desperate situation is initially compelling, once he meets up with the Captain (who is something of the book's Han Solo to Petroc's Luke Skywalker) and the sense of pressing danger passes what replaces it is less engaging. Tales of the trade in religious relics and of power in a Europe that has long sinced disappeared do not grab as strongly as one man's desperate flight from a crime he did not commit. Especially since much of actual intrigue occurs off stage and is merely recounted second hand by characters. By the time that events come to a conclusion it is hard to care that much about some of the motivations of those involved. Only Petroc's story really holds interest.

The situation is not helped by pacing that is uneven, with periods of intense action interspersed with longer period of comparative inaction. This is partly a consequence of the distances travelled by Petroc and his companions, and the time that must inevitably pass for them to go from Britain to Greenland and then down to the Med in the age of sailing ships and horses. With long periods at sea with nothing more than the minutae of life aboard ship to describe, it can at times be hard to maintain interest in what's on the page. Vaughan-Hughes doesn't help himself by sending Petroc, the Captain and his crew all the way to Greenland on an errand that is only tangentally connected to the central plot. Whilst it does allow for the introduction of Anna, the least believable of all the characters encountered, otherwise it adds little to the main story and simply slows down events even further.

These critisms apart however, overall Relics is an entertaining story set during a interesting period of history. Petroc, the Captain and all the other characters are engaging company, and well written bouts of suitably bloody action interspersed throughout the book restore the reader's sense of excitement when it threatens to flag. If Vaughan-Hughes can tighten up the plotting and pacing of his next book in the Peroc series this has all the making of an appealing start to an entertaining series.
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Historical Adventure, 30 Mar 2006
By M. R. Houlton-hart (Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
The debut novel by Pip Vaughan-Hughes is a gripping read from start to finish. The basic story revolves around Brother Petroc, a monk who is more concerened about the purity of his soul than what is going on around him. Suddenly Petroc is thrust into center stage when he is framed for a brutal murder by a sinister member of the Knights Templar. From there this engrossing tale goes into overdrive with Petroc on the run and so begins the adventure of a lifetime. What I loved most about this book is the well written narative. Pip Vaughan-Hughes does a brilliant job of keeping the story flowing and keeping the mystery and suspense up. A rollercoaster of a read this book will keep you enthralled from the best first line I have ever read to the last. I for one cannot wait until the next one.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A very real slant on a fantasy adventure, 23 Oct 2007
By Tucker (Scotland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Relics (Petroc Trilogy 1) (Paperback)
How can this be real and fantasy at the same time. OK so it's a fictional novel the involves murder, treasure, princesses and all the usual fantasy subjects you would expect. Add to that, however, the realism of human symptoms caused by a long sea voyage, blood and guts described as 'blood and guts' and the short comings of our hero that are usually heroically skirted over by other authors. It struck me as a teenagers book written for adults. I found Pip's writing style to be both refreshing and disturbing at the same time. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a story you can really get into. Similar in standard and genre to the Tim Severin 'Viking' trilogy. I very much look forward to this authors next book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars A Murder and Mayhem Bookclub review
Brother Petroc has little knowledge of the skulduggery that he imagines goes on in the higher echelons of his Church. Read more
Published on 24 Jun 2007 by A. J Thompson

3.0 out of 5 stars Good fun, nice to take on holiday
I bought this book believing it to be a medieval whodunnit, but happily, it isn't. Instead, we have a story about a novice monk, living a rather straitlaced life in a northern... Read more
Published on 9 May 2007 by M. G. Gilbert

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Debut Novel

The author grew up in South Devon and attended London University where he studied medieval history. Read more
Published on 26 Mar 2007 by J. Chippindale

3.0 out of 5 stars A poor man's Eco.
So this book is ok.

Petroc, our young hero, is framed for a bloody murder he didn't commit and swept from his malcontent existence as a novice monk in the time of... Read more
Published on 5 Mar 2007 by D. S. Hickson

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining Tale of an Errant Monk
I loved it! Relics is great fun - a beautifully written, old-fashioned adventure. It doesn't labour under the faux-medieval language so many historical novels are guilty of;... Read more
Published on 7 Feb 2007 by Aingeal

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Debut Novel
The author grew up in South Devon and attended London University where he studied medieval history. This is his first novel and I enjoyed it immensely and hope that there will be... Read more
Published on 11 Jan 2007 by J. Chippindale

5.0 out of 5 stars Clever, atmospheric medieval tale
I loved this book! A friend recommended it to me and I confess that when I saw the cover I was rather put off by its gaudy artwork. Read more
Published on 9 May 2006 by Pushkin

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice adventure story
To judge this book by the beauty of its prose would guarantee a five-star rating. The author certainly can write and when he is (especially) describing the Devon country-side that... Read more
Published on 29 Mar 2006

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