The Shroud: Book Review

The shroud is a fantasy, historical fiction written by George Bachman, where we follow Hertford, a former spy-master for Queen Elizabeth, and his crew. Hertford has been recruited by a faction, called the Owls, to retrieve the Shroud of Turin/ the Holy Shroud, using his supernatural abilities, before a the rival faction can get to it. Unbeknownst to Hertford, a third party begins assassinating both factions to take the Shroud for themselves, framing Hertford in the process. Hertford must prove his innocence and uncover the mysteries of the Shroud.

Introduction

From the offset, The Shroud had me hooked, with the cunning characters, beautiful dialogue and the fantasy twist. The book was filled with action from the beginning, describing in-depth sword, gun and magic fights between the different factions throughout and I love that the magic was only usable from saying a Latin spell, as sometimes magic can feel a bit over powered, but Bachman managed to display an equal mix, and managed to immerse me as if in a movie. I also love the use of possession, revival, angels and exorcism, linking the history of The real shroud to the powerful, fantasy version and must have been researched for a long time to create a story of a real relic that history lovers can conspire on. The dialogue was historically accurate n my opinion and my favourite chunks were when the characters were talking politics, conspiring and solving problems with each other and I feel they were true to what would have been discussed. I did occassionally get confused when the latin and other languages were not translated, which only happened a few times and I also got confused when the POV changed abruptly, but was put on track easily again. I didn't develop a favourite character, although I did enjoy Queen Elizabeth's anger, but that didn't ruin the connection and emotion I felt towards them and the plot. I am happy that the focus of the story was not blinded by a romance, but I hope more female characters can be implemented in the future. I do hope that if a sequel comes out at some point that we get to know more about the backstories of a few characters.

Pros

• Swords, guns and magic!

• Historically accurate and unique plot point.

Cons

• A few of the characters feel very similar to each other and I would like to see more personalities.

• Third person, as I always mention, can be hard for a few readers to read, but was fine for me.

Conclusion

In conclusion, The Shroud is a great read for history and fantasy lovers all round. There are a few trigger warning for this book, which include: general gore, death, gunfire, violence and murder and slight swearing and also talk of religion which could have offend a few readers, so if that is not something you feel you can read right now, this book may not be for you. I would recommend this book to older teens and young adults of all genders, especially those that love action like me! Overall, I rate this book a 4/5 stars.

To anyone who has read this book, feel free to comment your opinion in the comments and to anyone wanting to read this book, I hope I helped you come to your decision. I would greatly appreciate if you would consider following and sharing my blog and joining my book club group if you liked this post, and contact me with any requests or questions you may have. Also feel free to follow my social pages, linked at the top of this page, for more bookish content!