Practically perfect in every way, they need constant rescuing, have no real explanation for the supposed reincarnation link between them (other than it's necessary to link the plots) and are stupid unless it's contrived for them to show a hint of intelligence or common sense. There are so many things wrong with it that it's difficult to know where to start, but let's begin with the characters.Īlais/Alice are Mary-Sues. In fact, it was a chore to have to continue through all 694 pages of leaden, plodding, sub-par Mary-Sue fiction and I blame Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code for opening the door to this kind of pseudo-literary dross. I really, completely, utterly hated this book. Somehow, a link to a horrific past - her past - has been revealed. Puzzled by the labyrinth symbol carved in the rock, she realises she's disturbed something that was meant to remain hidden. July 2005: Alice Tanner discovers two skeletons in a forgotten cave in the French Pyrenees. Although Alais cannot understand the strange words and symbols hidden within, she knows that her destiny lies in keeping the secret of the labyrinth safe. An extract from the novel was used in the Scottish Qualifications Authority's 2009 Standard Grade English General close reading paper.July 1209: in Carcassonne a seventeeen-year old girl is given a mysterious book by her father which he claims contains the secret of the true Grail.

The Guardian ranked it the number one bestseller for 2006.

According to The Sunday Times, it was the second best selling book in the United Kingdom in 2006, after The Da Vinci Code, selling about 865,400 copies in paperback. In the 2006 British Book Awards, Labyrinth was awarded Best Read of the Year. Ultimately the story becomes a quest for the Holy Grail.

The text itself features many Occitan and French quotes. The novel relies heavily on historical events such as the massacre at Béziers and the Crusade against the Cathars in Occitania, now the South of France, from around 1200. The two stories occur in a shared geography and intertwine. It divides into two main storylines that follow two protagonists, Alaïs (from the year 1209) and Alice (in the year 2005).

Kate mosse labyrinth series