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Historical The Temple and the Stone by Katherine Kurtz and Deborah Turner Harris ISBN 0-446-52260-0 $22 / Warner Books / 1998 Set in 1290 AD, two members of a secret, elite cadre of handpicked, psychic Knights Templar have a vision that the site for their new Temple is inexplicably entwined with the destiny of Scotland's sacred Stone of Scone, on which the kings of Scotland are crowned. So the two Templars set off on a journey to Scotland only to find themselves embroiled in political controversy. Not only that, but they also psychically intuit that the Stone has lost its mystical power, which is creating the political turmoil in Scotland in the wake of the inuaguration of John Baliol. Determined to restore the potency of the Stone, and facing opposition and treachery within the ranks of the Order, the two young knights embark on a quest to discover the source of the Stone's power and then, by using the various mystical and religious artifacts in the Order's possession and the aid of the Culdee mystics on the holy isle of Iona, re-instill the Stone's power and thereby the poltical and social health of Scotland. Set against the backdrop of the Middle Ages, the Scottish Wars of Independence, William Wallace, Robert the Bruce, and King Edward I of England, authors Kurtz and Harris are obviously well-versed in medieval history and Templar lore, as evident in the partial bibliography they provide at the end of the novel, and in the insightful way they present their characters. And in the manner in which a few historians write fiction in order to present their unconventional theories (such as author/historian Umberco Eco), so does Kurtz and Harris as they entwine paganism and clairvoyancy within the powerfully Christian Middle Ages. For anyone even vaguely interested in the Knights Templar, their possible influence over Scotland's history, or the mysteries of the Stone of Destiny, The Temple and the Stone is a must-read. In fact, I found it impossible to put down! —Lady Kimberly

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