Twenty-five hours. TWENTY-FIVE HOURS. Look, I knew what I was getting into when I hit play, but can we talk about the audacity of a 25-hour audiobook entering my life right now? That's roughly 47 toddler naps, 60 school drop-offs, or — and this is the metric that matters — three solid weeks of my precious car-sitting-in-the-garage time. I committed anyway because time-traveling Templars sounded like the kind of bonkers premise that could carry me through a month of October chaos. And honestly? It mostly did. Mostly.
A Medieval Knight Walks Into 2004 and Nobody Called Security
So here's the setup: Gero of Breydenbach is a Templar Commander in 1307 who's tasked with smuggling this artifact called 'The Head of Wisdom' out of France before King Philip's goons can grab it. Standard Templar stuff if you're into that era. But then — and this is where I perked up in the pickup line — he accidentally lands in 2004 and has to navigate the modern world with the help of a young woman. Medieval fish-out-of-water romance? Sign me up.
Martina André clearly did her homework on the Templar history. The 1307 arrest scenes, the political machinations between the French crown and the Order, the details about commanderies — it all feels grounded in a way that made me trust her even when things got fantastical. The problem is she wants you to know EXACTLY how much research she did. There are stretches where the historical detail gets so dense I'd zone out, realize I'd been mentally planning Emma's birthday party for ten minutes, and have to rewind. For a book that needs to survive my 47-pause lifestyle, that's a real issue.
The romance between Gero and the modern woman has that slow-burn quality where you're screaming "JUST KISS ALREADY" while folding tiny socks. It's sweet. It's a little predictable. And you know what? Sometimes predictable is the whole point. I didn't need a plot twist — I needed a knight in actual armor being confused by a microwave. The same fish-out-of-water charm that keeps you hooked here shows up in a completely different flavor in Long Earth: A Novel, where the disorientation of stepping into an unfamiliar world is played more for existential wonder than romance — worth a listen if the concept-first storytelling is what got you into this one.
Sam Devereaux: The Narrator People Either Love or Rage-Quit
Okay, so here's the thing about Sam Devereaux — he is genuinely polarizing in a way I haven't encountered since the great "is this dress blue or gold" debate. His performance is lively. Like, LIVELY. He throws himself into the medieval characters with this full-bodied enthusiasm that I found pretty enjoyable during action sequences. When Gero is fighting or fleeing, Devereaux's energy carries you right through.
But — and this is a real but — there's a quality to his delivery during quieter scenes that I can see turning people off. The pacing sometimes feels like he's performing for a stage rather than an intimate earpiece, if that makes sense. During the modern-day sections, when characters are just having normal conversations, his intensity level doesn't always dial down accordingly. It's like watching someone use their presentation voice at dinner.
I landed on the "mostly enjoyed him" side. At 1.25x speed, his energy actually worked in my favor because it kept things moving during those research-heavy historical passages. But I completely understand the listeners who bounced. If his style hits you wrong in the first hour, it's not going to get better over twenty-four more.
25 Hours Is a LOT of Hours When Sophie Won't Nap
Let me be honest about the length. This book could've been 18 hours and been tighter for it. There are sections in the middle — particularly around the historical exposition — where the pacing dips and I found myself reaching for my phone instead of staying locked in. For context, I started this the first week of October and didn't finish until almost November. That's partly my chaotic schedule and partly because the book didn't always pull me back urgently.
The time-travel mechanics are fun but not deeply explained, which actually worked for me. I don't need a quantum physics lecture between diaper changes. I need "knight goes whoosh, ends up in 2004, is adorably confused." Mission accomplished on that front.
The ending wraps things up in a way that's satisfying without being saccharine. No ugly-crying at pickup. No devastating cliffhanger. Just a warm, resolved feeling that made the 25-hour investment feel worth it. Not groundbreaking, but sometimes you don't need groundbreaking.
Who's Got 25 Hours and a Templar Obsession?
This is for the historical fiction fans who don't mind their history served with a generous side of romance and time-travel weirdness. If you loved Outlander's "modern person meets historical hottie" energy but want knights instead of Highlanders, this scratches that itch. Skip it if you need tight pacing or if a narrator with big theatrical energy isn't your thing — listen to a sample first, seriously. And maybe clear your schedule. You're going to need it.
The Mom Metric
Survived 47 pauses and still made sense — but only because the main plot is straightforward enough to track even when Sophie decides nap time is actually scream time. I wouldn't call it car time approved because honestly, some of those middle sections had me zoning out when I needed to be engaged. But the Templar-meets-modern-world scenes? Those I replayed on purpose. For fun. Which, given my schedule, is high praise.
