Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

One evening I turned on my TV and found myself staring, enraptured, at the sight of a monk blundering his way through a snowstorm, accompanied by hauntingly beautiful choral music. Thus was I introduced to "The Virgin in the Ice" on the PBS show "Mystery!". Over the next few weeks I saw as many other Cadfael episodes as I could find, and periodically caught them again as they came and went. One nifty feature "Mystery!" included was Diana Riggs providing some historical background to 12th century England, which is when the Cadfael series is set. I soon learned that the series is based on a set of twenty novels, plus one book of short stories, written by Ellis Peters. These span the years 1137 through 1145; they chronicle a Welshman named Cadfael, who fought in the Crusades and then retired to the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, in Shrewsbury, to become a monk. His vast trove of lore, built up during his travels in the Holy Land, serves him quite well as he is called upon to solve various murders throughout the years. His extensive knowledge of herbs puts him in good stead, as it allows him to leave the confines of the monastery frequently on errands as a healer. He comes to know the town folk quite well; this gives him plenty of willing helpers. He has the knack of prying information out of people who would never dream of divulging it to the sheriff, and more than once he courageously harbors fugitives wrongly hunted by the Law. His many years in the world give him great insight into the darkness which lurks in the souls of men, and, sometimes, even women. Thus, as the episodes began to appear on DVD one by one, I eagerly bought them up. Finally I gained the ability to watch the entire 13-episode series back-to-back, at will. Now, there are two ways one could do this: either in the order of the books, or in the order the series originally aired. The two are not the same: while, for the most part, earlier novels tend to appear as earlier episodes, and later novels as later episodes, things are a bit out of order. In general this matters only to purists, as the threads tying the books together, such as Cadfael's growing relationship with Olivier de Bretagne, are downplayed on the videos or omitted altogether. I decided on series order; it was quite illuminating to watch the series evolve, as the regular actors grew into their roles. The acting is excellent. Abbots Heribert and Radulfus, the inept Brother Oswin and the ever-suspicious Sergeant Will Warden are all very much the way the books describe them. Prior Robert and his toady Jerome are both wonderfully obnoxious. Three different actors play Hugh Beringar throughout the series, but all do reasonably well. And then there is Sir Derek Jacobi as Cadfael. He does not much resemble the book Cadfael at all, but it hardly matters -- he's perfect for the part. When I read the novels, it is Jacobi's face I see and his voice I hear in my mind. Seeing the videos in series order is illuminating for another reason as well. When the earlier episodes aired, Ellis Peters was still alive and, it appears, able to have some input into how they were developed. As a result, they are quite faithful to the novels, apart from the necessity of trimming unnecessary details to cram 200+ pages into a 75-minute production. My particular favorites are "The Virgin in the Ice", "Monk's Hood" and "The Devil's Novice". It is noteworthy, however, that the final three or four episodes, produced after the death of Ellis Peters, are the ones which diverge the most from the books. One, "The Pilgrim of Hate", is almost completely different, other than the basic premise. The introduction of the "mos teutonicus" is downright macabre. Another, "The Raven in the Foregate", is much more melodramatic than the book, almost to the point of being overblown. It introduces characters which were not in the book, for no obvious reason that I could see; the novel's plot should have been good enough. And "The Holy Thief" turns a sympathetic character, one I happen to like, into a bad guy, which really bothers me. Indeed, seen in the context of the entire series, my enthusiasm for these three episodes has cooled off considerably from when I first saw them, but I still consider them to be passably good. Although "A Morbid Taste for Bones" is the first book, it actually makes sense to start the series with "One Corpse Too Many" instead. This one serves to introduce all of the major characters -- except for Radulfus, who appears later on. It also sets up the civil war between King Stephen and his cousin the Empress Maud, which serves as an important backdrop for the entire series. There's nothing like a little political tension to have the knives coming out in the dark to dispose of one hapless partisan or another. Alas, since the DVDs come directly from the BBC productions, there is no Diana Riggs. Thus, the best way to get the background for these stories is to read the books, as I have twice over. It's a shame that the remaining seven novels were never produced, but I've heard that Cadfael was frightfully expensive to do. Thus, I'm thankful for what I have. Had the "Complete Cadfael Collection" come out four years ago, I certainly would have pounced on it at once. It's an excellent buy for anyone who likes all or most of the episodes, or the books. For those who are more particular, there are also annual boxed sets as well as the individual episodes.