The Road to Jerusalem

If you expect the story to jump straight into the crusades, you'll be much disappointed. This book is the first of a trilogy and so it starts with the story of the background of the main character and all that goes before he was sent to the crusades. In fact, you can view this as the first act. I guess one would have to be patient and learn all about the back story of the character in a whole volume, before the main action starts.