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Fantasy. Fiction. Romance. Historical Fiction. HTML: The bestselling author of the acclaimed Merlin Trilogy returns to the magical world of King Arthur and Camelot-to tell a story of daring adventure, unexpected love, and unsurpassed enchantment. Eager, burning, and young, Alexander has come of age to take vengeance on the treacherous King of Cornwall who murdered his father. He sets off toward Camelot to seek justice from King Arthur, only to be diverted by the beautiful and sensual Morgan le Fay, Arthur's sister. Using her wiles and her enchantments, Morgan persuades the young prince to attempt a theft of the Holy Grail. He is unaware her motives are of the darkest nature. Motherless daughter of a royal duke, Alice has lived a life of lively adventure, accompanying her father on his yearly pilgrimages. Now, on her father's final visit to Jerusalem, she comes under the protection of a young prince whose brothers were murdered, a prince who is in possession of an enchanted silver cup believed to be the mysterious Holy Grail itself. Thus the stage is set for two young seekers to meet-and to find not what they are searching for but, instead, the greatest treasure of all: love..… (more)
User reviews
Most of the book is told as two separate narratives. The first narrative tells the story of Alexander, the son of the brother of the king of Cornwall. His father is killed in the opening chapter and his mother decides that when he comes of age, he should have to avenge his father's death. On his quest to do this, he gets sidetracked by Morgan le Fay and is sent on a quest for the holy grail. On the way, he is told that his mother is a hamsert and his father smells of elderberries. Okay, maybe not but it would have made the book more interesting.
The second narrative is that of Alice, daughter of a devout Duke. Her narrative centers around the rather confusing warring between the different Frankish factions. She doesn't seem to really do much in this story, except aiding in the escape of one of the sons of King Clovis and Clotilda. He escapes with a cup he claims is the holy grail. Thus, in the very last chapter, our two lovebirds finally meet and the story is resolved in a fairly satisfactory manner. However, I think it took far too long to get to the meeting of the two young people. This is supposed to be a love story, but the lovers are starcrossed for 90% of the novel. It would have been better as a novella - or maybe, it should have just been left as a sidenote.
This is one of the background stories in the Arthurian legends and Mary Stewart has fleshed it out with richly drawn characters. I liked the main characters very much. Alexander grows through his mistakes and Alice proves herself to be quite resourceful. Morgan le Fay plays a major role in the book, Arthur's presence is in the background, and many well-known characters are mentioned while a few appear.
I'd recommend this gentle romance to anyone who enjoys the "less gritty" look at the Arthurian mythos.
I like how Alice comes to realize the truth behind the relics.