Book description
The eagerly anticipated follow-up to the number one bestseller
Vagabond, this is the third instalment in Bernard Cornwell's Grail Quest series.
In 1347 the English capture Calais and the war with France is suspended
by a truce.
But for Thomas of Hookton, the hero of Harlequin and Vagabond, there is
no end to the fighting. He is pursuing the grail, the most sacred of
Christendom's relics, and is sent to his ancestral homeland, Gascony, to
engineer a confrontation with his deadliest enemy, Guy Vexille.
Once in the south country Thomas becomes a raider, leading his archers
in savage forays that will draw his enemy to his arrows. But then his
fortunes change. Thomas becomes the hunted as his campaign is destroyed
by the church. With only one companion, a girl condemned to burn as a
heretic, Thomas goes to the valley of Astarac where he believes the
grail was once hidden and might still be concealed, and there he plays a
deadly game of hide and seek with an overwhelming enemy.
Then, just as Thomas succeeds in meeting his enemy face to face, fate
intervenes as the deadliest plague in the history of mankind erupts into
Europe. What had been a landscape of castles, monasteries, vineyards and
villages, becomes death's kingdom and the need for the grail, as a sign
of God's favour, is more urgent than ever. Praise for Bernard Cornwell
and the Grail Quest series:
'It is all spectacular, rattling good stuff: war and torture; love,
lust and loss.' The Times
'Amidst a wonderful cast of kings, monks, cardinals and mercenaries -
Thomas finally confronts a magnificent villain…Crackling with good
deeds, fine characters and sparkling set pieces, it confirms yet again
Cornwell's reputation for masterly historical novels.' Daily Mail
'What a very fine writer Mr Cornwell has become.' Economist Bernard
Cornwell worked for BBC TV for seven years, mostly as producer on the
Nationwide programme, before taking charge of the current Affairs
department in Northern Ireland. In 1978 he became editor of Thames
Television's Thames at Six. Married to an American, he now lives in the
United States.
