Harlequin

Only after reading a new book in this series I discovered that it was part of one. So here I am at the beginning of this saga. I found this book to be an excellent listen and have the next one ready to listen to. I always enjoy Bernard Cornwell\’s historical fiction- his writing style let\’s me see the characters in my mind as though I knew them personally. \’The Harlequin\’ did not disappoint, kept me interested enough to forgo going in the house on several occasions!!

Occasionally I come across a book that is so good that I have a hard time deciding if I want to continue reading it or put it down to extend the pleasure of reading it for another day. Bernard Cornwell\’s Agincourt was such a book and so is this. The Archer\’s Tale tells the story of Thomas of Hookton, an Englishman who is driven from his small town by its destruction by a group of men looking for some hidden religious relics. He ends up as an archer in the Army of King Edward and most of the story tells the tale of the army\’s fight in what is now France trying to recover the English King\’s lands during what we know as the Hundred Years War. Thomas loves his life as an archer and must wrestle with his love of the army and his vow to recover The Lance of Saint George which was stolen from Hooton during the raid that drove him from the village. Mr Cornwell is a master at character and story development and I found all of the main characters, both good and evil, to be interesting and believable and his description of life during the 1300s fascinating. The story leads to the battle of Crecy and the description of the battle, one of the most famous battles in history, is outstanding, even if a bit bloody. This is volume 1 in a set of four books of The Grail Quest. I planned to buy this book almost immediately after finished Agincourt but found when I selected The Grail Quest on the Audible website that only the first two volumes were actually available and I was unwilling to become involved in what I suspected would be a very interesting story without being able to complete the entire sequence. However the last two volumes, Heretic and 1356, although listed as not being available are, in fact, available although the volumes are not listed as part of the series and must be searched for individually. When I found them I immediately bought volumes 2 and 3. My only complaint about this book relates to the narrator. Mr Collum has an unfortunate habit of pausing for a long time between a statement and the description of who made that statement. For example, \”Where are you going when you leave here?\” followed by a long pause and then \”asked the monk\”. It can be quite annoying and would normally have caused me to drop a star from the book, but Mr Cornwell\’s writing is so flawless and his books so interesting that I could not bear to do so, even given the annoying narration.

I finished ‘Agincourt’ yesterday and immediately purchased this audiobook. I was SO disappointed. I believe the story may have been a good one, but after 14 hours of listening to Charles Keating, I couldn’t stand more than an hour of this narrator. Such long pauses between phrases-he can’t read a sentence without stopping ! Not only does he speak in excited phrases-as if he is retelling a story and can’t contain his excitement, you can hear his intake of breath before every sentence. EVERY. SENTENCE. Once I heard if I could NOT un hear it. It became so distracting I had to stop. I don’t understand all of the stellar reviews about this performance-this narrator is one of the most annoying I’ve heard yet. Agincourt and Keating is a perfect marriage of a wonderful book read by an amazing narrator. Perhaps this wouldn’t have been so disappointing if the first weren’t so fresh in my mind.

Bernard Cornwell has done it again. With arrows flying, shield walls forming, and swords swinging the blood of battle flows throughout this book. I really enjoyed Cornwell\’s storyline for the Holy Lance and the Holy Grail. Several authors have tried to use these holy relics to form their own storylines, but none compare to Cornwell. To top off a great storyline, Andrew Cullum did a superb job of narrating! I would give this book overall 6 stars if I could.

Bernard Cornwell detail to historical accuracy sets him apart from other authors! I am looking forward to more of his work!

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