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Guenevere: Child
of the Holy Grail
The Child of the
Holy Grail - concluding the legend of Guenevere, a woman whose
story has never been told, until now …
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Reviews
'Camelot
lives forever in our memories and in the new historical novel by
Rosalind Miles, the third in a popular series that began with
The Queen of the Summer Country and The Knight of the Sacred
Lake. Told from Guenevere's perspective, The Child of the Holy
Grail concludes the trilogy by chronicling the last fateful
years of the House of Pendragon and the end of the mystical
Avalon.
A number of
books have told this ageless story of chivalry, sorcery, love
and regret, and it would be easy to rehash the tale in pedantic
fashion. Writing a thoroughly engrossing and engaging story,
Miles avoids such a retelling, providing us with a fresh look at
the tale, bringing the story and its characters to life.
Queen Guenevere, the last in a long line of female rulers, is
increasingly at odds with the Christian Church. Even with the
adoration and support of her subjects, she must struggle against
the changing tide as Christianity's influence grows in Britain.
Considered nothing more that Arthur's concubine and a witch by
the church, Guenevere fears the church's power as it spreads
through Arthur's court. Working to save her fragile
reconciliation with the King and his waning trust in her,
Guenevere must also protect Avalon, the sacred island the church
so desperately wants to destroy.
Seamlessly
weaving together many tales of King Arthur and the Round Table,
Miles allows us to see Camelot unravelling through Guenevere's
eyes. We see her visions when Arthur's son Mordred is accepted
in the "Siege Perilous" filling the one empty seat at
the Round Table reserved for the son of the most peerless knight
in the realm.
We grow as
agitated as Guenevere herself at Arthur's blind trust in the
monks' advice and sense her fear of impending doom for the
fellowship of the Round Table, of Camelot and of those she
loves.
When Arthur
and his son meet on that fateful day on the battlefield of the
Great Plain, we anguish over the senselessness of the fight but
ultimately see that Camelot is no more. Then, like Guenevere, we
mourn the end of an era.
In The Child of the Holy Grail everything old is new again and
the prophecy that Arthur only sleeps until he comes again is
brought to fruition.'
BookPage,
Nashville, TN
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In the heart of
Camelot, Guenevere and Arthur are High Queen and King of a land
at peace, preparing to celebrate the knighthood of Arthur's son,
Mordred.
The handsome youth promises to be a worthy addition to
the Round Table, and Guenevere has long ago forgiven Arthur for
the adultery that brought him into the world.
But darker currents are at work as Guenevere pines for her
lover, Sir Lancelot, and anguishes over the loss of the Sacred
Hallows of the Goddess years ago.
And deep in his underground
cave, Merlin hears of a new threat to Arthur's peace.
The
long-lost Holy Grail has come to light, together with a
mysterious child who must find it to fulfil his destiny.
Arthur has determined that Mordred, his son by Morgan Le Fay, is
the only true inheritor of the Grail destiny and the Siege
Perilous - the one unoccupied seat at the Round Table,
designated for 'the Most Peerless Knight in all the World'. At
the knighting, the great Round Table of Camelot, owned by the
Queens of the Summer Country since time immemorial, cracks down
the center.
A terrible darkness descends on Camelot and in the midst of the chaos
appears a new knight, Sir Galahad, barely fourteen, who may hold
the key to the mystery of the stolen Hallows, which the
Christians believe to be the Holy Grail.
Other echoes of the past are stirring too. Ancient blood feuds
reawaken, and Guenevere and Lancelot are both vulnerable to the
malice of those who hate Camelot and its golden dream. When all
the knights of the Round Table depart on the Quest for the
Grail, Morgan Le Fay broods on her lifelong revenge and knows
her time has come.
As the shadows darken around Arthur and his band of knights,
Guenevere counts on the love of her own knight, Sir Lancelot of
the Lake. But when Lancelot is trapped into betraying her at the
moment when Guenevere's enemies are strong enough to strike,
Guenevere faces the worst challenge of her life …
So unfolds the final dazzling cycle of the Arthurian legend -
the quest for the Grail and the fall of Camelot - which brings
Guenevere to the brink of the most dreaded tragedy of all, and
may ultimately complete her destiny as the greatest and most
powerful Queen of the Isles.
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