Cornwell's Grail Quest series comprises three novels :
- Harlequin
- Vagabond
- Heretic
The Grail Quest books are set at the outset of the 100 years war (and thus form a nice bookend to accompany Azincourt) and several real life battles are recounted, as Thomas participates in them - most famously Cressy. And we win! Always. Because that's how these things work. And to be fair, that is what history tells us so it's not like Cornwell is trying to, you know, create a parallel world - the brave English Archers really were the best, most lethal and most successful fighting force of the time. Also, brave, noble, potty-mouthed........you get the picture.
The McGuffin of the books is, not surprisingly given the series title, the Holy Grail. Of Monty Python, Indiana Jones and the Bible fame. I actually guessed the final denouement (as those who read my Tweets will confirm) about 20 pages in (or less). Did that ruin the series for me? Not one tiny weeny bit. The conceit is actually rather original for Cornwell books - a bit off piste from the normal forumla - but it works very well so I didn't mind the variation from the norm.
Thomas, bastard son of a formerly heretic (and occasionally mad) French priest, born and borought up in a small Dorest seaside village, and desperate to be an Archer, has his life turned upside down when his village is attacked and destroyed by a mercenary French raiding party. His father is murdered by the mercenaries' employer, his mother by the mercenaries' leader. He vows revenge and joins the Kings forces as the easiest way to both get to France to pursue his revenge and at the same time follow his vocation as an Archer.
Much slaughter ensues, plus the usual components of a Cornwell saga - 3 women over the space of 3 books, the gaining of a soldiering family and then the gradual destruction of that family through the inevitability of war. The religious and faith elements are new, and work well. The questions of whether the quest for the grail is real or a chimera, who should have the grail 'win' and what they should do with it, are central to the narrative. As are themes of vengeance, forgiveness, ambition, love, loyalty, faith and superstition. These books see a cast of characters whose loyalties shift - there are few totally 'black or white' characters - there are several characters who have an element of Hakeswill lite about them but none who really fit the bill - the chief villain, Thomas's cousin Guy, is....complex. Certainly no panto villain like Hakeswill. There are other villains who are more panto-esque but none has that big a role in the narrative or lasts that long. Thomas's little soldier family, consisting primarily of the leader of his fighting troop will Skeet, Sir Guillaime D'Evoque, the leader of the mercenaries that destroy Hookton (only one example of shifting loyalties) and Robbie, son of a Scottish Lord (another whose loyalties are tested and found wanting), is certainly not as tight as Sharpe's chosen men, and nor is it as important to Thomas's well being or his ultimate survival.
The way in which the grail quest is handled and resolved (even though I guessed it from the start) is addressed very well, as is the arrival and impact of the Black Death. I finished the third book desperate for the saga to continue.
Bernard Cornwell continues to do no wrong in my eyes!
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