Broken Sword: The Return of King Arthur [Library Binding]

Molly Cochran (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0613171209 | ISBN-13: 978-0613171205 | Publication Date: October 1999

A young girl returns the Holy Grail to a twentieth-century King Arthur, who begins a quest to restore the Round Table, but ultimately Arthur must decide between the life of the young girl or a return to the glory of Camelot. 50,000 first printing.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In a Moroccan bazaar, amidst gunfire and chaos, a battered cup falls into a blind girl's hand, and her eyes are filled with light. But Beatrice is not alone in her appreciation of the Holy Grail, and her vision goes deeper than the surface. She meets Taliesin, who brings her to Arthur, and they join forces to protect the power of the Grail from abuse and to protect themselves from a soulless, amoral man who will stop at nothing to possess it.

The Broken Sword is almost too fast-paced, packed with agonizing cliffhangers as peril presses young Arthur, Beatrice, and Hal (Galahad, now a retired FBI agent) on all sides, though the lengthy recapitulations of Arthur's and Taliesin's previous lives detract from the real story in the 20th century. But The Broken Sword has a complete-feeling ending that puts Arthur, his recovered knights, Beatrice, and Merlin happily in place for future victories. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

YA. This complex sequel to The Forever King (Tor, 1992) provides an unusual, creative blending of elements of reincarnation, witchcraft, magic, and Christianity without really being about any one of them. In it, King Arthur of Camelot and Merlin, reincarnated as a 20th-century teenager and an old man, rescue the Holy Grail from evil villains. Hal, the retired FBI agent of the first novel is also of assistance, as are the knights of the Round Table. An action-packed opening scene grabs readers' attention. However, this pace is not evenly maintained throughout. Although the difficult vocabulary can usually be understood in context, and the shifts in time back to the original Arthurian histories are usually clear, this novel will be most appreciated by more advanced readers. The increased amount of violence also necessitates a greater maturity level. The authors keep the silly scenes of the medieval knights confronting 20th-century culture (riding motorcycles, etc.) to a minimum.?Claudia Moore, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Library Binding
• Publisher: Bt Bound (October 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0613171209
• ISBN-13: 978-0613171205
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,797,376 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A GREAT NOVEL!!, March 17, 2001

By 

John Collens (Athens, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Broken Sword: King Arthur Returns (Mass Market Paperback)

Murphy and Cochran have done themselves well with this novel. Although I liked The Forever King better, this novel also intrigued me.

First of all, let me list the few faults this novel had compared to the first one: it was a lot darker than the first novel, it had too much on the history of the characters, and it didn't even develop the evil character, Aubrey Katsuleris (Thanatos). Sure, he was developed in some way, but Cochran and Murphy could have taken out about 15 of the 70 or so historical pages involving Arthur and Taliesin, and put Katsuleris into it.

Next, the good things: it displayed Merlin's past, which is good in some ways, we got to see the knights come together again, the bad guy was a lot better in this one, and it was just so great! Worth reading, although I advise you all to read The Forever King before this one.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible. One of the best re-tells of the Arthurian myth., September 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Broken Sword: King Arthur Returns (Mass Market Paperback)

In "The Forever King" Cochran and Murphy created one of the most original re-interpretations of the Arthur legend. In "The Broken Sword" they continue the story of Arthur, Galahad, and Merlin and give a unique view of the less described elements of the legend - How did Merlin become a wizard? Why did no other Druid help Arthur? And most important of all, Where did the magic go? I fervently hope that the series is continued, as I would love to see how Arthur reclaims his throne.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 5 stars.....BUT, December 25, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Broken Sword: King Arthur Returns (Mass Market Paperback)

I won't go into much detail of the book, but suffice it to say that if you enjoy Arthurian myth, but with a twist, then you will totally love this book. The intertwining of past and present is extremely well done, tastefully and with great respect to the Arthurian legends of old, but with a flare lacking in the classical works. My ONLY complaint about the 2 book series is that they cut out what had been a very high profile character and left the fate of this character hanging, and I'd like to know what happens :) Maybe we'll get lucky and there will be a 3rd book to close it out properly.