Customer Reviews

The Light Beyond the Forest

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I read this book when I was in fifth grade and I was thoroughly entranced with the tale of King Arthur's knights and their adventures as they searched for the Holy Grail. There are some unfamiliar words in the book, but the story is not confusing or hard to follow. However, the writing is somewhat dense and may leave some people bored. Though I loved this book when I was in fifth grade, I had a hard time re-reading it when I was older because I felt the writing was too slow.

The book mainly follows three knights of the Round Table on their separate searches for the Holy Grail, so each chapter tells about a different episode in one of the knight's quests. There are plenty of haunting and mysterious scenes here to intrigue anyone. One of the most beautiful parts of the story is the description of Sir Lancelot meeting Sir Galahad.

This book is the second in a trilogy; the first one is THE SWORD AND THE CIRCLE, which tells of how King Arthur comes to his throne and also includes many other Arthurian legends, such as Sir Gawain and the Loathely Lady. It leads up to the Quest for the Holy Grail, which is the story of this book. The last book in the trilogy is THE ROAD TO CAMLAAN which tells about the end of Camelot. All three books are very good re-tellings of the King Arthur stories, though I think this one is the best of the trilogy.

The Light Beyond the Forest is a good book, as are the other books in the trilogy. Though it doesn't have the same elements as in The Sword and the Circle, it suits the story, which isn't about kings, knights, and ladies, but man's search for God. Once again, Sutcliff is great at getting the feel of the period. I highly recommend this book and the entire trilogy.

The Quest for the Holy Grail
The Light Beyond the Forest by Rosemary Sutcliff had an extremely interesting plot. The reader follows the quest for the holy grail in four different characters. Sutcliffe jumps back and forth between the quests of Sir Percival, Sir Bors, Sir Galahad and Sir Lancelot.
The time of the setting is in the medevil age. It takes place in many locations throughout the story. There are a few suspenseful twists that will keep you waiting until the end. Throughout the quest many conflicts appear between the characters and the grail.
Finally, I would recommend this book for 13+. Although it is not very long it can be confusing and hard to understand at times. This book is great for adventurous readers because of its plot and conflicts

This story is about the many exciting adventures of a few of the main knights involved in the Grail Quest. It many follows Sir Lancelot, Bors, Percival, and Galahad. The stories tell of their journeys through unfamiliar lands, saving damsels in distress, and over all trying to find the Holy Grail the one thing all the knights' desire, but only one knight can recover it.

I really enjoyed reading this book. Although at times I was confused do to the ever-changing characters and story lines. Things I really liked about this book were the excitement in the adventures and the wonderful characters. I would most definitely recommend this book to all young adult readers who enjoy a great suspenseful tale.

Maybe it just wasn't my "cup of tea", but I found this book to be mind-numbingly boring as I read it to my 10-year old daughter as a bedtime book. She wasn't too impressed either, but once we start a book we generally finish. (I'm a 44 year old dad)

I didn't care about any character in the book or any of their meaningless spiritual adventures. The story, like the knights on the grail quest, just seemed to wander around lost for 130 pages until it was time to cross the "T"s and dot the "I"s on the anti-climactic finish.

Its shocking to me that this book has a 3-1/2 star rating on Amazon since it is one of the worst I've read (and I've read hundreds over the years to my kids)

Maybe if you are a Renaissance Fair Junkie-Type who is all into knights, the grail and Catholicism you might find this passable (if you can stand reading the word "hermitage" 200 times), but I think most rational people will find this book boring with a capital B and pointless with a capital P.

Sutcliff's Arthurian trilogy is definitely some of her better work. The
grail quest is the focus of this work, with several knights going their
separate ways to try and find it.

Many mystical and supernatural encounters are had along the way, as
the knights see if their religious qualifications are good enough for
them to succeed in their journey.

Well the Light Beyond the forest realy got me into medvievalknights more. Im 13 and this book is still confuseing you realy needto pay attition to the words. Its a fun to read book.I highlyrecommend this book for teenages ( 13 and +)

The Light Beyond the Forest is a very "boring" story about knights that talk funny and have weird things happening to them. "Acts of God." Most of the time I didn't even think about the book while i was reading it.
The knights were from the Round Table in Camelot. If I rated this book I'd give it a 3 out of 10. ...If I were a knight I'd slice my hands, toung, and legs off before I read any other books in this series!