Parsival or a Knight's Tale [Paperback]

Richard Monaco (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 26, 2004

"Richard Monaco has created an unusual slant on the Arthurian Legend. Horror and bloodshed mingle with a soft, imaginative romanticism making an instant classic." --Salisbury Times, Britain

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: e-reads.com (April 26, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0759252955
• ISBN-13: 978-0759252950
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,102,106 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bawdy and bloody retelling of the Grail quest, April 3, 2004

By 

F. Orion Pozo "Orion Pozo" (Raleigh, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Parsival: Or, a Knight's Tale (Paperback)

This is the first of a now out of print four volume series based on the Arthurian Grail quest of the hero Parsival. The other three volumes are: The Grail War; The Final Quest; and, Blood and Dreams.

This first volume follows Parsival from his overprotective mother and his childhood home on his first quest to become a knight at King Arthur's round table. Once he is a knight, he begins his second quest to find the Grail Castle and discover its secret.

A parallel story tells of Broaditch, a servant from his mother's castle, who sets out soon after to find Parsival. The two quests compliment each other with short episodic chapters from each telling the tale of the book.
The book is not for the squeemish. There is a war and lots of bloodshed. The people are bawdy rather than chivalric, and the sexual relationships are not always consensual. However, it is an exciting and humorous retelling of a medieval tale. I can't wait to read the rest of the series.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Myth Meets Naturalism and Lyrical Prose, November 27, 1999

By 

Robert Cyr (Deerfield, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Parsival: Or, a Knight's Tale (Paperback)

PARSIVAL's fascination lies in its dark, complex characters, macabre myth, and archetypal battles of good vs. evil. And it's written with carefully crafted style: alternately naturalistic, lyrical, and mystical. That's an unusual and wonderful mix. It lends a dreamlike aura to the events of the story. The poetic descriptions of nature and character are a rare find in fantasy.

Monaco's accomplishments as a writer would probably have gained greater recognition had he written in a more 'mainstream' genre. Paradoxically, his talent goes under-recognized in the fantasy genre.

I've read all nine of his books, and PARSIVAL, his first, is one of his best. Monaco hasn't published since 1987. What a shame! At least one can re-read PARSIVAL.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars There is no joy in this book., September 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Parsival: Or, a Knight's Tale (Paperback)

Although the author writes well, this was an unpleasant book to read throughout. By its end, after having been dragged through fields of corpses, bodiless heads, manure, blood, pointless sex, and futility, I wanted no more. With the exception of Parsival during the time of his complete innocence, I didn't care what happened to the characters. Although the writer probably gave a realistic picture of just how unclean and vile the age of knighthood might really have been, he did not balance it with any hint of beauty. All this might have been forgivable if justified by the ending, but the whole story just dribbles away at the last.