Customer Reviews

The Squire's Quest (The Squire's Tales)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Rather than being the tale of Arthur or Arthur's knights, here is the tale of one of Arthur's knight's squires, a man by the name of Terence. He's anything but an ordinary squire, being part faery and secretly married to a woman of higher bearing. Cautious and observant, Terence is alarmed by the arrival of a mystery man.

Arthurian legend purists would likely find fault with this story. However, the essence of most characters remains the same. For example, Sir Ka(y/i) (Kai here) is wrought with negativity as usual; King Arthur is kind and just. What happens to Sir Bedivere, however, threw me for a loop. That being said, there is a problem in that the general reader's knowledge of the characters makes certain aspects less of a surprise, especially all of the facts surrounding a young man who shows up in King Arthur's court by the name of Mordred. Because Arthurian legend is so well known, the reader knows Mordred's true identity and cannot help but know things that the characters in the book do not. For example, I already knew who Mordred's parents are and suspected him of any crime committed. Mordred lies about so much in the course of the book that it perhaps would have helped the suspense level if he had also lied about his name.

_The Squire's Quest_ is divided into two tales, connected mostly by Terence being present in both. The tales are about courtly love. In the first and most lighthearted half, Arthur's cousin Lady Sarah is a "victim" of its absurdity. She's an especially fun character, quick on her feet and ready with a tart response to almost any comment. The visiting Alexander of Constantinople falls for her immediately, and begins to attempt to "woo" her through the courtly method he has heard about in song. Characters Cliges and Fenice, in the second half, are victims of courtly love's ridiculous idealism.

Much time elapses in the story due to Terence engaging in a lot of travel; perhaps the span of about six months. Because of this, there are many instances of narrative fast-forwarding that can be difficult to figure out. Still, it's an interesting retelling of a couple less well known Arthurian legends with a unique and new character at the center.

If you are looking for a book that will whisk you away into a whole other world, this book will do that the instant you start reading it. "The Squire's Quest" picks up where "The Squire's Tale" ended. Terence (who is half-human, half-faerie) and his lady love are married, albeit secretly, and Terence is still the squire of Sir Gawain. It is the time of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Mordred steps into the scene and things start going a bit wrong. A knight is murdered and a King soon follows. Distrust begins to weave it's way into the lives of many. Two worlds are separated without any indication of what is going on. Love is found and lost again and unrequited love flourishes.

The story begins with a young man entering King Arthur's court requesting to be trained as a knight. It is denied him, but we discover that this young man is King Arthur's son from a chance meeting with a young woman in the woods. Alexander The Great makes an appearance in the story and thus we travel to Greece for some love, laughter, sadness and mystery. Thinking Mordred is more than what he claims to be, Squire Terence and Alexander's adviser follow him discreetly as they try to unravel treachery in the Court of King Arthur. On their journey, they find a "bridge" to another world (Hades) and soon discover the plot to end King Arthur's reign over Camelot forever. Will Mordred's plan to destroy King Arthur succeed? Or will Squire Terence squelch yet another attempt to destroy the human world? You'll have to read to find out.

One mini story inside the story involves two lovers, Alis and Fenice. I absolutely love how Gerald Morris wove their story into Terence's story. These two characters will make you laugh, cry... and want to squash them like bugs. There is a little aside at the end of the story that tells you why he wove their story into Terence's. It definitely adds a lot to the entire tale rather than leave you thinking "what was that about?" This book is great for all ages. There is a war, intrigue, love, lust and murder, but nothing alarming that would make me want to caution parents. This is yet another book that will be added to both my home library and school library.

Gerald Morris never disappoints, and this latest installment is no exception! If you are already a fan, you will be delighted with this book; if you are new to him, you have hit the jackpot. In a world where quality young adult authors seem thin on the ground, Morris brings his readers back to the extremely satisying realm of Arthurian adventure fantasy, made so by his gift of spinning a terrific story.

This ninth installment in Gerald Morris' wonderful, witty Arthurian series, featuring the ever-young Squire Terence, takes on Chretien de Troyes' tales of courtly love and exposes them for what they are: foolish, half-witted stories in which knights swear eternal devotion to their mistresses rather than their wives, tales that end tragically, such as those of Tristram and Iseult, and Cliges and Fenice, which is the basis for this book. There's plenty of adventure and romantic intrigue in "The Squire's Quest," a story that includes the ominous appearance of Mordred at Camelot; a visit from the Byzantine Emperor Alexander, who pays court to the Lady Sarah, and his retinue; a complicated romantic triangle involving the Holy Roman Emperor's daughter, the Duke of Saxony, and a knight named Cliges; and a journey to Athens, in which Terence and his knightly companion Dinadan find the site of the Oracle of Delphi and go on a quest across the River Styx to Elysium, where Terence meets his old friend Robin, or Puck, from the world of Faerie.

Morris' well-told stories are light, entertaining and humorous, with great dialogue and well-portrayed, likable characters. As well as being exciting, they are thought-provoking, and a fun way to learn about the world of Arthurian legend, in much the same way that Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson books are an enjoyable way to become acquainted with Greek myth. I recommend this book, and the whole Squire's Tale series, to anyone, middle-grade, teen or adult, who would enjoy a charming, adventurous, clever retelling of the King Arthur stories.

In "The Squire's Quest", Gerald Morris once more revisits the many-faceted world of Arthurian legend. Terence, squire to Sir Gawain is growing uneasy. He has not heard from his homeland of Avalon in many months. While Arthur's England is at peace, the child of human and Faerie has been around long enough to know that there are still threats to the realm lurking in the shadows.

At the present time, King Arthur's Court is being assaulted by...fans! The fame of the court has spread far and wide, attracting noble visitors from other realms who in turn bring with them the new fashion of Courtly Love - which in the prosaic world view of Terence and his circle seems to consist mostly of tales about dashing young knights and beautiful damsels acting like asses, turning everything they touch to tragedy in the name of 'true love'. When an old friend of Terence's becomes the object of a visiting Emperor's affections, his attempts to woo her based on this new model of love becomes a display of good intentions descending to farce and the opportunity for much sardonic commentary.

Nonetheless it is a moderately amusing spectacle for Terence until the arrival of a young knight seeking admission to the fellowship of the Round Table, one Modred by name. From there the tale turns to suspicion, intrigue, rebellion, treachery, and tragedy. Along the way it visits the Byzantine Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, and even the underworld of Greek mythology. Morris continues his observations on the absurdities of Courtly Love and touches on the nature of truth and the lies people tell themselves to build their own fantasies. It all wraps up to a conclusion which in some ways seems an anticlimax, but does have the effect of making Terence come to terms with the truths and lies in his own life. This is a book more about the journey than the destination, if I may mangle a metaphor slightly.

In an afterword, Morris goes into the sources he's basing this tale on: the work of French poet Chrétien de Troyes, largely the tale of Cliges. This is the first work I have encountered in the series of tales Morris has created around his retelling of Arthurian literature. I found it enjoyable enough, if aimed at a younger audience than I qualify for. I am reminded of the classic fantasy tales L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt wrote, the adventures of Harold Shea often collected as "The Complete Enchanter" and later continued by a series of authors. Shea and companions explored a number of poetic fantasy realms, from Norse legend, Spenser's Faerie Queen, Irish mythos, and more. If you enjoy Morris, you will definitely enjoy those tales as well.

There are many variations on the tales of King Arthur. Morris has rung up some entertaining changes here.

This book really pulled me in at the beginning . . . and then it just lost me. It is hard to say what the problem was for me. I just kind of lost interest in the characters and the plot was not interesting enough to keep me by itself.

Author Gerald Morris has crafted a funny and engrossing young adult tale in THE SQUIRE'S QUEST. It took me a little while to really get into the story, but once I did, Morris provided a good read.

Terrence, a squire in King Authur's court after ten years of loyal service, is the main character in the story. The book contains several different tales that tie together at the end.

Based on Authurian fantasy, the tale is a bit predictable in some parts, but still interesting.

good and hilarious! i love hte sharp contrast of people. he is great at writing aout hte complexities of good men and vapidness of those who really don't matter. ii enjoy the phil and the plots and ternece's loyalty. terrence finally becomes a (spoiler alert) knight at hte end after he tricks mordred into revealing his true personality. ther's love and shock and the strangest characters.

The Squire's Quest

**Contains one small spoiler**

The Squire's Quest is the ninth in a series of books by Gerald Morris called The Squire's Tales. Even though I haven't read the rest of the series I was still able to enjoy the book. This one made me want to go back and read the other books in the series, and there was enough background information that it was easy to catch up. The Squire's Quest had enough magic to make it interesting to someone who likes to read fantasy, but not so much that a historical fiction fan would turn away from it. Some parts were predictable, but there were other parts that really surprised me, and the end was especially jaw dropping. Although the lovers lived, it reminded me of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, but even more tragic. The writing was easy to follow but there was some language that may not be appropriate for younger ages. The women characters in the book were very strong while the men were both charming and devious, a good combination in any book.

I laughed out loud in parts of the book and cried in others. When I first began reading this book I wasn't sure I would enjoy it. I'm not usually a fan of King Arthur type books but this one grabbed my attention relatively quickly and held on. This is a great "boy book" with lots of fighting and intrigue, but it also has just enough romance that girls will enjoy it as well. The only part that didn't seem to flow well was when a couple of the main characters disappeared for over a month and no one seemed too worried when they finally reappeared. Mr. Morris did mention some of the changes that took place while they were missing, but I would think the characters would have been missed a little more than they were. I'll give this one 4 stars. Well-done Mr. Morris.

A sweet, magical tale of Terence, a half fairy, half man who happens to be a squire in King Arthurs court, whose magical abilities appear to have disappeared for mysterious reasons, and who goes on a daunting journey to recover them.