The Sword of Straw (The Sangreal Trilogy) [Paperback]

Amanda Hemingway (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Sangreal Trilogy | Publication Date: March 28, 2006

Embark upon a quest rife with magic, wonder, and forces as dark as midnight. . . .

Parallel universes and grave danger are nothing new to Nathan Ward. During his last mission, he risked life and limb to retrieve the Grail for safekeeping. But Nathan’s adventures are just beginning. Lately his dreams have been transporting him to a desolate city whose people have fled–save for a sickly king and his daughter, Princess Nell. In their decaying hilltop castle, they live in the shadow of a terrifying curse inflicted by a sword that holds within its gleaming metal an ancient demon conjured by the universe’s most powerful wizard. It is a sword that brings death to anyone who dares to draw it from its sheath.

But the king is dying, and the legend claims that only a stranger can save him . . . and that this stranger alone is destined to awake–and defeat–the dark evil in the sword. But who among mortals and spirits could ever imagine that a boy materializing into alternate worlds still dressed in his pajamas could be the chosen one . . . the one entrusted with the long-lost plan to retrieve the Grail relics and save a dying cosmos?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The charming and sometimes cheeky second installment in Hemingway's Sangreal trilogy (after 2005's The Greenstone Grail) borrows from a wide range of contemporary and classic fantasy, including Michael Moorcock's multiverse and Arthurian legend, but has delightful touches uniquely its author's own. Nathan Ward, the series' now 13-year-old English hero, can dream himself into other worlds, where he must retrieve a trio of hidden "Grail relics." Older and wiser, Nathan finds his first romance with an atypical princess in dire straits, deals with a not-quite-ordinary bully at school and faces danger in his quest for a sword that slays anyone who draws it from its scabbard. Puberty distances Nathan from his sisterly sidekick, Hazel Bagot, who has problems of her own as she attempts to attract love with witchcraft. This spellbinding adventure will leave readers enthusiastically awaiting the third book, which promises answers to myriad mysteries. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

The sequel to The Greenstone Grail (2005) is a separate story, though anyone who has read Grail will be jumping into a known setting. Nathan Ward, a boy with mysterious relatives and an ability to enter other worlds in his dreams, is now a teenager at boarding school. Lately, his dreams have taken him to a ruined city, deserted by all save a disabled king and his daughter, Princess Nell. Nathan wants to help her, but he can only reach her in dreams; moreover, he can't control when or how he gets to the city. Hemingway does a superb job of blending British folklore, plot elements, and characters from the preceding book and an excellent portrayal of contemporary teenagers into a real page-turner likely to please a broad readership. Frieda Murray
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey (March 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345460804
• ISBN-13: 978-0345460806
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 0.8 x 5.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,581,764 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No Middle Book Let Down, March 27, 2006

By 

Jerry Wright "Mr. Bewildered" (Moses Lake, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Sword of Straw (The Sangreal Trilogy) (Paperback)

Many times the middle book of a trilogy is a letdown. You need it to complete the story, but the denouement and all the concluding action is in book 3.

Not so in "The Sword Of Straw". Nathan has grown in many ways from the child of "The Greenstone Grail", but he still is this kid who ventures into other worlds, other universes, in his pyjamas. The book also is a well done look at the problems of puberty both for Nathan and his pal Hazel. Poor Hazel "falls in love" with a good looking boy at school, and is willing to deal with Lilliat, the witch/elemental from the first book, so that she can get a magic spell to act as a love potion. With expected bad results.

I thoroughly enjoyed Nathan's venturing into the universe where the second of the Grail relics is sequestered. Well written people with consistant understandable motivations interact with our boy hero.

One thing that bothers me, though. I have NO idea why the author, or perhaps her editor felt it necessary to utilize "the f-word" in her story. Yeah, it was just once, but it seems egregious and unnecessary.

Still and all, this was an excellent middle book, and I look forward very much to the conclusion of the trilogy, and anything else Ms. Hemingway might choose to put in front of us.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars enchanting fantasy, March 30, 2006

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Sword of Straw (The Sangreal Trilogy) (Paperback)

When Anne's husband died, she followed him into a realm beyond ours and when she returned she was pregnant. When Nathan was born, she knew her husband didn't impregnate her but a being from that other dimension did. At the age of fourteen Nathan has the ability when he is dreaming to transport himself into parallel universes and last year he brought the Grail back to his own realm and gave it for safe keeping to his honorary uncle Bartley a wizard who lived for many centuries.

The Grail was forged on the planet Eos along with the Sword and the Crown a millennium by the Grandir. The objects were sent to various worlds so they would be out of harms way and will be used at the proper time to save Eos from destruction. Nathan now dreams of a medieval world where the realm is dying due to the illness of the king and the evacuation of the people who fear the hidden spirit sword. Princess Nell and Nathan meet and both care for each other but he has a job to do to save that world and once it is finished he no longer wants to dream himself to that place because he knows he belongs in his own world.

Although the target audience for THE SWORD OF STRAW is teenagers, adult will find this enchanting fantasy very enjoyable. Nathan and his mother are matter of fact about his ability to transport himself physically to another world just as they accept magic exists. This coming of age tale focuses on many characters, all of whom seem very real and act according to their natures. There is much action in this character drawn tale and readers will be eager to read the first book in this fantastic trilogy.

Harriet Klausner

5.0 out of 5 stars A terrific trilogy..., January 16, 2007

By 

Undermoon "undermoon" (NH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sword of Straw (The Sangreal Trilogy) (Paperback)

I've read the first two books of this trilogy and thought they were wonderful. I can't wait for the third book. Hemingway uses the Arthurian theme of an aged wizard and a young boy living in the present. The boy has a heritage that he slowly discovers throughout the books. These books are on my shelf with other Arthurian themed books. It's extremely well done.