ARTHUR: AT THE CROSSING-PLACES
by Kevin Crossley-Holland
Orion - August 2001
ISBN: 1858813980 - Hardback
Fantasy / Historical - Welsh Borders, 1200
Reviewed by Rachel A Hyde, MyShelf.com
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a UK Copy
This is the second book
in the acclaimed trilogy that has already won several prestigious prizes
when in hardcover and has been hailed as that rare thing - a crossover
book for children that adults will also enjoy. It manages to be entertaining
without being trivial and intelligent without being worthy. Set in the
Welsh Marches in 1200 this is the diary of fourteen-year-old Arthur de
Caldicot, who now knows that he is not the second son of Sir John and
Lady Helen but the bastard son of Sir William de Gortanore and a village
woman, as yet unknown. He is now the squire of Lord Stephen de Holt and
through his eyes we see life in a Welsh border castle with its joys and
rigors. Death is never far away and punishments for transgressions seem
severe to modern eyes but lord and peasant alike have fun at festival
times and work hard to get in the harvest. Arthur knows that he is soon
to go on crusade with his true father and Lord Stephen and is excited
and apprehensive at the same time - in short, he springs to robust three-dimensional
life as do the other characters in this story and life in those days is
sketched in such a way that it seems very real - neither too cozy nor
too grim.
He still has his magic stone, given to him by Merlin and through it he
watches the young Arthur, now king marrying Guinevere, mustering his knights
and we read of the adventures of Sir Gawain, the problems of Sir Lancelot
and the beginning of the grail quest with Sir Balin and Sir Balan. The
stories interweave with each other and the whole is told in a lyrical
way in keeping with a tale of a place between the more prosaic England
and the bardic Wales. As with the first book this is highly recommended
to just about anybody - don't let the juvenile label put you off - and
just the thing to give to any child for Christmas who is looking around
for something good to read until the fifth Harry Potter comes out!
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