The first book in the Grail Quest series is called The Harlequin (also known as The Archer's Tale). There are 4 books in the series which focus on the first phase of the Hundred Years War known as The Edwardian Phase (1337-1360). Naturally since the author Cromwell is a proud English, he focuses on the English perspective and their victorious first campaign against the French. However in truth while the English won the first phase they would later be completely defeated and removed from France in the third and final phase. Nonetheless Cromwell does a great job at putting the reader into the historical setting with an original story and characters. As the title suggests our protagonist is an archer who gets dragged into the war on a quest for vengeance and more.
The Premise
In the opening prologue the English village of Hookton (located on the southern coast of England known as Dorset) is attacked by French raiders. The young Thomas fights bravely with his bow to drive them back but is unable to do so. His priest father is killed and the sacred lance of St George is stolen from the church. Before his father dies he tells Thomas that they are French noble blood, and that the raiders were led by his wicked cousin known as the Harlequin. He tells Thomas he must recover the holy lance of St. George. Thomas accepts his father's dying request and begins his journey to track down the French raiders and recover the lost relic. Three years later join Thomas joins the English army as they begin their campaign into the northwest region of Brittany, France.
The Earl of Northampton later intervenes on Jeanette's behalf and frees her from Sir Simon's savage captivity. Thomas is assigned to help protect her, where he develops a liking to her, even though she is very bitter at the whole English occupancy. Together they share a common dislike of Sir Simon and later coordinate an ambush on him. Jeanette offers herself as bait, so that while Sir Simon begins to advance on her, Thomas will kill him with his bow from the woods. However the plan goes bad when Thomas misses and kills the squire instead. Knowing that he is discovered Thomas has no other choice but to flee as a fugitive. He is later joined by Jeanette and they journey into the French countryside to get far away from Sir Simon and the English army.
Thomas and Jeanette reach the Duke of Brittany, hoping to appeal to him since she is related to this nobility. However the French Duke is a wicked man and considers Jeanette a traitor. He decides to adopt her son and marry her off to a common soldier. He then rapes her so that she understands the new terms. Jeanette refuses the offer and escapes into the woods with Thomas. She is beside herself in misery at losing her son and Thomas does all he can to console her. Naturally they develop a romantic affair for some time as two outcasts living in the woods. However eventually Thomas knows they cannot hide forever and he regroups with a marching English army under King Edward III. The Earl of Northampton arranges a meeting with the king's son Edward (also known as the Black Prince). Together they agree to pay-off Sir Simon for Thomas' crime so that all is forgotten and Thomas can rejoin the army. The prince takes a liking to Jeanette and she becomes his mistress.
However Thomas somehow survives the hanging and is later rescued by Eleanor and taken back to Sir Guillaume's house. There Thomas is healed by a Jewish doctor named Mordecai who works for Sir Guillaume. When Thomas finally meets Sir Guillaume, it is revealed that Eleanor is his daughter and he has chosen to show mercy on his enemy. It is also revealed that Sir Guillaume did steal the lance and killed Thomas' mother, but he was just working for the wicked Harlequin (Thomas' cousin). The Harlequin later killed Sir Guillaume's wife and child. Sir Guillaume also shares that the Harlequin is an evil member of the Vexille family that steals holy relics such as the lance and the Holy Grail. Thomas understands that he and his father were also a part of this family before they fled to southern England. Despite being enemies Sir Guillaume and Thomas agree to help one another find and kill the Harlequin.
In a final confrontation on the battlefield Thomas seeks out the Harlequin as he faces the Black Prince. He is able to recover the lance, however is then confronted by Sir Simon. At this point Sir Guillaume intervenes and saves Thomas by killing Sir Simon. Thomas must then intervene to protect the French knight Sir Guillaume as the English army continues to close in on their enemy. The Black Prince is then unhorsed by the Harlequin and trapped under his fallen horse. Before the Harlequin can deliver the fatal blow, Thomas comes to the princes' aid with the lance of St. George. He strikes Harlequin's armor but the ancient lance disintegrates. The Harlequin delivers one final slash at Will Skeat's head, before fleeing with his army. The English have won the battle. Thomas is given one final assignment by the Earl of Northampton. To take Will Skeat for medical treatment to the same Jewish doctor, Mordecai. It is also suggested that Thomas will become the new commander of the longbowmen unit in the next English campaign.
The Review
This is such a great historical fiction from a soldier's perspective during the Hundred Years War. Cromwell does an incredible job at creating a story within King Edward III's initial campaign into France in 1346. The heroic character of Thomas is a typical military grunt, quite similar to Cromwell's Viking character of Uhtred in the Last Kingdom series. He's got a natural hunger, awareness, sharpness, and even cockiness during battle. But he also has a righteous side as someone who protects women and doesn't partake in the savage spoils of war. Unlike most the soldiers who pray to St. George he prays to St. Guinefort, a greyhound dog that saved a child from a snake. He's the classic heroic chivalrous knight, handsome, smart, loyal, brave, and faithful. And happens to land two beautiful French women through-out the story.
My biggest complaint however as a history nerd is one epic mistake he made. Or probably it was just an intentional oversight. He actually killed off the Bohemian prince Charles IV alongside his blind father King John. This is the same Charles IV who oversaw a golden age in Bohemia and became Holy Roman Empire (who I just wrote about a few weeks ago!) . I cannot understand why Cromwell would kill off this great Czech leader other then for sheer drama. I always hate when an author takes liberties with history and tries to rewrite a major fact such as this. Charles IV did NOT die in the Battle of Crecy, but was merely wounded. Everything else seemed pretty historically accurate, but now it makes me think Cromwell is far more concerned with the English perspective rather then the overall historical events.
Another issue I have with the fictional aspect of the story is the character of Jeanette. She was kind of built up to be this badass mysterious archer known as the "blackbird" however then slowly falls into the backdrop as a squabbling noblewoman. I'm assuming however there is still much more to her character, and the romance she shared with Thomas will likely return. I personally would like to see her back in action on the battlefield as she defended La Roche-Derrien, a true French hero like Joan of Arc. I suppose to be fair Cromwell did at least provide one French good guy in the story in Sir Guillaume. I'm eager to see where the story goes next historically, but also in the fictional arc pertaining to Eleanor, Jeaneatte, his vengeance against the Harlequin, and his quest for the Holy Grail.
