Kingdom Of The Grail: Amazon.ca: Judith Tarr: Books

Product Description

From Library Journal

A descendant of the wizard Merlin, the young warrior known as Roland vows to free his ancestor from centuries of imprisonmentDunaware of his own monumental destiny. With her customary artistry and feel for period detail, the author of The Shepherd Kings weaves together the legends of Camelot and the Song of Roland, creating a tapestry rich with love and loyalty, sorcery, and sacrifice. Tarr's ability to give equal weight to both history and myth provides her historical fantasies with both realism and wonder. Highly recommended.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Centuries after the fall of Camelot, Merlin, one of the two protagonists of Tarr's new yarn, remains imprisoned in an enchanted forest. One day Roland, a young shape changer, visits the magician and leaves vowing to free him. Years pass. Roland, who carefully conceals his powers, is now a champion at Charlemagne's court. When one of Merlin's old enemies comes on the scene, however, old ethical and physical conflicts break out anew. A master of historical fantasy, Tarr successfully links the Arthurian legends to the Chanson de Roland by means of the Holy Grail, which predated Christianity but was strengthened by it, and she also weaves in the legend that Roland, renamed Huon of the Horn, was a king of the Hidden Folk after his supposed death. Tarr makes the blending of medieval legends, often attempted by lesser writers with indifferent success, into a worthwhile addition for most fantasy collections. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Customer Reviews

10 Reviews

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4 star:		(1)
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Average Customer Review

3.8 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)

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3.0 out of 5 stars Hurry up and wait, July 18 2002

By

J. Peterson "jenpeterson" (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Kingdom Of The Grail (Paperback)

This book was an interesting weave of the Merlin story and the "Song of Roland." The last half of the book occurs after the "Song of Roland" and what could have happened if Roland had been a descendent of Merlin.

The magical elements in this book are wonderful. Tarik is so entertaining. The author leaves some things hidden until the very end, which makes it a satisfying conclusion.

However, there were parts of this book that just drug along. The romance was ok, but the whole "who is he?" "who is she?" nonsense against a larger backdrop was inconsequential.

All in all, I think this is a good book that deserves a read, however, be prepared to have to dig through some not very exciting parts to get to the good stuff.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Will the real Roland please stand up?, Jan 25 2001

By

D. Baker (Cincinnati, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Kingdom Of The Grail (Paperback)

Judith Tarr mixes Merlin, the *Song of Roland* and the myth of the madman of the forest together in a romance that is more romantic than historical. This gives her the chance to create several Rolands: warrior, lover, shapechanger, Carolingian loyalist, madman of the woods, and reluctant champion-king. Character motivation is weak, especially for the distrust of Sarissa (who would not be allowed the freedom she exhibits in a real Carolingian setting). Nor would a woman of her time necessarily sleep with someone she does not trust completely. A slow read, it picks up in spots, and she has a gift for description, but I had to push myself to finish. Why is Tarr considered a queen of historical fiction? I don't see it. She offers a mish-mash of ill-defined magic, over-romanticized characters, and idealized history with a New Age bent.

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2.0 out of 5 stars Not nearly as good as _The Hound and the Falcon_, Dec 18 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Kingdom Of The Grail (Paperback)

I really wanted to love this book. The negative reviews here seemed to focus on the romance plot, which on itself is not a problem, on the contrary, Alamut is a favorite of mine. I am very glad that Ms. Tarr is writing again fantasy novels set in the same universe as the Hound&Falcon trilogy and Alamut and _the Dagger&the Cross_, but a few centuries before. _Hounds of God:_ the last novel of _the Hound and Falcon_ closed that universe to all new novels are set earlier, which certainly offers potential.

But on this novel the mix and match of several myths just does not work. I wishI understood why the Kingdom of the Grail has the feel that it cames out the Pan-Celtic tour to fantasyland, while it is somehow related to the Pyrinees, and the basques. Enough celts, please, there are so very many other interesting European societies! And the plot and characterization is a mess, "she distrusts him, now she trusts him, now there is a big misunderstanding, now he distrusts her...", oh, dear.... It was a chore to plog along until the end of the book. Not recomended, but Ms Tarr's earlier novels, The Hound and the Falcon, and the Avaryan series certainly are recomended, read them instead if you haven't yet. If you are already a fan of those novels, don't expect too much of this one, and you might end up enjoying it, but in my opinion this is far from being their equal.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars FANTASTIC!!!!
Ms. Tarr returns to her most magical writing style, which I have not seen done quite this well since the Hound and the Falcon trilogy.

I savored every word of this story. Read more

Published on July 26 2001 by M. Laylin

5.0 out of 5 stars Roland, the Arthurian Grail, and Merlin all together--nice
What if Roland was not a Frankish savage but a Bretton, decended from Merlin himself? What if his famous battle was only the prelude to a greater war--the battle for control of... Read more