Heretic (Grail Quest)

In this third book, Bernard Cornwell ups the ante in every sense: along with the splendidly realised battle scenes (a Cornwell trademark), the evocation of the Middle Ages is more crowded and bustling than one might have thought possible without subsuming the protagonists. But most of all, it's the character of Thomas that powers the narrative; having his hero fall in love (sensitively handled here) sets off the ultimate conflict with his mortal enemy perfectly. Leave the 21st century behind and venture into a dark and foreign era--it's a journey you won't regret. --Barry Forshaw

Reader Reviews:

disappointing (1/1 people found this helpful)

This series has been mediocre when comapred to the Starbuck and Warlord series.
the first two books were at least passable and did grip the attention in some way, but this finale was very weak. it had none of the bite and fight of the others. It seemed to me that the author had promised a trilogy and was just throwing things together in a bid to get the series out of the way, so that he could move onto pastures new.
It is definatley not a book that you dont want to put down until finished.

loved it (2/3 people found this helpful)

With Heretic, Cornwell concludes his Hundred Years War/Grail trilogy. Although quite different in tone from the first two books in the series, this is still an exciting, page turning read. Thomas continues his quest, picks up a new love interest, gets excommunicated, escapes the plague, settles old scores, and comes to understand the true meaning of the grail. What is different from the previous two books in the series is that he does this outside the context of real historical battles and campaigns. For Cornwell fans there is no question, if you've followed the quest this far, pick up Heretic and finish it!! Also, if you missed Tino Georgiou's masterful novel--The Fates, go and read it.

A disappointing end to a lacklustre series (2/3 people found this helpful)

"Heretic" is the third and final book in Bernard Cornwell's Grail Quest series, following the experiences of English archer Thomas of Hookton. The year is 1347 and Thomas has been allowed by his lord to travel together with a band of knights and archers to southern France. There Thomas intends to draw out and confront his cousin and enemy, Guy Vexille, and from him to learn the true location of the Holy Grail. These plans are soon put in jeopardy, however, when he falls in love with Genevieve, a girl due to be burned as a heretic. Upon releasing her, he finds himself excommunicated from the Church and cast out by his companions into the Gascon countryside.

Like the two volumes before it, this is a fast-paced tale of action and adventure. Thankfully in this volume there is more of a sense of direction than in "Harlequin" and "Vagabond" - perhaps because we know this is the final installment of the trilogy and that everything must be resolved. Notable too is Cornwell's ability to evoke a genuine sense of place and time. His descriptions of the Gascon countryside, as they have been of Normandy, Dorset and Northumbria, are vivid and detailed in every respect. Nevertheless, the prose does not flow as well as we have come to expect from a Cornwell book, lacking the poetic quality of "Excalibur" or "The Last Kingdom". Even the battle scenes in "Heretic" read somewhat clunkily, and do not generate the usual level of tension or excitement.

The characterisation in "Heretic" is similarly wanting. There is a whole host of potentially interesting minor characters, but, unlike earlier volumes in the series, it is difficult to get a feel for them as more than simply names. Genevieve especially is never developed, which is as surprising as it is disappointing, given that she is supposed to be Thomas's new love, on whose behalf he makes great sacrifices. Moreover, the style of narration that Cornwell has chosen for this series often slips disconcertingly between a number of different points of view. As a result, the reader is always kept at some distance from Thomas. It is also difficult to sympathise with him as the hero of the piece, since his actions are often every bit as brutal and self-interested as those of the men he is fighting.

Entertaining in the short term but in the end rather forgettable, "Heretic" has the feeling of being a rather rushed and as-yet unpolished work, and ultimately it fails to live up to Cornwell's usual standard.

Third in the Grail Quest (0/3 people found this helpful)

Bernard Cornwell is the author of the acclaimed Richard Sharpe series, set during the Napoleonic Wars To my shame I have not read any of these. The books about Arthurian England are much more my cup of tea and I read those avidly. He has also written among others, Stonehenge 2000 B.C. Bernard Cornwell lives with his wife on Cape Cod.

This is the third instalment of the Grail Quest series and it picks up the story in 1347. The war with France has been suspended by an uneasy truce. The English have captured the port of Calais and now there is a lull in the proceedings. Although this gives a respite the armies of both nations, there is no break in the fighting for Thomas of Hookton. He is still pursuing the grail, the most sacred relic known to a Christian.

Thomas is in his homeland of Gascony, seeking out his long-time enemy Guy Vexille. Thomas is playing a dangerous game, leading his group of archers on daring raids that will draw out the enemy, but soon there is a change in fortune and Thomas becomes the hunted rather than the hunter.. Even worse is to come. Worse than his enemy Guy Vexille, worse than the might of the whole of the Fremch army. The deadliest plague know to mankind arrives in Europe. Is this a sign of anger from God himself . . .

A good end to the trilogy (3/3 people found this helpful)

Typical Bernard Cornwell fare. If you've read his books, you know what to expect, if not then this is as good a place as any to start; except this is the third and final instalment to his Archer/Grail Quest series so I suggest you get Harlequin and Vagabond first (in that order).
This follows on almost straight from the end of Vagabond and takes us to an only partly satisfying end with main characters either surviving or dying at natural and war based endings.
Once again' like most Cornwell fare, a fictitious story set in real history. Good stuff

Bernard Cornwell

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