Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} The Archer's Tale (The Grail Quest #1) by Bernard Cornwell ISBN 13: 9780002259651. Harlequin/The Archer's Tale (Grail Quest Series #1) Cornwell,Bernard. This specific ISBN edition is currently not available. Hardback, ex-library, with usual stamps and markings, in good all round condition. "synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title. A brutal raid on the quiet coastal English village of Hookton in 1342 leaves but one survivor: a young archer named Thomas. On this terrible dawn, his purpose becomes clear -- to recover a stolen sacred relic and pursue to the ends of the earth the murderous black-clad knight bearing a blue- and-yellow standard, a journey that leads him to the courageous rescue of a beautiful French woman, and sets him on his ultimate quest: the search for the Holy Grail. About the Author : Bernard Cornwell worked for BBC TV for seven years, mostly as producer on the Nationwide programme, before taking charge of the Current Affairs department in Northern Ireland. In 1978 he became editor of Thames Television's Thames at Six. Married to an American, he now lives in the United States. ISBN 13: 9780066210841. From New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell, the first book in the Grail Series—the spellbinding tale of a young man, a fearless archer, who sets out wanting to avenge his family's honor and winds up on a quest for the Holy Grail. A brutal raid on the quiet coastal English village of Hookton in 1342 leaves but one survivor: a young archer named Thomas. On this terrible dawn, his purpose becomes clear—to recover a stolen sacred relic and pursue to the ends of the earth the murderous black-clad knight bearing a blue- and-yellow standard, a journey that leads him to the courageous rescue of a beautiful French woman, and sets him on his ultimate quest: the search for the Holy Grail. "synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title. At dawn on Easter morning 1343, a marauding band of French raiders arrives by boat to ambush the coastal English village of Hookton. To brave young Thomas, the only survivor, the horror of the attack is epitomized in the casual savagery of a particular black-clad knight, whose flag -- three yellow hawks on a blue field -- presides over the bloody affair. As the killers sail away, Thomas vows to avenge the murder of his townspeople and to recapture a holy treasure that the black knight stole from the church. To do this, Thomas of Hookton must first make his way to France; So in 1343 he joins the army of King Edward III as it is about to invade the continent -- the beginning of the Hundred Years War. A preternaturally gifted bowman, Thomas quickly becomes recognized as one of England's most deadly archers in King Edward's march across France. Yet he never stops scanning the horizon for his true enemy's flag. When Thomas saves a young Frenchwoman from a bloodthirsty crowd, her father -- French nobleman Sir Guillaume d'Evecque -- rewards his bravery by joining him in the hunt for the mysterious dark knight and the stolen holy relic. What begins as a search for vengeance will soon prove the beginning of an even higher purpose: the quest for the Holy Grail itself. About the Author : BERNARD CORNWELL is the author of the acclaimed New York Times bestselling Saxon Tales series, which includes The Last Kingdom, The Pale Horseman, Lords of the North, Sword Song, The Burning Land, Death of Kings, The Pagan Lord , and, most recently, The Empty Throne and Warriors of the Storm , and which serves as the basis for the hit television series The Last Kingdom . He lives with his wife on Cape Cod and in Charleston, South Carolina. The Archer's Tale : Book One of the Grail Quest. From New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell, the first book in the Grail Series—the spellbinding tale of a young man, a fearless archer, who sets out wanting to avenge his family's honor and winds up on a quest for the Holy Grail. A brutal raid on the quiet coastal English village of Hookton in 1342 leaves but one survivor: a young archer named Thomas. On this terrible dawn, his purpose becomes clear—to recover a stolen sacred relic and pursue to the ends of the earth the murderous black-clad knight bearing a blue- and-yellow standard, a journey that leads him to the courageous rescue of a beautiful French woman, and sets him on his ultimate quest: the search for the Holy Grail. The Archer's Tale. Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. This is my first time reading Cornwell. I don't generally like so much telling in place of showing, but he moves his story more quickly this way and I'm impressed with the degree of historical detail. There's lots to learn about the 14th century in northern France, especially military history, in the context of a fast-paced adventure structured around historical incidents. I've gathered the primary reason to read Cornwell is for a boots-on-the- ground viewpoint during whatever battles he's covering. The Battle of Caen (1346), for example, is much more visceral here than reading dry Wikipedia facts. It took me a while to warm up to Thomas of Hookton, since he's not exactly a standup guy. When his initial love interest gets kidnapped, our hero only feels relief that he need no longer worry about her pregnancy. Cornwell doesn't sugarcoat it when Thomas' band is roaming the French countryside, destroying lives and livlihoods; it's dirty work, not heroic thrills. As an English archer Thomas is feared and hated by his enemies, for killing from a distance and being heedless of chivalry. Character growth eventually kicks in, and he's aided by contrast with others in the story of similar rank. The plot is more impressive than Thomas. Considering it's "on rails" - forced to fit with actual historical events - Cornwell is surprisingly creative. It took a few turns that I didn't anticipate, and drew in a broader cross-section of society than just army ranks. This promises to be a good series for anyone welcoming (or who can abide) an extra dose of military in their historical fiction. ( ) Grail Quest. The first book of the series is Harlequin , unless you live in the United States where the book, to my considerable annoyance, was retitled as The Archer’s Tale . Which is not a particularly bad title, but I hate it when publishers do that. Their reason was that there is a well-known series in the States called Harlequin Romances, much like the British Mills and Boon, and it was thought that folks would get confused and, thinking they were buying a bodice-ripper with heavy breathing, find instead that they had a tale of the Hundred Years War with arrow-spitted Frenchmen. So what? Maybe they would have enjoyed the read, because more than one bodice gets thoroughly ripped in Harlequin . Vagabond is a follow-up to Harlequin ( The Archer’s Tale in the US) – and starts almost as soon as the earlier book ends, carrying on Thomas of Hookton’s story. He has been sent back to England to pursue his father’s mysterious legacy which hints that the Holy Grail might exist and gets tangled with the Scottish invasion of 1347. He survives that only to discover that various powerful folk in France are pursuing the same quest, a complication that takes Thomas back to Brittany and the brutal fighting about La Roche-Derrien. The third book in the series is Heretic and begins with the fall of Calais. Displaying book editions selected for your country. If you would like to change country please use the selector on the right. Heretic ( 2003 ) Heretic is the third in the ‘Grail Quest’ series, and it takes Thomas of Hookton south into Gascony and to a final confrontation with his cousin, Guy Vexille. The novel begins with the fall of Calais, and most of the events occur in the subsequent truce, but for Thomas and his companions there can be no truce, only a vicious small war which ends with them being besieged, not just by enemies intent on finding the grail, but by the Black Death. Vagabond ( 2002 ) Vagabond is a follow-up to Harlequin (The Archer’s Tale in the US) – and starts almost as soon as the earlier book ends, carrying on Thomas of Hookton’s story. He has been sent back to England to pursue his father’s mysterious legacy which hints that the Holy Grail might exist and gets tangled with the Scottish invasion of 1347. Harlequin ( 2000 ) Harlequin (US title The Archer’s Tale) begins a series of stories set in the middle of the fourteenth century, an age when the four horsemen of the apocalypse seem to have been released over Europe. This first book tells how Thomas of Hookton leaves his native Dorset to fight aginst the French in Brittany and, afterwards, at the battle of Crecy in Picardy. It is a tale of longbows and butchery, especially when England’s archers swarm into the Norman city of Caen.