Book Log 2006 #46: The Archer's Tale by Bernard Cornwell

So it turns out that I never actually wrote anything up on this book, the first in the Grail Quest series whose second book I mentioned a couple of days ago. Whoops.

In any case, the series is set during the Hundred Years War, and follows Thomas of Hookton, the illegitimate son of a priest who chooses being an archer over following in his father's footsteps into the church. A mysterious raid leads to the destruction of the town, the death of Thomas' father, and the theft of an artifact that is believed to be the lance St. George used to slay the dragon. Thomas enters military service to reclaim the spear and avenge the death of his father. Along the way he gets drawn into a much more complex quest - can you guess for what? - and learns about his family's equally complext past.

Cornwell started this trilogy before the one about King Alfred, and there are some clear paralells between the two main characters - both are dispossessed sons of nobles with a faculty for languages, a twisted family history, and a disdain for organized religion. History keeps them from being too much like each other, but there's similarity enough.

Given my comment on the second book, you've probably guessed that I liked this one. It's solid history fiction, focused more on the war than the Grail, series title notwithstanding.