For Two Nights Only

"Overtime" tells the story of Sir John de Nesle, faithful bard to Richard Coeur de Lion. Richard has been magically imprisoned for centuries, and de Nesle, aka Blondin, has cheated death in his quest to find and release the king. In the twentieth century, Blondin enlists the help of a British fighter pilot, Guy Goodlet, who is usually well-intentioned but sometimes ineffective. Together they fight, plot, and dodge the sinister forces holding the king. The book is funny and very cleverly plotted, and the faithful love of Blondin for Richard gives it heart. "Grailblazers" is also a clever story of knights beyond their time. These knights are the Grail Knights, sworn to find the Holy Grail, and they cannot die until their quest is fulfilled. Unfortunately, centuries have passed, the twentieth century has arrived, and not only have they not found the Grail; they don't even know what it is. Into this story steps Sir Boamund, who fell into an enchanted sleep at the height of the Age of Chivalry and has now been awakened in order to pursue the Grail Quest. Boamund will have to fight evil enchanters and a Santa Claus who is the antithesis of a "jolly old elf," but first he must extricate his fellow knights from a slothful bourgeois life. "Grailblazers" is full of amusing writing and clever plot twists, but it is marred by too heavy a reliance on insult humor. Both books are strongest in their portrayal of friendships between men and weakest on male-female relationships; unfortunately, "Grailblazers" depends more than "Overtime" on women characters, and is weaker as a result.