King of the Middle March

This book, like its predecessors, is for those that want to learn more about Arthurian legends. At least it will whet your appetite. It follows the story of Arthur de Caldicot who has similar (but definitely not the same) life experiences as King Arthur. Read the first two books. But the reason everyone is so disappointed (myself included) in the ending of this story is because he doesnt tie up all the loose ends we would like him to. May I introduce you to "Crossing to Paradise" first published as "Gatty's Tale" I had to actually get this book and look in it to realize it is the fourth installment of this "trilogy" it wasnt really clear either on his website or other websites. Probably because CtP is about Gatty and not Arthur. But it completes the story. So there you go. Crossing To Paradise Gatty's Tale IN King of Middle March, you experience what life was like during the crusades. Some were bogged down by the flow (it is written in journal style, like the other two) Crossley-Holland does seem to explain a lot. But I found it quite interesting. Mainly these stories are about a teenage boy growing up into his own self. Who he was meant to be. That is why Merlin gave him the Seeing Stone to view the life of King Arthur. My favorite aspect of these books is the turmoil inside Arthur when he meets kind Saracens (muslims) and evil Christians. This isnt what he was taught. he was taught to hate and kill Saracens. This is a very relevant topic for today even. This aspect of the story carries over to Crossing to Paradise for Gatty has the same turmoil. The author finally arrives at a solution and I quite like it: All religions have evil and good followers. People are very much alike even if they are so different. Worth the read for teens or mature teens. If it was a movie, it would probably be PG-13. Very good story.

It is the best end that you could expect for this trilogy, I love it!

Review by Kevin Chapman The story began in a village called Caldicot in 1186. A boy named Arthur works in this village and has been training all of his life to become a squire. When he is about 14 he learns that he can become a squire of Lord Stephan, a friend of Arthur's father, Sir John. At the same time Arthur's father tells him that he isn't his true father but he is his uncle. His true father is a man named Sir William, who Arthur thought was his uncle. Arthur has always hated Sir William because of his bad temper and that he beats his wife. Arthur's father also tells him that he won't have to live with his new father because Arthur is going on the crusade with Lord Stephan. His father said that Sir William will also be going on the crusade. Arthur is excited that he is going on the crusade, but he wanted to see his real mother more than anything else in the world. He decided that he would try to find her when he got back. While on the crusade, Arthur spends a great amount of time at night looking into a stone that a friend named Merlin gave him. The stone showed Arthur stories of knights on quests, and soldiers fighting wars in a magical land, but mostly the story of King Arthur. It is just like all of the King Arthur stories where he pulls the sword out of the stone and becomes King of Britain. The stone shows how Arthur receives the sword Excalibur, and how he creates the Round Table and Camelot. The stone also shows King Arthur's knights questing for the Holy Grail, and in the end of the book, it finally shows King Arthur's downfall. Arthur loves looking into the stone, because what happens in the stone seems to relate to what happens to Arthur's real life. The story of King Arthur and his knights take up about half of the book, yet it plays an important role in the story. Arthur had to save many people from robbers on the crusade, and it was recognized by Lord Stephan. Because of Arthur's bravery, he was knighted, and received a sword that looked just like King Arthur's sword, Excalibur. Not long after that there was a big storm and the crusade ships had to land some where. They finally came to an island called Zara, but they refused to let the Crusaders stay, because of their great numbers. Almost no one thought it was a good idea to do this, but the Crusaders decided to attack Zara. Arthur hated this decision and couldn't take watching people kill innocent people. Once they had driven off the people of Zara, Arthur and Lord Stephan found Sir William. A couple nights later Arthur found Lord Stephan trying to calm Sir William down, but he couldn't control his temper. Sir William drew out a knife and stabbed Lord Stephan in the shoulder. Arthur then leaped on top of his father and wrestled him down to the ground. During this, Arthur's father accidentally stabbed himself with his own knife and killed him self. Arthur felt like dying too, for his father was dead, and Lord Stephan might be too. The next day, Ar

All three of the books are very good. The overall story is great. It is mainly for young teens and older kids. The decriptions and the characters are good. It is a shame though that the ending of the third and final book is not so good. It doesn't tellyou enough and leaves you wanting to know the rest. But there is not another book. If you like medieval and magic you will like this. Not the best book of the year but i would recommend it.