Heretic

Heretic is the third book in Bernard Cornwell's much-acclaimed Grail Quest series, a series that many were initially cautious about because it represented something of a change of pace for the master historical novelist. But Cornwell quickly demonstrated that this period of history was well within his remit, and the sequence has proved to be among his most mesmerising work.

Heretic begins with a bloody battle outside Calais in 1347, a short time before the city fell to the English. The sympathetic Thomas of Hookton is bending every sinew at the service of his master, the Earl of Northampton; after risking his life time and again, Thomas finds himself commissioned to track down the most sacred relic in Christendom, the Holy Grail. He travels to Gascony, seat of power of his nemesis, Guy Vexille. Utilising his archers, Thomas conducts a fierce guerrilla war against Vexille, and yearns for a face-to-face encounter. But then Thomas is routed and finds his campaign in shreds, facing the twin enemies of the church and the plague.

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

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Good end to the trilogy - Rated
This book nicely finishes the grail trilogy. With the old enemies and introduction of some new particularly nasty new ones, this is a good read. As I mentioned in the reviews of the other books, this is basically Sharpe in the middle ages, not quite up there with the Sharpe series, but a good entertaining historical set of books. Well worth a read!

archery and more archery - no room for people - Rated
a weak series. It was recommended to me because I was at that point writing a book based in Brittany. For the average reader, the archer could have been fighting anywhere in Europe, there was so little actual description of the countryside and an overwhelming amount of description of how to fire a longbow. And again and again and again ... I was not disappointed to finish the series, whereas with the Arthurian set, I was.

disappointing - Rated
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 - Rated
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 - Rated
"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.