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Harlequin (The Grail Quest)
 
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Harlequin (The Grail Quest) (Paperback)

by Bernard Cornwell (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (61 customer reviews)
RRP: £6.99
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Product details

  • Paperback: 484 pages
  • Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd (4 Jun 2001)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0006513840
  • ISBN-13: 978-0006513841
  • Product Dimensions: 17.8 x 11.1 x 3.7 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (61 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 3,476 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #1 in  Books > Romance > Series & Publishers > Harlequin Historicals
    #9 in  Books > Fiction > Genre > Historical Adventure Stories
    #16 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > C > Cornwell, Bernard > Sharpe Novels

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
Following the phenomenal success of the Sharpe novels set in the Napoleonic Wars, Bernard Cornwell has turned his storytelling talents to another great moment in English history, the Hundred Years War between England and France throughout the 14th century. Harlequin is the first book in Cornwell's Grail Quest series, which chronicles the adventures of young Thomas of Hookton, "a big, bony, black-haired country boy". Thomas rejects the church in favour of the life of an archer in France after his village is brutally sacked by the French. The young Thomas fights back against the French with his bow, and "in that one instant, as the first arrow slid into the sky, he knew he wanted nothing more from life". He vows to seek revenge on the plains of France, and recover the holy relic of St. George stolen from his village by the sinister "harlequin" with whose destiny Thomas finds himself inextricably entwined. The rest of the action moves at a hectic pace across the violent and bloody battlefields of northern France, as Thomas falls for a beautiful French widow nicknamed "the Blackbird", makes a mortal enemy of the "poor, bitter and ambitious" Sir Simon Jekyll, and follows the ensign of King Edward III and his heroic son, the Black Prince. Harlequin is a fast-paced and graphic recreation of the Hundred Years War, despite a rather gratuitous fixation on rape and pillage. The action comes thick and fast, although it remains to be seen if Thomas of Hookton has the wit and flair of Cornwell's other great heroic creation, Richard Sharpe. --Jerry Brotton --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
Thomas of Hookton is one of those archers. When his village is sacked by French raiders, he makes a promise to God: to retrieve the relic stolen from Hookton's church. Escaping his father's ambitions, he becomes a wild youth who delights in the life of an army on the warpath. Driven by his conscience and protected by his fearsome skills, he enters a world where lovers become enemies and enemies become friends, where his only certainty is that somewhere, beyond a horizon smeared with the smoke of fires set by the rampaging English army, a terrible enemy awaits him. This enemy would harness the power of Chistendom's greatest relic: the Grail itself. Here, in the first book of a new series, the quest begins. It leads him through the fields of France, to the village of Crecy where two great armies meet on the hillside to do battle.

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Harlequin (The Grail Quest)
65% buy the item featured on this page:
Harlequin (The Grail Quest) 4.2 out of 5 stars (61)
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Vagabond (The Grail Quest)
11% buy
Vagabond (The Grail Quest) 4.0 out of 5 stars (26)
Azincourt
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Customer Reviews

61 Reviews
5 star:
 (31)
4 star:
 (17)
3 star:
 (11)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (61 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
100 of 107 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars "Archer's Tale" = "Harelquin" Be Warned., 10 Mar 2006
By A Customer
Okay, it's a great yarn - book one of my favourite B.C. Series thus far (excepting Sharpe, of course). But BE WARNED "The Archer's Tale" is "Harlequin" by another title. BC wanted the book to be called "Harlequin" (as it was originally release un the UK) but the Yanks, as they've a pre-teen lovey-dovey-pukey-sickey series of inoffensive 'romantic' novellas called the 'Harlequin' series the publishers didn't want angry parents complaining that their pre-pubescent, highly impressionable Young American children were being actually taught something about European History; the 100 years' War and the battle of Agincourt, through a piece of historical fiction. That said, the book is absolutely FANTASTIC even though the whereabouts of the Grail are stunningly obvious to anyone with half a brain cell (pre-pubescent Young Americans not included). The stunning brutalitly and harsh reality of life, warfare and politics in the early part of the 100 years' war is finely and easily depicted, here. Enjoy and buy the others!
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108 of 116 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Harlequin Revisited, 27 Sep 2002
This book is "Harlequin" the first book in the "Grail Quest" series with a new title. Cornwell fans beware, do not think that it is a new book!

Having said that Cornwell produces his usual standard of work with an excellent story drawing on strands of christian mythology and well researched history. For me the thing which makes Cornwell the best writer of historical warfare novels since Forester (Hornblower & Death to the French) is his attention to the detail in his heros' daily lives. In this book, Cornwell shows that he is as knowledgeable about the life of an archer in the 14th century as he is about infantry in the 19th century.

A Cornwell book is always worth buying, reading and re-reading.

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23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Archer's Tale/Harlequin, 23 Mar 2006
This book is truely wonderful introduction into the grail quest series. Harlequin (aka The Archer's Tale) kickstarts the trilogy with a bang, introducing a typical Cornwallesque Heroic character (strong, impoverished and with tragedy in his past) who is then followed through a series of adventures both at home and in the middle of the hundred year's war in France.

If you like the Sharpe series then you'll love this too. A different period of history, but equally well explored, with historical facts and battles being interwoven into a story based around an intricate plot of familial revenge and power. If you're buying this then seriously consider buying Vagabond and Heretic (the rest of the grail quest trillogy) because once you get into the story you won't want to have to wait for the next installment...

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Everyman with a bow
This book contains all of Cornwell's trademark day to day grit, heart-pounding battle scenes and attention to historical detail, all told from the viewpoint of an 'everyman', this... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Faithful

4.0 out of 5 stars Cornwell is as steady as usual
I bought this on holiday as the book I was reading was just too depressing. I had read most of his Sharpe books so thought this would be good. Read more
Published 8 months ago by chuckles

5.0 out of 5 stars AWESOME
This is one great novel. Fans of Sharpe will see some similaritis in the character, but nonetheless an excellent read.
Published 12 months ago by Kaiser Soze

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic!
Okay, I read this book a couple of years ago now. And how glad I did.

Originally I bought Heretic, and wondered after a couple of pages who these people were. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Say Again

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Medieval Adventure!
Harlequin centres around Thomas of Hookton, an archer who joins the English army in France, after his father is murdered, and an ancient relic, is stolen from the church, when his... Read more
Published 13 months ago by J.Flood

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Start to the Series


Bernard Cornwell is the author of the acclaimed Richard Sharpe series, set during the Napoleonic Wars. I have not as yet read any of this series. Read more
Published 19 months ago by J. Chippindale

3.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining adventure, but lacks depth
"Harlequin" (also known by its US title, "The Archer's Tale") is the first book in Cornwell's Grail Quest trilogy and follows the experiences of young longbowman Thomas of Hookton... Read more
Published 22 months ago by J. Aitcheson

2.0 out of 5 stars Very disappointing
After the magnificent "Winter King" trilogy I was impatient to discover the new trilogy by Bernard Cornwell. Well, I was devastated by this book. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Maciej K.

4.0 out of 5 stars A lesser Cornwell novel
I like Bernard Cornwell novels but found this one hard going compared to others. Its the first of three novels telling the story of Thomas of Hookton (the Archer of the title)... Read more
Published 24 months ago by Mr. Andrew Moore

4.0 out of 5 stars Compelling
Bernard Cornwell doesn't usually disappoint and Harlequin is no exception. A fast paced, exciting story with a host of interesting and complex characters (with a few exceptions to... Read more
Published on 2 Jun 2007 by K. Elliott

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