Product Description

Arthur de Caldicot arrives at Holt to be squire to Lord Stephen and accompany him on crusade. It is an exciting and bewildering time for him as he finds a warhorse, is fitted with armour, and improves his fighting skills. He dreads a confrontation with his blood-father, the violent Sir William, and dreams of finding his true mother; he discovers girls - including the vivacious Winnie de Verdon whom he rescues from burning to death; he has to deal with the aftermath of a murder; he sees the sea for the first time, sails to France and finally takes the Cross. And meanwhile these events are reflected in his seeing stone, in stories of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Packed with incident, wonderful characters, and fascinating historical detail, and interwoven with brilliant retellings of Arthurian legends, this is a glorious follow-up to THE SEEING STONE.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #51632 in Books
• Published on: 2002-06-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Financial Times, July 13, 2002
"Rich, evocative storytelling."

Review
"Rich, evocative storytelling." (Financial Times, 13 July 2002 )

"This is storytelling of subtlety and nuance and, for the reflective reader, all the more satisfying for that." (Books for Keeps )

"...a glorious panorama of medieval life, packed with incident and colour, brave deeds, passion , deception and even murder...and is surely destined to be become a classic." (East Anglian Daily Times )

"...an impressively multi-layered book, beautifully written, and a terrific piece of storytelling. I was impressed as much by Crossley-Holland's way with words as by the story itself." (The Historical Novels Review )

East Anglian Daily Times, July 6, 2002
"a glorious panorama of medieval life, packed with incident and colour, brave deeds, passion, deception and even murder...surely destined to become a classic."

Customer Reviews

The second in the Arthur trilogy - not as good as the first.,
This book continues the story of young Arthur, begun in "Arthur: The Seeing Stone". It is now the year 1200, one year on from the previous novel, and Arthur is all set to join Lord Stephen de Holt (the man to whom he is now squire) on the Fourth Crusade against the infidels. However, there are many preparations that have to be made before they can even think of crossing the Channel... Armour to get ready, horses... and will Arthur become betrothed??

This book, like the first in the trilogy, is cut short into 101 chapters, and the chapters chop and change between the story of Arthur of the Marches and the myth of King Arthur in the stone. Being used to the short chapters from the previous novel, I barely noticed them. Unfortunately, though, I just couldn't enjoy the story of the mythological Arthur in this novel. I found the sections about the legend of King Arthur seemed muddled and didn't have any continuity to them, making them difficult to read and follow. There also seems to be a greater emphasis on the mythology story in this novel as well, whereas in the first book it was used less often.

In all, although I still enjoyed the story of young Arthur in the Marches at his crossing point between boyhood and manhood, and the vivid descriptions of medieval life, I felt the legend of Arthur sections could have been used to tie the book together a lot better. As it is, they are just a confusing muddle and I was left disappointed.

taking the cross
Arthur at the crossing-places is a wonderful sequel and just as good as the seeing stone.

i love the way the story never stops; the first chapter continues where the last chapter of the previous book finished. there's no sense of missing anything that happens to Arthur or to Arthur-in-the-stone.

i can't help but wonder what will happen to Gatty, and who Arthur will be betrothed to. its a brilliant, realistic, imaginative story, that charms you with its complexity and breathtaking simplicty. one of the best books i have ever read.

Good enough
I really liked the first book in the trilogy but the second one was slightly disappointing but still well worth reading. i thought that it did have a bit to much about Arthur of Camelot because i prefer reading about arthur de caldicot. i want 2 c how the story develops so i am eagarly awaiting the 3rd book.