Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #915 in Books
• Published on: 1998-10-01
• Binding: Paperback
• 496 pages

Synopsis
A story of love, war, loyalty and betrayal, "Excalibur" begins with the failure of Lancelot's rebellion and the ruin of Arthur's marriage to Guinevere. The Saxons, sensing the disunity of the Britons, seize the chance to destroy Arthur. The climax of the war comes with the legendary triumph at Mount Badon, and Arthur's great victory. But the promises he made then come back to haunt him after the years of peace and glory.

Customer Reviews

Cutting through the nonsense with Excalibur
Remembering first and foremost that this is myth wrapped into fiction, a dangerous mix at the best of times, this is far and away the best of the 3 books in the trilogy. However, the whole trilogy was spoiled for me by the incessant 'he spat' to the point when I began to believe that Southern England is a place of bogs and marshland due to the amount of saliva spat into it during Saxon times. Unfortunately an author does tend to fasten onto a word (with Martina Cole, for example, in Faces, it was 'sipped') and they do not realise they are overdoing it to an alarming degree. This is where the editor should be taking note and they aren't.
Having said that, this trilogy far outweighs the Holy Grail books in both content and characterisation, even if Arthur is nowhere near the heroic figure he deserves to be and Lancelot is more cowardly than I presumed him to be. But that is entirely a matter of opinion. Enjoy the books. He won't write better than these.

Inspiring
These are the finest books that I have ever read. They tell the tale of King Arthur in the dark ages in a way that makes you believe in such men, or certainly hope they existed. The story is brilliantly told through the writings of the main character Derfel Cadarn and these books blend the myth of King Arthur with what little is known of those times. Derfel tells the tales with such heart that you can almost feel the landscapes and characters he describes, from the mischievous Merlin to the imperious Guinevere. Quite simply, buy these books and treasure them.

A magnificent ending to my all time favorite trilogy.
All the unanswered treads from the previous two books are sorted out here, the Battle of Mount Badon is proberbly the best described and gripping battle i have ever read. The last 100 pages ore amazing and the ending, as you would expect very sad. I only wish Bernard Cornwell would write about what happened to the surviving Charactors from between the end of the book and the start when Derfel is an old Monk re-telling the tale that only he and sly Bishop Sansum remember living through. Maybe he feels some stories should not be told and that we dont need all the answers? Overall the best book in what in my opinion is the Greatest trilogy ever written, highly recommended, now will someone make this series into a movie or tv series (without ruining it!)