KING OF THE MIDDLE MARCH

Concluding a trilogy that began with The Seeing Stone (2001) and continued with At the Crossing-Places (2002), this handsome, beautifully written volume weaves several threads into a magnificent whole. Young Arthur de Caldicot journeys on the Fourth Crusade in 1201, observes the spectacle of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table in the seeing stone Merlin gave him, and returns home, having grown into his name, as Merlin has said he must. It’s a rich and wise tale, full of moral questioning: Is poverty in God’s plan? Are all Saracens evil? Do innocent and helpless people always get caught up in war? Mentors along the way help Arthur to see and learn, and as Arthur returns to his inherited estate Catmole, curiously similar in name to Camelot, he knows he must create a humane fellowship among the people of his manor. Superb writing, prodigious research, a wealth of detail, and fine bookmaking make these the best tales of the Middle Ages for young readers, an epic they will hate to see end. (cast of characters, author’s note, word list, calendar) (Fiction. 9-14)