The Squire’s Quest by Gerald Morris

Rating: 2/5

Despite the return to Terence’s point of view, and the usual mix of humor and wit, I found this book to be ultimately boring and disappointing. This is the penultimate book in the series, and Morris is starting to lay the groundwork for the plot to overtake Arthur. Though Morgause has been in the background since book 1, Mordred was only introduced in the previous book, and he takes much more of a center stage role here. He is a chilling, wily villain, who is kind and loyal and wonderful on the outside, but, as several characters comment, there’s “nothing” on the inside. He’s the most villainous character in the series by far, as he’s the only one who hasn’t displayed a shred of humanity when it comes right down to it.

However, Morris only starts to lay the groundwork. Most of the book is taken up with a random adventure in Greece & Germany, where Morris does more mocking of the idea of courtly love and romanticizing death. The juxtaposition of the serious Mordred plot and the tongue-in-cheek Cliges and Fenice plot is jarring, and makes the middle of the book drag. Plus, that plot is so similar to others in the previous books that it doesn’t feel new, just formulaic—despite Morris’s attempts to liven it up with Dinadan’s witty remarks. And, because Terence spends so much time in Greece, the ending of the book feels rushed.

It’s clear, by the end, that this book was simply one giant set-up for the showdown in the last book, and I wish it hadn’t been so obvious.

Info: Gerald Morris; published in 2009 by Houghton Mifflin; sequel to The Quest of the Fair Unknown

Genre: Middle Grade, Historical Fiction, Fantasy

Warnings: None.

Recommended Age Range: 10+