This is the completion of a brilliant and magical series – the third book following Arthur de Caldicot as he grows to manhood, and knighthood, in medieval England.

The brilliance is from Kevin Crossley-Holland’s keen eye for detail and historical accuracy as well as his tight, simple style.  Not a word is wasted, the reader is not flooded by description.  Arthur tells us what happens, what matters, and we build the picture.

The magic in the story comes from Arthur’s seeing-stone.  In it he can see the story of his namesake, King Arthur, unfolding and mirroring the turmoil in his own life.  Throughout the three books of this series, the two Arthurs have grown, side by side, the real and the mythical.

This final episode, King of the Middle March, is darker and more confronting as Arthur de Caldicot joins the Fourth Crusade to Jerusalem.  But the noble hopes of its beginning rapidly sour as greed, infighting and politics deflect the Crusaders from their aim.

In the stone, meanwhile, King Arthur faces the betrayal of Lancelot and Guinevere and the treachery of Mordred.  Both Arthurs must deal with the end of a noble dream.  Both must decide what really matters - they must find their Holy Grail.

This “Arthur” trilogy will be readily compared to Catherine Jinks’ acclaimed Pagan series.  Both deal with boys becoming men in the turmoil of the Crusades and medieval Europe.  Both are faithful to the real history of the times and have real characters involved in their stories.  Both are told by their main characters.

But where Pagan’s tales have an air of realistic and urgent reporting about them as he leaps into everything, Arthur, in his books, is more detached, an observer.  He is certainly well in the action, and the choices he makes have major consequences, but he is also able to step back to look at his world and question it.

All three books in this series - The Seeing-Stone, At the Crossing Places, and King of the Middle March – have been fascinating, giving us a vivid impression of medieval life, along with a gripping tale of a boy learning to live as himself.

Other titles in the series:
Arthur: the Seeing Stone (Orion, 2000)
Arthur: at the Crossing Places (Orion, 2001)

Other books by this author:
 

 Review by David Beagley

© 2004 David Beagley