Customer Reviews
AWESOME - By: Kaiser Soze, 10 Jul 2008 
This is one great novel. Fans of Sharpe will see some similaritis in the character, but nonetheless an excellent read.
Fantastic! - By: Say Again, 15 Jun 2008 Okay, I read this book a couple of years ago now. And how glad I did.
Originallly I bought Heretic, & wondered after a couple of pages who these people were. I realised I had bought the second in a series, so needless to say a purchase was made & I started on Heretic. A very, very good read. Cornwell's excellent writing style is evident as always - easy to read. In some ways Cornwell's excellent prose is a crime, suddenly you take a quick break to get a drink & you realise that you've just consumed 50-odd pages... 'but I thought I'd only read ten' you complain to yourself, feeling almost cheated.
This book has a purpose to it, it sets up the story, tells you who is who & entices you with substantial force to buy the next in the series - the characterisation is excellent, as you would expect of Cornwell. (It has been a couple of years since I read it... but for the want of details, I can still vividly remember this books quality).
This book has, it is fair to say, cost me hundreds of pounds. Without it I would not have been hooked by Cornwell, which means I wouldn't have bought alll of his books. Every one of which is consumed in about a tenth of the time I usuallly take to finish a book.
Good Medieval Adventure! - By: jflood, 12 Jun 2008 
Harlequin centres around Thomas of Hookton, an archer who joins the English army in France, after his father is murdered, & an ancient relic, is stolen from the church, when his village is plundered by French bandits.
I found this book a fascinating read. The 14th century is brought vividly back to life in its pages, as various battles are fought, based around true events, & the strategies & weaponery used are described very well.
Thomas also makes friends, enemies, & has love interests along the way. The mixture of fictional, & factual characters, is very well done, & makes the story that more interesting. An enjoyable read.
A Good Start to the Series - By: J. Chippindale, 22 Nov 2007 Bernard Cornwell is the author of the acclaimed Richard Sharpe series, set during the Napoleonic Wars. I have not as yet read any of this series. The books about Arthurian England are much more my cup of tea & I read those avidly. He has also written among others, Stonehenge 2000 B.C. Bernard Cornwell lives with his wife on Cape Cod.
This book is I believe the start of a trilogy, beginning in the 14th century & following the lives of a family who have in their possession a holy relic sought by the whole of Christendom, but more importantly by men who can be bought by promises of wealth or land.
These are dark & somber days for a Church, split down the middle by the fact that there are two popes. One guiding the church from Rome, the other in Avignon, both factions struggling to gain supremacy. Hearing of a an artifact that could bring them victory, one side has hired a mercenary to retrieve what could unite the church under one banner.
Entertaining adventure, but lacks depth - By: J. Aitcheson, 20 Sep 2007 
"Harlequin" (also known by its US title, "The Archer's Tale") is the first book in Cornwell's Grail Quest trilogy & follows the experiences of young longbowman Thomas of Hookton during the early years of what will become known as the Hundred Years' War. When Thomas's father is killed & his village destroyed by French raiders, he vows revenge upon those responsible & makes it his goal to recover the holy relic - the lance of St George - that they stole from Hookton's church. Years later, as he finds himself fighting for King & country in Brittany, he starts to discover the nature of his enemy, the Harlequin, & of his own destiny in defending Christendom.
This is an entertaining & fast-paced tale, in the course of which Thomas joins battle countless times, makes both enemies & friends, is outlawed & then reconciled, finds love, has it taken away, & finds it again, while a host of supporting characters enter & disappear from the narrative. Unfortunately this fast pace means that there is little overalll sense of direction to the book, & since the quest for the Grail forms only a subplot in this first volume it means unfortunately that the narrative lacks much depth. Thomas, too, is not as compelling a character as Cornwell's other heroes, Derfel (of the Warlord Chronicles), & Uhtred (of the Saxon Stories). He remains a rather bland & disinterested figure & shows little development over the course of the book, & it is difficult for the reader to feel an emotional connection with him.
On the other hand Cornwell is very good at fleshing out his story with a cast of interesting supporting characters. Two in particular stand out, namely Thomas's employer, the gruff William Skeat, & his sworn enemy, the bitter & penniless knight Sir Simon Jekyll, while many other refreshingly quirky minor characters lend personality & life to the setting. Cornwell expertly creates a real sense of time & place, & his depictions of the medieval towns of of La Roche-Derrien & Rennes, & of the French countryside, are colourful & vivid. He does well, too, to communicate the drive & often the desperation felt within the English army, as well as the utter destruction inflicted upon the French. His battle scenes are likewise engaging & his treatment of the Battle of Crécy, the climax of the book, is excellent.
Everything considered, "Harlequin" is a great yarn, not by any means Cornwell's best work but very readable nonetheless. I would be interested to see how he develops Thomas's character & his quest in the sequels, "Vagabond" & "Heretic".
