The Squire's Tale by Gerald Morris

Let me start by saying that this book was amazing. I picked it up at the library kind of hoping that there would be at least some small morsel of goodness inside, because truth be told, it looked a little bit dumb. I mean, just look at the cover! But I was desperate, so I picked it up. One of the best choices of my literary life! This book had everything good and glorious within its pages. Heroic knights, fair maidens, epic quests involving duels, magical woodland creatures, and warlocks, and a very, very unlikely hero. Terence, a teenage boy living in merry old Arthurian England, was orphaned as a baby and raised by an old hermit living in the forest. One day, as Terence is hunting for supper in the woods, he meets Gawain, who is headed to Camelot to become a knight in the court of King Arthur. At the insistence of the hermit, Terence becomes the squire of Sir Gawain, and accompanies him on his various dangerous and exciting quests and adventures, some of which involve catching a white stag, accompanying a fair yet extremely annoying maiden on a quest, foiling the plot of an evil sorceress, and finding true love in an invisible faerie realm.
       While the plot and writing style are rather simple, they are extremely effective and interesting. The main character, Terence, is sympathetic as the reader sees his growth from naive orphan boy to the strong and confident squire of Sir Gawain (and something even more important). It is interesting that although Terence is the main character of the book, the focus of most of the book is more on Sir Gawain and his knightly adventures. However, this shift of focus works, as Terence's job is to follow Gawain on his quest; also, you never forget for long that the real hero of the book is Terence. On top of which, this book is hilarious! The humor is dry and subtle, the essential British humor, but still laugh-out-loud funny.
       Perhaps my favorite thing about this book, however, is that the author definitely did his homework. In the author's note at the back of the book, Morris confesses his passion for the Arthurian tales, especially those involving the character Sir Gawain. In "The Squire's Tale," he uses many of the old stories from books such as Malory's Morte D'Arthur and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. It really feels like an old Arthurian legend, which, thanks to my British Literature class, is something I love! There really isn't anything bad to say about this book. It is very well-written all around and a great piece of storytelling. I would recommend it to anybody looking for a good, light piece of summer reading! More coming on the next books in the series when I can get my hands on them!