King Arthur and the Quest for the Holy Grail: The Grail Quests - Paperback

by Stephen Sim (Author)

The battle for power in the Celtic kingdom of Britannia, reaches a climax when families turn against each other and the most trustworthy can no longer be trusted. It is the sixth century and the growth of immigrants threaten the Celtic way of life for the wealthy and elite. It appears that only one man, King Arthur, can reunite the divided parties, but he has been lured into a untimely war with the Romans. When he is away fighting in Gaul (France) his wife Guinevere seizes her chance at power. Guinevere's great rival is Morgan Le Fay, she becomes embroiled with the Gods of Avalon when she asks for their help. Vivienne, the Goddess of the lake, helps her in her quest, but has her own selfish agenda. Vivienne allows her special creatures, the fairies, to assist Lady Morgan and in so doing changes the balance of power throughout the land. Eros, the King of the fairies, undergoes a physical transformation, while others including Guinevere and Morgan undergo a more spiritual one. Steeped in intrigue and double dealing the protagonist, Lady Morgan, doesn't know who to trust as friend begin to betray friend. Against a background of fear and loathing the story of Joseph of Arimathea's Holy treasure unfolds. All the main characters are after the Holy Grail, but who will capture it? Is the treasure even real, or only a legend? This is volume one of a trilogy of quests, as the well known Arthurian characters battle; magic, gods, dragons, war, famine, mystery and witchcraft to find their objectives. The work is inspired by many great writers who have in the past, put pen to paper to bring adventure and life to the medieval myth of King Arthur. Such authors include: Malory, Geoffrey of Monmouth, Chretien de Troyes, Tennyson and go on up to recent times with Tolkien, C.S.Lewis and Marion Bradley. The most recent mentioned, explores the proto-feminist priestess of Avalon (Morgan Le Fay). This trilogy will follow on from that. The battle of good versus evil, Christianity versus Paganism continues but the definition has now become blurred. Who is good and who is evil becomes impossible to distinguish as we see unfold a whole new world.

Author Biography

Stephen Sim lives in Scotland. He studied at the University of the West of Scotland, where he got a BA in Film-making and Screenwriting. Overcoming his dyslexia has been difficult, but his love for storytelling has driven him on. This is his first attempt at novel writing, although he has written some screenplays before. His interest in the Arthurian legends is recent, but his passion for history and in particular ancient history made the decision to explore King Arthur a easy one. The language of the book brought about many discussions from friends and family. Stephen wanted a slightly formal language, but knew that the common trend today is to write in a modern style. This of course makes a lot of sense, but if it sounds too modern it takes something away from the atmosphere of the time that you are writing about. So a compromise was made. Some modern diction might creep in, but on the whole it has a sensible and formal feel. The use of Latin names of places; such as Tintagol, Lundonia, and Eboracum also came about after much thought. The Romans ruled for four hundred years in Britain and their names (even today) continue to remain. Ever town that has a 'ester' in it comes from the Roman language. Welsh names also play a part in the story (after all Arthur came from Wales), but the author became aware that too much of that great language and readers might find it tough going. So a compromise again. Only a few Welsh names survived, example; Caerleon (a place in South Wales) is in fact due to archaeologist's recent finds, really Chester (North Wales). Finally, the author's interest in the Celtic Gods made for an interesting debate about theology which led to the inclusion of Joseph of Armathea's much questioned Holy relics. The author wasn't interested whether they exist or not, but whether people would believe that in the sixth century people might be hunting them.