Doesn't "Cross" far enough
I hope the third book will be much betterI was looking very forward to this sequel. Here's what was wrong with it:
*I missed Oliver, Sir John, Serle, and all of the other characters at Caldicot. In this book, Arthur is at Holt, where he is training to become a knight with Lord Stephen. While some of the characters at Holt were interesting, they weren't as much fun as those at Holt. And the "bad" characters and what they did didn't matter in the long wrong (their villiany wasn't too interesting, either.)
*Where is Merlin?!
*In the last book, I almost wished there had been more of Arthur-in-the-Stone. But this book is FILLED with Arthurian legand. Don't get me wrong-I love stories about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. But there were so many stories about knights who either weren't too interesting, weren't developed into the story enough,or didn't have enough details. Plus, most of the legends didn't reflect in Arthur de Caldicot's life, as they are supposed to.
I'm not saying that you shouldn't read this book. But maybe you should borrow it from the library. Just know that whenever I read Seeing Stone (and I've read it more than once) I always wish that it would never end. But I couldn't wait for this book to be over!
An King Arthur book with a twist!This story is about a young boy, becoming a man, named Arthur de Caldicott.
This is VERY hard to write without saying stuff about the 1st book
*First all of please read book 1, Arthur: The Seeing Stone*
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In this book, The Crossing=Places, we once again meet young Arthur de Calidicot, now a squire to Lord Stephan of Holt.
In this story, Arthur meets Lord Stephan's daring neice, Winnie, and also many other important faces.
He is forced, yes literally forced, by Lord Stephan to visit his real father Sir William at Gotermore, one of his father's manors. It was not a pleasant visit but yet Arthur was not injured like their last meeting.
Arthur has mixed feelings.
His half-sister, Grace, (in the first book, she was his cousin) can no longer be betrothed to him and both are very upset. Grace is even ANGRY at him!
His new friend, Winnie, Lord Stephan's neice, has been kissing him. He has begun feelings of romance towards her and blushes every time her name is spoken.
You'll have to read this awesome, amazing, magical book to find out more about Arthur's continuing tales!!
((A little description of Winnie, Lord Stephan's neice: flaming red-gold hair, chestnut brown colored eyes, age 12 or 13, a year younger than Arthur))
Buy one from zShops for: $17.99
Used price: $35.00
Collectible price: $38.25
As Arthur found out more about his past, his life has gotten more complex. He's learned who his father is (the fierce Sir William), has learned that his now-ex-betrothed is his half sister and is a squire to Sir Stephen. He also still has the ability to see the life of Arthur of Camelot, whose life somehow (don't ask me how) reflects Arthur of Caldicot's. And he doesn't know who his unknown mother was.
As it is a medieval era, Arthur follows Sir Stephen to the Crusades while he continues to search for his mom's identity, while watching the ancient king who is him -- and not him. And as he goes to Champagne and then back to Britain, he comes closer to the truth about the connection between Arthur de Caldicot and Arthur in the stone...
Arthurian fiction has been around for a long time, and many readers have a particular affection for it. But, within the framework of another, different story, it just doesn't work. It worked better in "Seeing Stone," but in "At the Crossing-Places" nothing much happens to Arthur de Caldicot. Things happen, sure, but not very fast. Most of the focus is on King Arthur. And while that isn't really a problem in other books, it's a little frustrating to see things through Arthur de Caldicot's eyes, and not get a strong sense of what's happening in his own life.
Unfortunately, Crossley-Holland's writing hasn't improved much either. It's still very bare-bones, almost like a play. The narrative improves when the focus is on the past, or when something really spectacular happens. The rest of the time, it's just rather boring. (Especially when dealing with Arthur's romantic involvements -- he has no chemistry with Winnie at all)
Arthur is a rather flat lead character, who serves more as a window to the plot than an actual character. Winnie is also quite two-dimensional, but Sir Stephen is a likable enough guy. Unfortunately, Merlin is pretty much absent except through the seeing-stone, and it's hard to get a sense for Arthur and Gawain and the rest. It's like reading a book about someone watching a TV show -- I got little, if any, connection to the Arthurian people.
"At the Crossing-Places," like "Seeing Stone," had potential that never gets realized. At the end I felt frustrated and only slightly curious about "King of the Middle-March," the forthcoming third volume of the trilogy.