The Seeing Stone

Kevin Crossley-Holland Press Reviews

As bright and as vivid as the pictures in a Book of Hours. Deep scholarship, high imagination, and great gifts of storytelling have gone into this; I was spellbound. - Philip Pullman, The Guardian

This is an imaginative reworking of the Arthurian legends for young adults, setting glittering chivalric fantasy within a fictional framework that creates a realistic depiction of medieval life in 1199. It is this contradiction between the ideal and the real that the young hero Arthur de Caldicot faces as he grows towards manhood on the borderland of the Welsh March. Arthur is the younger son and desperate to become a squire, the first step towards knighthood, but is afraid that his father intends him for the priesthood. The enigmatic Merlin gives Arthur a black obsidian stone within which he can see the life of his legendary namesake played out. As the unfolding destiny of the once and future king is revealed, the course of Arthur's own life becomes a mirror to what he sees in the stone. The pace and suspense of the story is maintained with 100 bite-sized chapters that balance the unfolding drama and Arthur's familiar teenage fears with a well researched account of life on a medieval manor. The crusades, King John and feudal inequalities are the historical backdrop with enough blood, romance and magic to maintain interest as the expertly written narrative successfully walks that fine line between fun and education. (10 - 14 years) Kirkus UK