The Squire's Tales (By Gerald Morris)

Morris' Squire's Tales set in the world of King Arthur are funny, smart, and harbor just the right mix of authenticity and plumb good writing. If you haven't given them a try, you don't know what you're missing!

* The Squire's Tale (1998)
* The Squire, His Knight, and His Lady (1999)
* The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf (2000)
* Parsifal's Page (2001)
* The Ballad of Sir Dinadan (2003)
* The Princess, the Crone, and the Dung Cart Knight (2004)
* The Lioness and Her Knight (2005)
* The Quest of the Fair Unknown (2006)

The second title is my personal favorite along with the first, mostly due to liking the characters of Gawain and Terence who share the spotlight for the first two outings. After that, new characters are introduced and only the unexpected (but appropriated) cameo by the more beloved characters are rendered.

Feel free to discuss the series here on this thread. That's why I made it.

I just pulled "The Squire's Tale" off the Library shelf ,cause the cover looked funny. This book is a breath of fresh air. You get to hear age old tales of Arthurian England, told by Gerald Morris who has studied them extensively, and who presents them from a new point of view... a sane one. He pokes fun at Knight's hopeless love affairs and meaningless quests. He brings back Sir Gawain, a hero of early Arthurian legends who lost favor with many modern storytellers. I've read all of Morris' books my public library has. ~ Jason

Gerald Morris wrote this book titled, "Sir Lancelot The Great". It was made for a younger set of readers, and while humorous in it's own way, I have to admit to being disappointed. Next to Morris' usual tales, this one didn't measure up. Not only does it fail to work with what he already wrote, it does not even try. The Sir Lancelot presented in this work is much different from his very French Sir Lancelot in the other stories. No mention of Jean le Forestier and a strange brand new meeting scene between Arthur and Lancelot is done. While I laughed and enjoyed it to a certain degree as a stand alone book, it just isn't a match for the normal spender I've come to expect from Morris.

"Sir Lancelot The Great" had the same impression on me Jordan. I don't understand how Morris can suddenly be focusing his attention on a more 'childish version' using the same characters from his excellent series. I found it weird that Sir Kai's name was spelled Kay, when the other spelling has always been used. Also after having Lancelot fully French, it was strange to transform him into a typical new English sounding character. I wonder if he's dried up on The Squire's Tales, and has decided to abandon his series for now.

I love Morris and I worship at his shrine. Is there a shrine? There ought be! I think my favorite is Dung Cart Knight, though I admit to loving his Galahad and Mordred in Fair Unknown as well. I am especially in love with his Lancelot.

There must be a shrine for Morris, cause I'm worshiping there!

* places gift at alter *

I don't get to visit the shrine too often.... but I do go to The Seelie Court every week for meetings....

My favorite of Morris' characters are Gawain, Terence and Eileen. I sure wish he would have written more books with them as the central characters, I always read and wait for their cameos. I found it disappointing that Eileen hasn't showed up, she only got a brief mention in "The Lioness and Her Knight."

Let's face it, strong women are inspiring and exciting, and unfortunately, also rather too rare in literature, or even in films and television. Girl power is great! (and I'm a guy )

I love in 'The Princess, the Crone, and the Dung-Cart Knight' how Sarah goes looking for revenge, but ends up finding herself. Her journey is as much about self-discovery as it is a quest for justice, and the outcome is beautiful and poignant.

THUMBS UP

With a copy of each of Morris' books lying around the house (Jordan really does worship at the shrine ) , I've read them all, and consider myself a loyal reader of Morris' take Arthurian Legend. I think Morris has done some great work at re-interrupting old tales in new ways. I like his treatment of Arthur, and Kai, who in my opinion have suffered grave injustice in many versions.

I'll have to say, I'm a critic of his last book "The Fair Unknown". Being familiar with the sources Morris used, I think he failed to do the original much service or justice. Beaufils is likable enough as a character, but for me his parentage was a major let-down. In the original, Gingalain/Beaufils is Gawain's son by a faerie ('Ragnell', or sometimes called 'Blanchemal'). Ragnell is the character Morris' Lorie was based on, so I expected him to make neat work and follow in making Gingalain/Beaufils Gawain and Lorie's son. Also, I'm a bit confused why he brought up The Grail again, since Parsifal already handled that area of legend. Anyhow, it's just my opinion.

BTW: Ken, I really agree with you on Sarah, she was a great character. I also like Lynet and Gaheris. With Gaheris Morris once again saved one of my personal favorites from the ill some versions of legend serves them.

Don't forget Jean le Forestier. Classic. At first glance I felt Morris had done intentional damage to the reputation of Sir Lancelot, however it was Sarah's story that redeemed the character for me. He wasn't just a joke, he was a good man with flaws. I agree with Lindsey though, I wish Gerald Morris would keep his character patterns the same for a change. All the switching around does tend to unthoughtful for what is intended to be a connecting series.

To be fair Jeff, Beaufils is pretty much said to be Gawain's son by at least 98% percent. We know his mom wasn't Lorie since he buried her in the beginning, but Gawain is known in legends for being a ladies' man, so it kinda makes sense when you think about it. I liked the scenes with Bors and Lionel and Galahad was a sympathetic character. I really pitted the way he let his emotions slide when he refused to kiss the enchanted dragon. He was really beyond healthfully devoted to finding The Holy Grail at that point. With Terence showing up at the end, I was surprised how he said he was going to warn Arthur about Mordred. It sounded like the next book might have some of that stuff in it. Should be interesting.

Jean le Forestier cracks me up i'm more of a comic book guy than a novel reader, but Morris' books are SOOOO funny, that i always read through them. Jordan is the one who got me into The Squire's Tales, he told me how cool they were, so i gave them a try. Kirk's right, Bors and Lionel were too much! Man that was brilliant and hilarious!

Page 62 of The Fair Unknown has Parsifal saying the grail didn't look like what he knew to be the grail, and he goes on to explain the quest he went on from the other book. Beaufils then makes a comment suggesting the grail is one and the same, only looking different, or something to that effect. The entire grail part of the story in relation to Parsifal's Page is very confusing. You would have thought Morris wouldn't have wanted to bring Parsifal's grail into the story out of fear it would cause a plot hole, yet instead he brings it up and never fully explains if they are the same. I guess it's up to the reader to decide.

how's it the same? i totally missed that! man, that is confusing. i basically remembered Parsifal saying (in effect) he wasn't going to look for The Grail again, cause he already found it, and was contented. i'm gonna have to read that again... that's weird.