THE KINGDOM OF THE GRAIL
Centuries after the fall of Camelot, Merlin, one of the two protagonists of Tarr's new yarn, remains imprisoned in an enchanted forest. One day Roland, a young shape changer, visits the magician and leaves vowing to free him. Years pass. Roland, who carefully conceals his powers, is now a champion at Charlemagne's court. When one of Merlin's old enemies comes on the scene, however, old ethical and physical conflicts break out anew. A master of historical fantasy, Tarr successfully links the Arthurian legends to the Chanson de Roland by means of the Holy Grail, which predated Christianity but was strengthened by it,