Harlequin (The Grail Quest, #1)
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Harlequin (Grail Quest #1)

4.07 of 5 stars 4.07  ·  rating details  ·  10,224 ratings  ·  412 reviews

Harlequins are lost souls, so loved by the devil that he would not take them to hell, but left them to roam the earth. In French, the word is hellequin – the name given to the English archers who crossed the Channel to lay waste the towns and countryside.

In the fourteenth century the English were just beginning to discover their national identity, and one of the strongest

Kindle Edition, 395 pages
Published (first published January 1st 2000)
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Sep 21, 2008 Sam rated it 2 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: ISR supervisors who desire to punish their students
ZZZzzzZZ...wait...huh? Why was I sleeping...? Oh, yeah. I was reading The Archer's Tale. Duh.

With that statement, I shouldn't really need to say more, but I will anyway.

Forcing myself into reading this book (originally it just sat there and I found myself unsure of whether or not I actually cared about finishing it), I managed to fight through 400 pages of post-Middle Ages fetid turd. Why do I call it that, you ask?

Though the premise of the book begins with fire and promise, and still holds out...more
Kit Fryatt
According to his note, Cornwell started his research for this book thinking he'd be doing a lot of reading about chivalry, and it turned out 14th-century warfare (surprise!) wasn't really like that. It's a nice touch that the conflict between chivalrous ideal and brutal reality becomes integral to the plot, and that given a choice, the protagonist prefers brutal reality because at least you know where you are with it, but is a decent enough sort of chap that he can't quite relinquish the chivalr...more
Mar 02, 2009 Ed rated it 5 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: Historical Fiction and Cornwell fans,


In typical Cornwell style, Thomas overcomes his low birth (he's the bastard son of a priest) and more than a few near death experienc...more
Beth Cato
Mike (the Paladin)

Maria Myers
Joel Neff
Prior to this novel, the only Bernard Cornwell books I had read were The Saxon Chronicles. Those books are fast-paced, graphic, casually brutal, funny, and told from a first person perspective. The Archer's Tale is exactly the same only it's told from the third person omniscient perspective. And that's a little jarring.

As a reader, I get the feeling that if I were to read The Archer's Tale in first person form, I'd have a hard time differentiating Thomas from Uhtred. That's not necessarily a cri...more
É uma estreia com este autor.
Como o romance histórico é um dos meus géneros preferidos, resolvi começar com esta trilogia de Bernard Cornwell.
Gostei da escrita, da forma como a narrativa flui, como aparecem as personagens (algumas reais, outras fictícias) e do modo como ao ler o romance somos transportados para uma época de cavaleiros e guerras.
As descrições das batalhas não têm filtros. São duras, cruéis e sangrentas - embora não seja uma pessoa susceptível fiquei enjoada com algumas atrocidade...more
Excellent story. For those familiar with Cornwell, it's what I've come to expect from him in terms of both historical detail and gritty realism, told with a epic air. These stories seem anachronistic compared to modern romance, urban fantasy and technical operatives, but share obvious roots with all those genre.

Unusual for the opening saga of a multistory series, this one has both a satisfying conclusion and a hook to keep the reader wanting to come back for more. I'm hooked.

A very good read.
Susanna - Censored by GoodReads
Jan 17, 2009 Susanna - Censored by GoodReads rated it 1 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: no one
Probably about 1 and 1/2 stars.

Writing: adequate.


I have read enough of Bernard Cornwell's historical novels to see how the formulas are made to click into place. What would have been sheer delight to me a few years back now strikes the more blasé reader that I've become as good, but no longer quite fresh.

With The Archer's Tale (published in England as Harlequin, a title which in the U.S. is redolent of bodice-ripping), Cornwell begins his Holy Grail trilogy, set in France during the Hundred Years War. The hero is a young Englishman named Thom...more
I was given this book because of world book night (April 23rd, Shakespeare's birthday).

Harlequin is one of the nastier characters in the book, which is the story of the events leading up to the battle of Crecy, told from the viewpoint of an English archer, but heavily interlaced with the English and French viewpoints of the laying waste of French land leading up to the battle with several romantic side plots and a father's dying wish that his son should avenge his death and recover a battle lanc...more
Kelanth, numquam risit ubi dracones vivunt
Dopo la mia recensione sulla saga di Re Artù, recensisco ancora questo autore molto bravo che deve principalmente il suo successo internazionale per la saga di "Sharpe", credo arrivata al decimo o undicesimo libro, che ho in libreria ma che non ho ancora iniziato. Per tornare alla recensione di oggi, credo che tutti più o meno sanno cosa sia stata la "Guerra dei Cent'anni" (per chi non lo sa e vuole approfondire: http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerra_d... ), che vide contrapposte l'Inghilterra e l...more
Há vários anos que sou um profundo admirador de Bernard Cornwell, autor britânico responsável por uma série de romances históricos verdadeiramente excepcionais, destacando contudo a trilogia “Crónicas do senhor da guerra”, simplesmente do melhor que li até à data.

A escrita de Bernard Cornwell não tem nada que possamos classificar como único ou transcendente. O estilo dele é simples, mas é essa simplicidade que torna os seus livros tão empolgantes. Ele não perde muito tempo com descrições desnece...more
Alex Telander
Prominent author Bernard Cornwell, famed for the Richard Sharpe series and the Arthurian Warlord trilogy, begins anew with a series set in a time of immense change.

It is the fourteenth century, the Hundred Years War is about to begin (lasting until 1428); the Black Plague has already begun ravaging Europe and taking life; and then there is still the Great Schism to come (a time where three popes ruled and the entire area of Christian Europe was excommunicated).

Our hero is Thomas of Hookton. In 1...more

He did a great job with the characters ... and the anticipation during confrontations had me holding my br...more
Jorgen Schäfer
Bernard Cornwell’s historical novel Harlequin takes us back to the 14th century. A norman raiding party attacks the small village of Hookton in England. They kill most inhabitants and steal an important artifact. Only Thomas survives. To his dying father, he gives the promise to return the artifact. On this quest, he’s drawn as an archer into the war between England and France.

This is the first book of the Grail Quest trilogy by Bernard Cornwell. I’m a big fan of Cornwell, and this book fulfille...more
Bernard cornwell brings to life another piece of history long since dead and pretty much forgotten by the majority.

In this book he tells the story of Thomas of Hookton. The son of a priest and destined (although not by choice) to follow in his father into the church. His life is turned upside down when a French 'Nob' attacks his village, murdering his father and stealing an ancient lance, a relic of St George from the church.

The killing of his father see Thomas joining the English army as a b...more
The characters are wonderfully written, as usual, and it's a joy seeing some of these historical personages brought to life, like the Earl of Northampton William Bohun who is affectionately known as Billy among the rank-and-file who he'd much rather spend time with than his social peers. He's vivid, warlike, and hilarious. The main character, Thomas, is not yet as engaging as Uthred Ragnarson or Richard Sharpe but that has more to do with the narrative being in third-person than anything else. C...more
Very brutal and bloody but fascinating descriptions of medievil warfare and strategy. Set in the 1340s and one can easily understand why a hundred years later the Pope outlawed both bows and crossbows. Though, admittedly, only against Christains. Book one of a "Grail Quest", but nobody is searching for the Grail in this book. In fact, to say that the title's archer is exceedingly reluctant to do so is putting it mildly. He's quite happily killing and maiming his way through the battles that lead...more

Though I only gave this book 2 stars I stayed up way into the night reading it until finished and I will probably read the other books in the "Grail Quest" series. This piece of historical fiction is mindless entertainment filled with war, blood, guts, intrigue, kings and knights, archers, superstition, baudy women and brave men. In other words, a great summer poolside or airport read. The Archer's Tale is not a "woman's" book; don't think Oprah would ever take this into consideration for recomm...more
Denis Vukosav
‘The Archer's Tale’ written by Bernard Cornwell is the first installment in Grail Quest series which evokes memories of the events in Europe in the 14th century that started the bloody conflict between England and France, known as The Hundred Years' War.

The story follows the only survivor of the French fierce raid on small English village of Hookton, named Thomas. Thomas who is a young medieval archer will leave his village to become fighter in English forces against the French usurpers. Thomas...more
Richard Denning
Met Bernard Cornwell for a book signing for this book (or one of the others in the series.) I remember him speaking of the difference between the ease of learning how to use a musket and the years needed to learn how to fire a Longbow. Although as he pointed out they both led to dead Frenchman so job done!!

Maybe not as powerful a series as Sharpe BUT still well done and having been to Crecy (and Agincourt) I feel he made a good stab at the description.
Randi Cox
Continuing my love of medieval historical fiction, I read this book about 11th century battles. And boy was there a lot of them. The author does an excellent job of holding your attention but I kept thinking this is really a guy's book. Not sure if I'll continue the series (there's more books after this one), meticulous recounting of battle scenes is really not my thing.
Christopher Borum
As the first of a trilogy, the story is left partly unresolved, although greatly furthered. Anything more would probably be spoiler. Covering the period at the beginning of the Hundred Years' War in the 1340s, "The Archer's Tale" takes Thomas, a young archer from the south coast of England, deep into the action, culminating in the battle of Crecy in August, 1346. Thomas sees his home town of Hookton destroyed by French and Genoese attackers and is apparently the sole survivor. He ends up in the...more
First in a trilogy set during the Hundred Years War, that I found very entertaining and educational regarding the role archers played during the famous battle of Crécy. As usual, the author juggled the action with a bit of romance and I look forward to reading the next book. Listened to the audio version read by Colin McPhillamy.
An excellent read for fans of historical fiction. I was especially surprised at the end to read the author's historical note, which surprised me by saying most of the story in the book followed actual battles during the Hundred Years' War. I look forward to the next book and continuation of the story, which should be quite entertaining.
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Are there any UK vs. US differences? 2 25 Mar 11, 2014 08:33PM  
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“You'll call me a damned Jew, a Christ murderer, a secret worshipper of pigs and a kidnapper of christian children.' This was all said cheerfully. 'How absurd! Who would want to kidnap children, Christian or otherwise? Vile things. The only mercy of children is that they grow up, as my son has but then, tragically, they beget more children. We do not learn life's lessons.” 7 likes
“Pelos ossos de Deus, Tom, o diabo fez um serviço ruim quando trepou com sua mãe.” 6 likes
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