Book Three
Synopsis
For many years, the people of Briton have enjoyed peace and prosperity under the reign of King Artor and the Union of Kings. Having spurned the despotism of his predecessor, Uther Pendragon, Arthur has ruled with a strong sense of duty, goodness and honour.
Artor is now weakening with age, however, and the seeds of discontent are being sown. Seeking to cleanse the land of Christian belief, dissenters need a symbol with which to legitimise their pagan claim and gather malcontents together into a cohesive weapon. These shadowy, subversive elements seize upon the ancient cup of Bishop Lucius of Glastonbury as a way of fragmenting Artor’s hard-fought-for kingdom. But first, they must lay their hands on the relic and, in doing so, unleash a force for evil from which murder and violent mayhem ensue.
But it emerges that the ultimate threat to Artor’s rule lies far closer to home; Artor is betrayed by kin. Celt will slay Celt and the river will run with blood.
Review
What a brilliant conclusion to an amazing trilogy. I will try my best not to spoil anything for you if you have not yet read this series. Which by the way you should.
It took me a while to finally pick up the final book, and it took me even longer to finish. I knew it was going to end up in tears with most, if not all, of my favourite characters dead. So in my mind, if I prolonged it then it wouldn't be as painful....how wrong I was.
King Artor is now in his 60s, and if you are familiar with Arthurian folklore, then you will know what is about to happen. Last battle, everyone killed, tears, etc.
There were too many occasions when I had to put this book down after a character died. Not another one was all I was thinking.
I enjoyed reading the journey of Artor from childhood to old age, the things he has seen and what he needed to do to keep the peace with his people. I couldn't do what he did.
I've never read a character development like this before, been with him from start to end.
I wish I could say more on this book and how much I love it. But like I said earlier, I don't want to give any spoilers away.
Please, if you have not yet picked this trilogy up, do it. There are only a few books out there that I highly recommend and this is one of them.
I will definitely be picking up more of M.K. Hume in the future. Which I heard recently there is a sequel series to King Arthur, now that would be very interesting to read.
My star rating for King Arthur: The Bloody Cup by M.K. Hume is:
(no surprises)
