Keeper of the Grail (review)

As an infant, Tristan was left at a monastery, and he has grown up under the strict but kind tutelage of monks. Now fifteen, Tristan is suddenly offered the chance to be a squire for a Templar knight, which means traveling to the Holy Land to participate in the Crusades. Highly educated but sheltered, Tristan feels ill prepared for the sudden upheaval in his life, but he tries to take it all in stride. Soon he loses even the limited shelter of the knights, though, when he is secretly sent away from a siege with the Holy Grail hidden in a satchel. Luckily, he quickly befriends a disgruntled king’s archer who is returning home after his conscription has ended, and a deadly enemy assassin (who startles both boys by being a girl), who easily compensates for initially trying to kill them by saving their lives more than once. Even so allied, Tristan knows he is truly alone in the world with the exceptional weight of his mission to protect the most sacred relic in Christianity. The shocking cliffhanger ending obviously points to at least one more volume, and Tristan is easily intriguing and well developed enough to draw readers back in for more. The twelfth-century setting and the complex war wherein both sides believe they are fighting holy battles are carefully described from the viewpoint of the inexperienced protagonist, thus ensuring a complete picture that never feels like exposition or a history lesson. Although Tristan doesn’t quite have the sardonic wit of Pagan Kidrouk from Catherine Jinks’ series (Pagan’s Crusade, BCCB 2/04, etc.), his equally memorable narration will certainly please readers who like their squires to be as compelling as the knights they serve.