After being so disappointed in the second book of the series I was really happy to see the third book improve again. After saving Gwen from certain death at the end of the previous book, Arthur & Gwen are sailing in isolation so as to avoid the attention that the miraculous cure would cause and to avoid answering the difficult questions. Being the modern age though and the intrusive media, they are soon discovered and have to go back and, in his infinite wisdom, Arthur decides to be honest and admit that Gwen was cured by the Holy Grail, that he is really King Arthur and Percival really is a 1000 year old knight.

As you can imagine it makes for some interesting moments. Throw in the question about religion, faith, can something good happen without a negative reaction elsewhere, commercialism, magic, myth etc and you get a book that holds your attention.

What I really enjoyed about this book was that not only was it a return to the humour of the first book at times, but there was also a slightly darker edge to it. We had Arthur admitting that he wasn't a good man at times in his previous life and the scene where he admits to Gwen the things he had done, and the fact that he watched as burned at the stake in her previous life because she had wounded his pride was handled really well. I enjoyed these signs of his imperfections (because really, so many times Arthur is painted as a virtuous, gallant King wronged by all). There were parts of the book that made me a little uncomfortable at times - I always feel a little uneasy when religion takes a bashing, but I was needlessly concerned as it was resolved respectfully to both the story and to people of faith which I enjoyed.

Overall, a very enjoyable book and a good, fun series as a whole.