Bernard Cornwell's "THE ARCHER'S TALE" (The Grail Quest #1)
Book review by Dennis D. McDonald
As much as I enjoyed this author’s similarly-themed Azincourt, I found THE ARCHER’S TALE to be a bit of a slog. Yes, the author excels at communicating the grittiness and horror of 14th Century warfare but story and character are not his strong suit here. Women are unevenly described, coincidences abound, the main character is a bit of a dunce, and the peasant-with-a-secret-family-history backstory has been used before.
On the other hand, Tim Pigott-Smith’s reading is spectacular. His voicing of different characters with their varying English and French accents is wonderful.
If you can tolerate the violence and flat characterization his reading by itself is worthy of your attention.
Review copyright (c) 2020 by Dennis D. McDonald