The Squires Quest (The Squires Tales, #9) by Gerald Morris

The Squires Quest (The Squires Tales, #9) Reviews

• 
  Elizabeth

  Shut up, this is an id-series for me. I can see of its flaws and I don't care. These flaws include complete and total ahistoricism (put any and all knowledge of post-third-century European or Byzantine history, mores, religion, etc., in a sealed box while reading this), a tin ear for dialogue, and way more heteronormativity (there's actually a "we're not gay" moment which makes me want to *light things on fire*) and Protestant coding than I am really comfortable with. Morris is oddly hostile, and has been so for a while, to people who take stories seriously, who try to use them as models for their behavior — why a novelist (and a pastor, apparently, according to the jacket) would take this attitude baffles me.
  
  But Terence continues to be a delight, Gawain's increasingly-brief appearances are always wonderful, I was thrilled to see Eileen get an actual speaking role, albeit no action, Dinadin is funny if incredibly anachronistic, Mordred was actually handled well, and Arthur is my favoritest (Morris' portrait of him is actually fascinating and may be the most subtle part of the whole series).
  
  Don't start with this book, oh god no, but if you have been yearning for more Terence as Morris has fucked around for the past several books with Lancelot and other Arthurian heroes, it is not a bad addition to the series.
• 
  Renee Wallace

  Gerald Morris never disappoints, and this latest installment is no exception! If you are already a fan, you will be delighted with this book; if you are new to him, you have hit the jackpot. In a world where quality young adult authors seem thin on the ground, Morris brings his readers back to the extremely satisying realm of Arthurian adventure fantasy, made so by his gift of spinning a terrific story.
• 
  Grace T

  we stan sir terence (FINALLY)
• 
  Jacob

  Yet another really good entry in the Squire's Tale series. I am impressed that Morris can continue to deliver such a well-developed plot with believable characters. And a little sad that there is only one more in the series. I will definitely reread these, they are too fun to be a one-time experience.
  
  This one, like
  The Squire, His Knight, and His Lady, is a bit slow to get good because Morris spends some time at the beginning setting up a "dramatic pause" situation where nothing's happened for a while but there is a feeling that things aren't going right. I think much of this could be dispensed with in order to get to the good stuff. And there is plenty of good stuff.
  
  This entry focuses on Mordred and his machinations. Any Arthurian fan knows the basic story, but Morris illustrates it masterfully. The political intrigue around Mordred is both chilling and plausible. There is more discussion of moral right and wrong, once again with "courtly love" as one of the targets for satire and outright denunciation (again similar to The Squire, His Knight, and His Lady). Morris pulls in some Greek and Byzantine culture and myth too this time, which adds a little spice to the story. And Dinadan has a significant part to play, which I enjoyed.
• 
  Nicky

  Well, I thought a baby could see through Mordred's plots, but at least this broke the status quo in Camelot. I'm a little sad for Sarah, being used in this perfunctory way as a love interest after having a whole book to herself in which she completely kicked ass. But the issue of Eileen and Terence was finally dealt with, and the whole issue where Arthur depends on Terence but he's just a squire in Camelot.
  
  So that was fun, although Gerald Morris is still sadly lacking in a brain when it comes to talking about Chrétien de Troyes. This won't matter to kids reading these books, but it matters rather a lot to me. Argh!
• 
  Beth

  The ending is decent, but the bulk of the book is like the later books in this series: farcical. Too reliant on worked-in myths which never mesh with the setting.
• 
  The Smol Moth

  4.5 stars
  
  The villain was woefully underdeveloped, from what I remember at least, but Achoriandes (I'm not sure if I'm spelling his name right--it's been so long since I've read it!) is probably the best character ever created. Dinadan and Terence are also amazing. This series is such a childhood favorite for me.
• 
  Reading Through the Lists

  3.5 stars.
  
  The Squire’s Quest....Or 'Why Courtly Love is an Abomination and Must be Avoided At All Costs'
  
  Once again, this was a perfectly enjoyable read. It’s funny, it has more than a few heartfelt moments, and it features all of your favorite characters from across nine books, as well as some interesting new ones (the Greek contingent proved especially great). But as with Quest of the Fair Unknown, the route feels a little...familiar.
  
  Once again there’s a takedown of courtly love and all it stands for. Once again there’s a disaster avoided at the last moment. But as the penultimate work in a series, this would be the time to let things end on a darker note.
  
  This would be the place to end with Mordred ascendant and Terence left out in the cold. This wouldn’t be as satisfying an ending in the short term, but that’s why there’s a last book left to resolve everything. If Arthur’s court is really on the precipice of disaster, I want to feel the doom approaching.
  
  Instead of yet another example of courtly love gone wrong, the book could rather have focused on Terence vs. Mordred. Perhaps they have to travel together, with Terence suspicious and Mordred wrestling with his own nature. Could there be more to Mordred than meets the eye? Could he change, as Lancelot and Guinevere do? Away from his mother's control, does he even want to kill his father? Or perhaps Terence and Mordred are each other’s equal-and-opposite: both connected to the Other World, both powerful, with one fighting against King Arthur and one fighting for him.
  
  I’m curious to see what will happen in the last book. But if Books 8 and 9 prove true, I fear we may simply be going down a path we’ve seen before.
  
  
  
• 
  Hailey Sky

  I was so excited to see my library had a copy of this book for me to read. I read these when I was younger seeming to always pick one of books in the series up from the library I went to then. However, they only had the first 8 books. It was so wonderful to return to Camelot with these characters that I love and have loved so much. Maybe it's not anything revolutionary in the realm of King Arthur retellings but this whole series is so consistently fantastic. They never fail to put a smile on my face and are episodic enough and focus on different characters often enough that you can really pick any one up and read them whenever and in whatever order you wish. This was no exception and I'm very happy to have finally fulfilled middle-school me's desire to read this. I'm looking forward to picking up the next and final book, finally completing the series.
• 
  Haruko reads

  This series continues to get darker, while still managing to have moments of levity and the same fantastical elements that drew me to the very first book. It was fun to spend so much time with Terence and Dinadan, and I especially loved the Greek mythology elements in this installment. That being said I was disappointed with the female characters, because although Eileen and Sarah have small speaking roles, they are mostly reduced to love interests and have next to no involvement with the plot of the book.
  
  Overall, an enjoyable read. I'm so sad I have only one more book left to read in this series!
• 
  Stephanie

  It's Terence's turn for a Quest. Terence is already on edge since he hasn't heard from home in months. So when a young man named Mordred turns up at court and immediately starts gaining favor with Arthur and the other knights, Terence's sense of unease grows.
  
  Terence tries to keep an eye on Mordred and one eye on the king. Between betrayals and deaths, Terence is faced with the knowledge that Arthur's time may be drawing to a close. And knowing that he can't stop the inevitable end.
• 
  Ethan West

  One book away from finishing the series. It is bittersweet. Reading this book and I'm sure the next one felt like reading The Last Battle in the Chronicles of Narnia. Not in terms of writing quality necessarily. (No one can compete with Lewis.) I mean more of in how I feel when I am reading. The end is near. Not everything is as it seems. The ending of The Squire's Quest, however, stirred me emotionally. To see Terrence become a knight finally and also to declare his love openly for Eileen even before that happens. It is a thing of beauty.
• 
  Sarah TheAromaofBooks

  I had trouble decided what to rate this one. There was a lot about this story that I liked, but the Tristam/Iseult plotline is basically my least favorite out of the series, and we get a round two here... and it's just as depressing as it was in The Ballad of Sir Dinadan. Still, a good book around the outside of the "love" story, and a solid addition to the series.
• 
  Stephanie C

  This one was so sad. For this reason it was my least-favorite of the series thus far. That said, "The Squire's Quest" still had me laughing out loud every so often. And falling even further in love with Terrance. How does Morris do it?
  
  Also, I'd been waiting for the events of the last chapter ever since reading the second book!
• 
  Michael Davenport

  If you ever wanted to know who would win in a fight a greek priest or a Roman priest then read this book.
  
  Overall it's not my favorite book. I like having sir Dinadan more involved in this book. I didn't really care about the story in Athens, but it was still a good book to read.
• 
  Emily Anne

  I literally binge these books each time I pick one up. Is this series perfect? Uummm no. Will I continue to read and reread them anyway? Most definitely! The squires quest wasn’t my favorite so far, but still a good read and I did like having Terrence as the focus again.
• 
  Valerie

  Why do the good guys always get fooled by the evil one? I guess this has always been a theme. Anyway, not my favorite of the series, but still very good and a great ending.
• 
  Christina Rampersad

  Epic tale
  
  I love the character progression in this series and how every story digs much deeper into king Arthur’s grand tale.
• 
  Ginger Rogers

  Byzantine, political. First and last chapter amazing. Deftly Handles adultery
• 
  Pinko Palest

  Gerald Morris attempts but does not quite manage to superimpose the arthurian tales to a greek setting. Readable as always, but he cannot help trivialising matters in this book
• 
  Ming

  Great ending 😭
• 
  Rachel

  Mordred and his sordid history and actions are the focal point of this novel, along with Thomas de Cretien's story of the Greek Knight Cliges.
  
  As usual: a good read!
• 
  Julia

  This book does what the series does best. I love to see Terence continue to grow and the darker future of the series becomes more apparent
• 
  Sophia Burbano

  Tbh, this one was iffy for me. I liked the characters and such, but Morris's depictions have some flaws.
• 
  Sophia Burbano

  Tbh, this one was iffy for me. I liked the characters and such, but Morris's depictions have some flaws.
• 
  QNPoohBear

  The latest in the series of Arthurian legends based on little-known French tales. It's ten years after Terence first comes to Camelot and he's still a squire. He's served Arthur faithfully and will continue to stay in Camelot as long as Arthur remains king. Terence feels uneasy because he hasn't had any contact with the Other World for a long time and fears that a wicked enchantment may be preventing the connection and he distrusts Mordred, a young man with a secret past who has come to Camelot in hopes of becoming a knight. King Arthur admires Mordred's diplomatic ways but Terence can't help but feel something is not right. Alexander, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire comes to Camelot and makes a nuisance of himself by falling in love with Terence's friend Lady Sarah, but also proves himself to be a loyal and just friend. Alexander's brother, Cligés claims his own subplot as the minstrels songs about courtly love influence the young man and his uncle's young bride to act the part of star-crossed lovers to the detriment of the Empire. Terence's adventures takes him all over the Empire and to the Greek underworld before he discovers the fate of his beloved Arthur and Camelot. This book is the ninth in the series and if you haven't read the others, you may not like this one very much. Though Morris has the characters explain past events, the current events are a bit confusing without knowing the characters and their backgrounds. Like the previous books in the series, this one is irreverent and there's lots of bawdy humor and crude jokes. This story is darker and bloodier than all the rest and I didn't care for the battle scenes or the strange mixing of mythologies. What I liked best about the previous books, and what's missing in this one, is the tongue-in-cheek humor that's the hallmark of Morris's writing. I was a little disappointed in this latest (final?) chapter of the Squire's Tales.