The Last Companion

McCormack's debut novel about life in Arthurian Britain, the first of his Albion series to be published in the U.S., is an overstuffed tale of sorcery, knights and medieval mayhem in which a cast of 99 characters with consonantladen names (from Bedwyr to Wicga) navigate the dark, damp and gloomy period of Britain's decline 10 years after Arthur's death. Budoc, a hermit, is actually Mab Petroc, the last of King Arthur's fabled knights, known here as the Companions. He now guards a wooden chest containing the holy relic that assured Arthur's rule (no, it's not the Holy Grail). An evil warlord, Vortepor of Dyfed, hires vicious Irish mercenary Eremon to find the relic, believing possession of it will make him king of all Britain. After a series of bloody coincidences, Budoc teams up with two brave Briton warriors, a Saxon boy and a peasant girl, to protect the relic and fight off the attacks of Eremon and his gang of brutal raiders. Numerous flashbacks to Arthur's reign keep the going rather slow, but McCormack provides all the requisite battles, magic, savagery and romance, as well as a very satisfying conclusion. Agent, Pollinger Limited (U.K.).