THE BLACK CHALICE

In this irritating, brilliant novel, a young knight, Karelian of Lys, returns from the Crusades to his home in 12th-century Germany, having witnessed enough to undermine his faith in God and himself. Besides being torn by political intrigues, the country is deeply divided between Christian and pagan, civilized and barbaric. Though he craves peace, Karelian soon becomes the lover of a half-human witch queen and the enemy of a nobleman who claims to be a direct descendant of Christ and thus the destined king of Earth. Karelian must use all his combat skills, intelligence and empathy to fight his way through the tangle of duty and passion in which he's caught. The author stresses repeatedly that most men prefer violence to sex, domination to love and pride to self-understanding. According to her, such men call themselves good Christians to help rationalize their systematic debasement of women. This reiteration becomes tiresome after a while—as being preached at usually does. Fortunately, Jakober is more storyteller than ideologue. Her writing is crisp and clear, and the setting is strange enough to be intriguing. Elves peer warily at knights on horseback, while dark sorcery is as likely in a medieval cathedral as in a primeval forest. But the book's strongest point is its unusually sympathetic characterization. We understand and sympathize even with the villains as they make terrible, self-destructive choices. We also watch as other characters grow into larger, more whole human beings. A book like this deserves to be cherished, whatever readers' personal faith or lack of it. (Feb. 5)