Heretic (novel)
UK Paperback Cover
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| Author | Bernard Cornwell |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Grail Quest series |
| Genre | Historical novel |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
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Publication date
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6 October 2003 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover and paperback), audiobook, and e-book |
| Pages | 336 pp ( first edition hardback) |
| ISBN | 978-0007149889 (first edition, hardback) |
| Preceded by | Vagabond |
| Followed by | 1356 |
Heretic is the third novel in The Grail Quest series by Bernard Cornwell. Set during the first stage of the Hundred Years War, the novel follows Thomas of Hookton's quest to find the Holy Grail, a relic which may grant decisive victory to the possessor.[1][2]
Plot Summary
Heretic begins with a bloody battle outside Calais in 1347, a short time before the city fell to the English. The sympathetic Thomas of Hookton is bending every sinew at the service of his master, the Earl of Northampton; after risking his life time and again, Thomas finds himself commissioned to track down the most sacred relic in Christendom, the Holy Grail. He travels to Gascony, seat of power of his nemesis, Guy Vexille. Utilising his archers, Thomas conducts a fierce guerrilla war against Vexille, and yearns for a face-to-face encounter. But then Thomas is routed and finds his campaign in shreds, facing the twin enemies of the church and the plague.[3]
Characters
- Thomas of Hookton - protagonist, illegitimate son of a priest, archer in the English army
- Robbie Douglas - Captured Scottish noble, Thomas's friend
- Guy Vexille, Comte d'Astarac - Thomas's cousin, his father's murderer and the antagonist
- Sir Guillaume d'Evecque - French knight who fights for the English
- William Bohun - English commander and Thomas' boss.
- Sir William Douglas - Uncle of Robbie Douglas
- Sir Thomas Dagworth - English military leader in Brittany
- Cardinal Louis Bessières - Corrupt French Cardinal and Papal Legate to the French court, who aspires to become Pope
- Charles Bessières - Louis's younger brother, a mercenary leader
- Genevieve - a French woman suspected of witchcraft
