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Vagabond

Despite not being all too impressed by Harlequin, I had enjoyed Cornwell's other work enough to give the next book in the series a go. Unfortunately, Vagabond started off seeming like it would be an amalgamation of all the worst bits of its predecessor. The first few chapters of the novel are focused on the build up to, and eventual fighting of, a battle between the Scots and the English in the North of England. It's the kind of writing that Cornwell is normally extraordinarily good at, but in this case it drags on as it is regularly interspersed with the kind of 'last time on' info dumps that summarise (what feels like) the whole of the previous book for new readers. The new material was genuinely interesting, but it was so lost amongst descriptions that I had already read that I almost gave up on the book soon after starting it.

I am glad I persisted with the novel, however, as the second half of the book slowly develops into something rather more interesting. After some fairly momentous events at the conclusion of the battle, Thomas starts actively seeking the grail, a few genuinely interesting side characters are introduced, and there are a few deeply poignant moments where Thomas returns to the village of his youth; a type of scene Cornwell is extraordinarily good at (many of his other books play extensively on the theme of the lost glories of previous cultures and the indifference of the course of history to our actions).

Vagabond never reaches anywhere near the heights of Cornwell's other books, but it ends a far better read than it starts.