A friend of mine who happened to start this series with the second volume was shocked when the protagonist Joris raped a young woman (and murdered her elderly priest companion) early in the book. I had to tell him that Joris is not the hero of the series as a whole -- that is Count Raoul of Ger, the hero of the first volume. Overall, Joris is a villain,though almost the whole second volume is told from his viewpoint with a certain amount of sympathy. This volume overlaps with the first volume so that, as De Camp noted in his pioneering article "Knights and Knaves in Neustria," one fight is told from Raoul's viewpoint (defending) in Gerfalcon and from Joris's viewpoint (attacking)in this volume. This volume does carry on beyond the end point of Gerfalcon into a political crisis when the old king Rene dies and his feeble legitimate son is struggling with his more capable bastard for the throne (the bastard having been legitimized by the later marriage of his parents, as with the historical Beaufort line in England). (spoiler warning) Joris kidnaps the legitimate heir and is about to sell him to his rival on very favorable terms, when his captive is unexpectedly freed. Thereafter Joris's career runs downhill and he is finally slain (unwittingly) by his own son by the woman he raped early on. ( )

Stylistically it's an improvement on Gerfalcon, his sentences are less convoluted and their meaning clearer. It's also obvious that the action takes place in a disguised France/Normandy, he mentions the name once, and even gives a date which puts the tale at the beginning of the 15th century. It starts a little earlier than Gerfalcon, some events are told again from a different perspective, then it jumps ahead. It is mostly the tale of the outlaw Joris, but there is also political intrigue at the royal court among two rival factions. A medieval romance grounded in reality, and very, very enjoyable. ( )

The second of Barringer's Neustrian Cycle it's of the same high quality of Joris.