I didn't enjoy this as much as I had enjoyed the previous book. It wasn't that it wasn't good, it was fine it was just a lot less fun and seemed to take itself a little more seriously than I would have liked. There were some gaping holes in the timeline between the end of the last book (where Arthur had just been elected mayor) and the beginning of this book where he's president of the USA. Some of the story is told with flashbacks, but not enough for me to really feel like I 'got' the transition.

Story wise, there is a massive terrorist threat and as part of the campaign, Gwen is shot and practically brain dead. The trauma, along with the fact that Percival has disappeared, and Merlin is frozen as a statue leads to Arthur making a deal with Miss Basil to get the terrorist in exchange for Arthur giving up the presidency. Arthur, with no stomach for the job, makes the deal. Eventually, Percival returns with good news regarding the Holy Grail and he & Arthur decide to take Gwen to find it.

As I said, this wasn't bad, it just lacked a lot of the charm of the first book. There were moments - Arthur and Gwen's joking about her being a floozie before she's shot etc, but it's just very heavy the whole way through. This Arthur is very likeable (in complete contrast to some that you read) and you kinda wish that people around him would let up on their expectations on him.

Anyway - as the middle book in a trilogy it was okay, but I just hope the third book gets some of the humour back again. ( )