After being so disappointed in the second book of the series I was really happy to see the third book improve again. After saving Gwen from certain death at the end of the previous book, Arthur & Gwen are sailing in isolation so as to avoid the attention that the miraculous cure would cause and to avoid answering the difficult questions. Being the modern age though and the intrusive media, they are soon discovered and have to go back and, in his infinite wisdom, Arthur decides to be honest and admit that Gwen was cured by the Holy Grail, that he is really King Arthur and Percival really is a 1000 year old knight.

As you can imagine it makes for some interesting moments. Throw in the question about religion, faith, can something good happen without a negative reaction elsewhere, commercialism, magic, myth etc and you get a book that holds your attention.

What I really enjoyed about this book was that not only was it a return to the humour of the first book at times, but there was also a slightly darker edge to it. We had Arthur admitting that he wasn't a good man at times in his previous life and the scene where he admits to Gwen the things he had done, and the fact that he watched as burned at the stake in her previous life because she had wounded his pride was handled really well. I enjoyed these signs of his imperfections (because really, so many times Arthur is painted as a virtuous, gallant King wronged by all). There were parts of the book that made me a little uncomfortable at times - I always feel a little uneasy when religion takes a bashing, but I was needlessly concerned as it was resolved respectfully to both the story and to people of faith which I enjoyed.

Overall, a very enjoyable book and a good, fun series as a whole. ( )

Publishers Weekly Review: The conclusion of David's 21st-century Arthurian trilogy will please fans of the previous two books, Knight Life and One Knight Only, but those expecting humorous fantasy on the level of Terry Pratchett or Monty Python will be disappointed. King Arthur, who has served as the mayor of New York City and even as president of the United States under the name Arthur Penn, is suddenly forced to tell the world who he really is and that he possesses the Holy Grail. Attempts to go mass market with the Grail's curative properties create complications involving Nazis and assorted other menaces. Despite the author's propensity for punning titles and silly archaisms like "Ye Olde Interlude," the resultant oil-and-water mixture achieves neither comedy nor drama, much less a blending of the two as in T.H. White's The Once and Future King. The incongruity of great, mythic figures behaving (or speaking) in an entirely banal and trivial manner is, alas, only that. (June) --Staff (Reviewed April 24, 2006) (Publishers Weekly, vol 253, issue 17, p43) ( )