The Prince and the Pilgrim

If you are expecting to re-enter the world of Merlin and Arthur that Mary Stewart gave us in the Merlin Trilogy, you will be disappointed in The Prince and the Pilgrim. It is a sweet little tale. Sort of like reading a myth or a fairytale for me. I enjoyed it, but I saw it as an after-thought. Mary Stewart said she had wanted to include it as part of the Merlin stories but there was no logical place to put it, so it got a book of its own. She was 80 years old when she wrote it, and by that time she had certainly passed her prime of writing and I think she was writing because it was what she had always done.

The tale is told skillfully and is easy to read, but in the end, had it been the only thing she had written, no one would be show more reading her today. I am not belittling this book. It was charming and I enjoyed reading it, but the only thing one might carry away from it of importance is that young men should be wary of older women who offer them enticing drinks.

Reading The Prince and the Pilgrim is like sailing through calm, blue waters. It is soothing and pleasurable, but there is little excitement or thrill. Still, Mary Stewart always manages to make you care for her characters, and Alexander and Alice are no exception. I wanted them to meet, to love, and to live happily ever after. Like I said, it has the ring of a fairytale...but don't we all love Cinderella? show less

Entertaining but a bit predictable love story roughly based on two characters form Morte d'Arthur. Although Morgan makes an appearance Arthur is off stage, as are Merlin and the other main characters of earlier books in the series.

Two separate plots: a prince in exile, a girl on a pilgramage. Naturally they meet, and most overcome problems together. Realistic and very well-written.

Mary Stewart is fairly well known for her retelling of the myths of King Arthur. I picked up this book up quite some time ago. It is the retelling of two less known characters in the king Arthur myth - Alisander the Orphan and Alice the pilgrim. In Thomas Mallory's book, these two characters occupy a few pages of one of the books in his novel. Thus, Stewart did not have too much to work with in her expansion and retelling of the story. It's quite easy to see this in the book.

Most of the book is told as two separate narratives. The first narrative tells the story of Alexander, the son of the brother of the king of Cornwall. His father is killed in the opening chapter and his mother decides that when he comes of age, he should have to show more avenge his father's death. On his quest to do this, he gets sidetracked by Morgan le Fay and is sent on a quest for the holy grail. On the way, he is told that his mother is a hamsert and his father smells of elderberries. Okay, maybe not but it would have made the book more interesting.

The second narrative is that of Alice, daughter of a devout Duke. Her narrative centers around the rather confusing warring between the different Frankish factions. She doesn't seem to really do much in this story, except aiding in the escape of one of the sons of King Clovis and Clotilda. He escapes with a cup he claims is the holy grail. Thus, in the very last chapter, our two lovebirds finally meet and the story is resolved in a fairly satisfactory manner. However, I think it took far too long to get to the meeting of the two young people. This is supposed to be a love story, but the lovers are starcrossed for 90% of the novel. It would have been better as a novella - or maybe, it should have just been left as a sidenote. show less

Substance: Retelling of an episode in Malory's Arthurian cycle reset from Middle to Dark Ages and interlaced with history. The legend is a romance between the dispossessed nephew of King Mark of Cornwall and a young heiress captivated by his knightly prowess. The tale told here is a charming and entertaining expansion of the story in keeping with Stewart's research into medieval Britain for her Merlin quad.
Style: A lyrically descriptive romance, not shunning the "facts of life" but keeping them well within the capacity of a junior reader to understand, without graphics.

Based on a legend of Prince Alexander whose father was murdered by his brother, the King March of Cornwall, and Alice, daugher of Duke Alisarus, famous for his pilgrimages to Jerusalem and Tours, set in the historical dark age and the age of Alexander of Stewart's previous novels. This one felt less connected to the history and physical time and space and more fairytale-like. Very easy to read but rather forgettable.

A nice romantic Arthurian story. Alexander meets and is ensnared by one of King Arthur's sisters. (Mary Stewart has Arthur having two sisters - Morgause and Morgan) Arthur isn't really involved in this story.

I like how Alice comes to realize the truth behind the relics.