THE ARCHER'S TALE IS THE FIRST CROMWELL BOOK I HAVE READ. THE STORY LINE GRAB AND HELD MY ATTENTION FROM THE BEGINNING TO THE LAST PAGE. I LEARNED MUCH ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ARCHERS AND HOW THEY WERE THE FIRST LINE OF ATTACK AND DEFENSE AND THE STRUGGLE OF THE WARRIORS OF WAR AS THE DEATH TOTALS INCREASED AND THE BLOOD POOLED AROUND THEIR ANKLES. THE IMPORTANCE AND VULNERABILITY OF THE ALL IMPORTANT HORSE WAS AN EXPERIENCE TOO. I HAVE GONE ON TO THE FULL GRAIL SERIES, WITHOUT A MOMENT OF HO HUM BOREDOM, YOU WILL TOO. The Archer's Tale : Book One of the Grail Quest (The Grail Quest)

If you've read the very fine, "The Last Kingdom Series" and "The Arthurian Series", you'll most likely be disappointed in "The Archer's Tale". In "The Archer's Tale", Thomas, the main character, doesn't come close to the strength of Uthred or Dervel, and doesn't have enough depth to carry the story. The development of the character Will Skeat gave the reader more of a feeling for the man, while Thomas seemed to float through his life, and I found myself bored by the story. Also some of the battle scenes, especially the last one towards the end of the book, should have been better edited. Too long and far too wordy at best, but that's not to say I won't read the final two books in the series.

It's hard not to taken away with Bernard Cornwell's writing, but for me "The Archer's Tale" was weak in comparison to his other series mentioned above.

The history is accurate, the characters are engaging, and the story lines are superb - everything you want from historial fiction. Read just one Bernard Cornwell book and you'll be hooked for a very long time. Trust me - read "The Archer's Tale" and you'll find it quite impossible not to finish the series.