The Quest for Excalibur has the appeal of an enchanted tale that weaves the author's knowledge about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table with a tale about a woman who wants to be appreciated for being there for her family but isn't until she is swept away to Camelot, leaving behind her husband and kids to care for themselves in Modern Day London.

all ages.

Everyone can relate to this book, especially in regards to wanting to be appreciated.

the fact that it wasn't thoroughly edited, checked for typos, etc. The story could have been better developed, although the premise has promise. Some sections just needed furhter development

edited the areas I had mentioned above, and asked the author to addd to the areas I alluded to above.

as though it needed some editing but I could relate to the protagonist, and the desire to go someplace, like Camelot, where I would be appreciated. A Calgon Take Me Away moment.

Angelica Harris has talent, but needs to be encoruaged to bring out her full potential that I know she has

I think people would relate and enjoy the story.

The Quest for Excalibur has the appeal of an enchanted tale that weaves the
author's knowledge about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table with
a tale about a woman who wants to be appreciated for being there for her
family but isn't until she is swept away to Camelot, leaving behind her
husband and kids to care for themselves in Modern Day London.
The premise of the book is enchanting, and aches, as the protagonist does,
to be appreciated and for the book to be considered a classic that it has
the characteristic of being. The book definitely rings true of being a great
read, or magic of being just that - a classic, but lacks the grit in some
areas of the book to achieve the book's and author's fullest potential.
An attributing factor to this, in my opinion, is poor editing of the book by
those associated with the publishing firm that released Quest for Excalibur
in April 2004.
Within the first quarter of the book, for example, there are a couple of
spelling errors. Its is used instead of the rightful it's and waste was used
instead of waist. Even though the first is a common mistake, the second
isn't. However, what kept me from giving this book higher than the four out
of five stars rating is largely due to areas where I thought the book was
lacking.
I'll admit. I am not as knowledgeable about King Arthur and the Knights of
the Round Table. Unlike the author, Angelica Harris, I haven't read any of
the other books on King Arthur, Camelot or the Knights of the Round Table; I
haven't done research on the history of that legend, or seen many of the
movies on the subject. Having said that, I feel that some brief history
could have been expressed or shown more for those, like myself, without
minimal amount of knowledge. This could have easily been done when Arianna
first arrives in London with her family. On the jacket, it states that she
is an expert on the subject, yet it is only hinted throughout the book. This
could have easily been rectified during her flight to London with her family
who, in turn, could have shown a lack of interest and again when she meets
up with the mysterious Edmund, or when they went to the Museum of Knights
near the end of the novel.
Showing a little more of the tension between Arianna and her family, of how
they didn't really appreciate her - even though, again, it was hinted at -
could have explained why she didn't want to leave Camelot when it was time
for her to return to her family in modern day London. It could have easily
been addressed a couple of times when they first arrived in London; take as
an example when she went to go horseback riding. Her grumpy, unappreciative
husband could have grumbled over how he couldn't understand her interest in
riding or seeing the ruins of Camelot, etc.
It could have also been easily shown in the scene where her husband is left
to supervise the kids at the hotel, worrying why she's taking so long with
her horseback riding, not knowing the truth behind her whereabouts.
Needless to say, there were areas of the book where Angelica did show this.
Near the end of the book, when Edmund, a.k.a. Merlin, had taken the family
to the Museum of Nights and Joseph began to act out, irritating his father
to the point that he demanded to leave.
Examples of this sprinkled through the first half of the book, could have
allowed the reader feel Arianna's pain more and understand why she felt at
home at 6th Century Camelot.
I wish the author the best of luck with her endeavors, however. Should she
decided to go with another publishing firm, I would hope that she would have
that publishing firm run this book as an imprint (if that's the right word)
so that the book could get the attention and appreciation that it deserves
from the reading public.

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Created Jul 24, 2004 at 10:19am • Submit your own review...