The Lioness and Her Knight

No sooner does Luneta leave home to visit King Arthur's Court than she gets swept up in adventure, romance, betrayal, and more than a little bit of magic.Adventure, magic, love, and knights of the realm collide in this delightfully witty tale from the legend of King Arthur. Lady Luneta lives cooped up with her parents in a remote region of the kingdom and, like many teens, longs to get out and have some fun. When her parents agree to let her see a bit of the world, and to give them a break from mother-daughter turmoil, Luneta is thrilled. Soon she is on her way, accompanied by her cousin, the knight Ywain, to the castle of a family friend near Camelot. They meet Rhience, a former knight now pursuing the career of fool, and the three travel together, with Ywain imagining himself fighting gloriously in battle and Rhience spouting barbs and witticisms along the way. Once at Lady Laudine's castle, Ywain kills their hostess's husband in battle and immediately falls in love with the lady herself, Luneta becomes an enchantress under the direction of her great-aunt Morgan Le Fay, and Rhience proves to be a loyal companion and not such a fool after all. The characters are well developed and compelling and the dialogue is intelligent and sharp. While the plot goes on a bit long and occasionally veers off into several different directions, it's just too much fun not to find out what's around the next corner.

When Gerald Morris was in fifth grade he loved Greek and Norse mythology and before long was retelling the stories to his younger sister and then to neighborhood kids. He began carrying a notebook in which he kept some of the details related to the different stories. The joy he found in retelling those myths continued when he discovered other stories.

According to Gerald Morris, “I never lost my love of retelling the old stories. When I found Arthurian literature, years later, I knew at once that I wanted to retell those grand tales. So I pulled out my notebook . . . I retell the tales, peopling them with characters that I at least find easier to recognize, and let the magic of the Arthurian tradition go where it will.”

Gerald Morris lives in Wausau, Wisconsin, with his wife and their three children. In addition to writing he serves as a minister in a church.