The Knights of the Cornerstone, by James P. Blaylock, $23.95. James Blaylock brings eccentric characters, ancient mysteries and siege warfare to the California desert for one of the best books of the year.
Calvin Bryson has enough money to spend his time collecting esoteric books and drawing cartoons that he makes halfhearted attempts to sell. His first reaction is to ignore a letter from his uncle to visit his sick aunt in New Cyprus on the California-Nevada border.
When another eccentric old relative sends him a mysterious package to deliver to his uncle, he consents. He’s told it’s a veil that an old family member used in seances. After threats and thefts he’s told it is a much older holy relic. Most of the residents of New Cyprus are members of the Knights of the Cornerstone. The knights trace their relics back to the Knights Templar from the 14th century.
On the trip to New Cyprus, Calvin finds a book about a local version of Salome and John the Baptist. His uncle later tells him there was a real beheading behind this story and the small press that published the book is still around. A visit to the local bookshop turns up rare volumes he covets but also are dangerous to Calvin and the bookstore owner.
Calvin receives escalating threats from a man who has been planning an assault on the wealth of the knights for decades. Calvin’s first reaction is to get away from this craziness, but he is drawn to stay by the only family he has and a budding romance with a forgotten girl from his childhood. He becomes part of a spectacle that includes camel-riding attackers and catapulting boulders.
Blaylock is like an enchanting travel writer who finds the hidden charm of what looks like a dull destination. New Cyprus is a lazy place on the Colorado River with constantly unfolding wonders.
A Song in Stone, by Walter H. Hunt, $21.95. Ian Graham is an out-of-work talk- show host. He gets a chance to host a show about unusual places starting with the Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland.
Touring the chapel Ian hears music that no one else hears. The music crescendos with Ian going back in time to the months in 1307 before the betrayal of the Knights Templar. For reasons he can’t fathom he is now a pilgrim visiting holy sites from Spain to France. His guide on the pilgrimage is a 14th-century version of the guide who had been showing him around Rosslyn.
The initiation rites he encounters along the way include the Holy Grail, the Ark of the Covenant and the head of John the Baptist. Ian has a unique ability to hear the same music at the sacred sites he visits. He is living with terrible knowledge that soon the Knights will be denounced by the King and the order persecuted.
He may never make it to that day. They are followed by a lord and his armed men who want the relics Ian and his guide Rob acquire on the way.
“A Song in Stone” is a back-in-time adventure that is supposed to be for big stakes. In the end I learned a lot of history about the Knights Templar, but I was never drawn into accepting the larger story of a modern man thrown back in time.
When Lightning Flashed, by Jeanne Allen, $14.96. I was able to accept the back-in-time scenario when its purpose is a wish-fulfillment love story.
When Deanne is attacked after work one night she is rescued by a knight on horseback. He doesn’t speak her language, but she finds a new ability to speak Old English after she gets him to a hospital. This comes from the necklace she inherited from her great aunt. For the knight Randwulf this is the Crystal of Light revered in his world.
In Randwulf’s world, he must rescue Princess Audrey, whose imminent marriage is prophesied to bring peace to the land. The car wreck that takes Randwulf back to his time also puts Deanne into the place of the kidnapped princess.
It’s unusual to think a fantasy novel should be longer, but “When Lightning Flashed” has summarized episodes that could be fleshed out. At the same time, it’s a relief to read a satisfying adventure that isn’t stretched over three volumes.
Fred Cleaver is a freelancer who writes regularly about new science fiction releases.
