King of the Middle March (Kevin Crossley-Holland)

Crossley-Holland's Arthur trilogy concludes with King of the Middle March.  Again we're in the world of two Arthurs:

1) The legendary king sees his fellowship of the round table come to an end, as the quest for the grail disperses the knights, and the illicit romance between Lancelot and Guinevere forces people to choose between king and top knight.  The king's son, Mordred, takes advantage of the situation to proclaim himself king, sparking a war between father and son which leads to their mutual demise.

2) The other Arthur, meanwhile, is in Venice preparing to depart on the Fourth Crusade.  Things take an unexpected turn, though, when the crusaders fail to raise the necessary funds to repay the Venetian shipbuilders, who for recompense demand that they attack the Christian city of Zara (a town which has recently rebelled against Venetian rule).  Arthur finds himself exposed to the horror of war and questions some crusaders' intent as he comes of age and is knighted.  Circumstances force him back home to the Middle March as the book closes, and he takes his place as 'king' of his manor.

Like the first two offerings, King of the Middle March is great.  Equal parts historical fiction, Arthurian legend, and coming-of-age tale, I highly recommend it.  This particular book covers more of "Arthur #2" than the second book, which was nice.  Be it the wisdom scattered throughout, the time period, or the legends covered, everything is fantastic.  There are a few minor things that detract, though (spoiler alert):

• You may need some prior knowledge of both Arthurian legend and Crusades history to fully enjoy this. I think you'll enjoy it either way, but the more you know going in, the better.
• Some threads of story aren't concluded (most importantly, which person Arthur ends up marrying).  I really wanted to know!
• In the end, there's no 'real' connection between the Arthurs, though some initial indicators pointed in this direction. 

I can do no better to summarize the trilogy than quote Crossley-Holland's own words (taken from his website):

What if, I thought. What if… What if I were to write two stories in tandem? One would be a historical novel, in which a boy, eager to serve as a squire and to go on crusade, is given this piece of obsidian; and one would be the stories, the Arthurian legends, that this boy sees in the obsidian. These legends, I thought, would anticipate and reflect his own eagerness and ideals and anxieties and passions and sorrows. His own rites of passage.

You succeeded, sir.  Well done.

Rating: A