The Squire's Tale has all the things I look for in a really fun read. It has strong characters in Terence (the squire) and Sir Gawain (his knight). During the course of the book, both of them go on a long quest given them by a faery enchanter and have all sorts of adventures: fighting recreant knights, meeting a mischevious faery, even trying to sort out a few knightly romances. Both Gawain and Terence are honorable and brave - both of them are some of the best examples of real knightly behavior to be found in the book.
There are also all the old staples of a story about King Arthur and his knights. Merlin appears, and so does the Lady of the Lake. King Arthur and his wife Guinevere are also characters, as well as a mysterious enemy who threatens King Arthur. In Gerald Morris's story, there are also faeries and enchanters, magical spells and disguises, and mysterious things that happen to Terence and Gawain during their quest. I'd highly recommend this book for all these reasons, plus once you finish the first book there's nine more stories to come!
I would say this book is probably just about right for readers between 8 and 14. I started reading them when I was 12, and I still love them now, several years later. There's no inappropriate language or content at all, and the book is very engaging. The romance elements in it were brought to the story by other characters and in my opinion were more hilarious than realistic. The 'damsel in distress' and the lovestruck knight made me laugh every time. Morris used them and various other characters to poke fun at the ridiculousness of the pathetic ideas about chivalry and knightly love that came from the original Arthurian tales.
The thing I liked best about this book and this series by Gerald Morris was that it was the best retelling of King Arthur that I've come across. I like reading about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, so I scout around for stories set in that era. Out of all of them that I've found, The Squire's Tales is my favorite. It's funny, there's adventure, and the true valor and honor of King Arthur and his knights shows in this series.
