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eBook Category: Fantasy/Mystery/Crime
eBook Description: A tarnished saint and a polished devil sweep several ordinary people into a struggle for the holy grail, winner take the future.

eBook Publisher: Fictionwise.com, Published: 2003
Fictionwise Release Date: October 2004

12 Reader Ratings: Great Good OK Poor

Available eBook Formats [MultiFormat - What's this?]: Adobe Acrobat (PDF) [2.2 MB], eReader (PDB) [424 KB], Palm Doc (PDB) [436 KB], Rocket/REB1100 (RB) [386 KB], Microsoft Reader (LIT) [363 KB] - PocketPC 1.0+ Compatible, Franklin eBookMan (FUB) [411 KB], hiebook (KML) [970 KB], Sony Reader (LRF) [494 KB], iSilo (PDB) [360 KB], Mobipocket (PRC) [448 KB], Kindle Compatible (MOBI) [517 KB], OEBFF Format (IMP) [584 KB]
Words: 125824
Reading time: 359-503 min.
Microsoft Reader (LIT) Format: Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud ENABLED
Adobe Acrobat (PDF) Format:  Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud ENABLED
All Other formats: Printing DISABLED, Read-aloud DISABLED

"Lillian Stewart Carl's latest fantasy novel, Lucifer's Crown, effectively combines Arthurian legend, Grail myth, and British folkways to create a powerful novel. Ms. Carl takes the ideas of good vs. evil quite seriously and probes deeply into the idea of redemption. She does not, however, take her themes lightly, instead giving them a vigorous shaking down before she's done, resulting in a gripping spiritual thriller. One could easily call this 'in the tradition of Charles Williams (a colleague of Lewis and Tolkien)'--which it certainly is--but it more importantly moves beyond that master of the spiritual thriller. It succeeds where Williams always failed: it has believable characters."--Matthew Scott Winslow, The Green Man Review

"Carl's strongest point by far is her character creation and development. Thomas Beckett, the sinful saint who let someone else die in his place and has lived with this moral flaw for centuries, is simply fascinating. He is sinner and saint, scholar and warrior, human and angelic ... all in one. The author manages to combine all these traits into what has become one of my favorite fictional characters ever. The plot is fascinating as well, a classical good vs. evil story set in modern-day Britain. The author manages to include enough new ideas, interpretations, and twist into this 'old' story that it is a joy to read it all over again. Every page is a pleasure to read, and I could ot put the book down until I was done in one night."--Anika Leithner, Amazon.com

"Lucifer's Crown is a densely-packed narrative of uncommon complexity and richness. Superficially, it's contemporary fantasy, with magical elements intruding on modern life, but it is also equal parts historical tour-de-force, murder mystery, quest fantasy, romance, Arthurian epic and alternate history of Wagnerian scope. Carl has taken half a dozen or more traditions and genres, mixing them together to forge an alloyed novel of unexpected strength."--Jayme Lynn Blaschke, SF Site

"Blending historical mystery with a touch of the supernatural, the author creates an intriguing exploration of faith and redemption in a world that is at once both modern and timeless."--Library Journal

The gate stood open beneath its ancient stone arch. Maggie Sinclair walked through it into the grounds of Glastonbury Abbey. Turning around, she began, "When you see Salisbury..."

Her tiny flock was no longer at her heels. Muttering, "I'm a teacher, not a border collie," she doubled back.

In the dank shadow of the archway two people passed close by her. "I'm telling you, Vivian," the middle-aged man said in a Scottish accent, "there's no good will come of it."

The woman laughed. "Leave it, Calum. No harm in having a bit of a giggle with the group tonight. I'll have a story for the paper."

"Ah, you and your stories for the paper," he retorted.

"I'm a journalist," the English woman said. "Writing stories is what I do."

What's going on tonight? But the couple went on into the Abbey, leaving Maggie's curiosity unsatisfied.

Emerging into the thin October sunlight, she looked right and left along Magdalene Street. Yeah, she thought, there were a lot of things no good would come of. This trip might be one of them. But it wasn't that she was running away. Teaching was what she did.

Her students were ranged around the corner into Silver Street, taking in the signs and the shops: the Rainbow's End Caf�, the King Arthur Public House, the National Federation of Spiritual Healers. The Brigit Healing Wing, Pendragon, The Goddess and the Green Man, and the Library of Avalon. The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker. The ten-foot-tall gateway of the medieval George and Pilgrim Inn looked like a mouth shaped in an O of astonishment, mirroring the expression on the faces of the three students. "Hello?" Maggie called.

Rose Kildare, the Botticelli angel, smiled. Beefy campus jock Sean MacArthur, Rose's shadow, looked casual. Senior citizen Anna Stern, who seemed fragile but had set the pace on their trek up Glastonbury Tor, said, "Look at the books in this window. The Holy Grail. Astrology. Standing stones and earth energy. Feminism. Ecology. Celtic Revival."

"That's Glastonbury," said Maggie. "It's surrounded by sacred sites dating back thousands of years. During the Middle Ages pilgrims came to see England's most famous collection of Christian relics. Now anything goes."

"The shop owners may sell crystals and aromatherapy candles along with the crucifixes," said Rose, "but the pilgrims are still coming."

Sean shook his head. "Pilgrims? Some of these people are weird."

"Most of us," Maggie began, then amended, "many people are looking for a capital-S Story that will transcend the limits of their own lives. This is why we're doing the legends of Arthur, right? Come on--here you take advantage of the sunshine, you don't hide from it like we do back home in Texas."