Authors have long sought the Holy Grail with varying degrees of success: Bernard Cornwell notched up a few more bestsellers; Dan Brown made lots of money; and Kate Mosse created a modern classic, Labyrinth. Now, Stephen Chamberlain launches his Graël quest with the fabulous first novel in his new series.
The author has an extraordinary imagination, taking the reader on a journey through time, and to other worlds and other races. The showdown is as memorable as when the Duc de Richlieu sees off the Angel of Death in The Devil Rides Out. There's clearly much more to come in this series. Can't wait!

This is basically a different version of the Holy Grail story.Here the grail(Graël)is a stone from a different universe.The book consist of two storylines and it constantly switches between those two. One happens in present day Switzerland were Lena and a mysterious stranger,Raphael, are looking for a lost Graëlstone once believed to be in the possession of the Cathars. Of course they are not the only ones looking for this stone....The other storyline is situated in the Languedoc and northern Italy in 1245. Here the Cathars are fleeing from the horrible Inquisition. We follow the story of Gideon(another mysterious stranger) who is looking for the Graëlstone believed to be kept in hiding,by the Cathars,since the fall of Montségur,their stronghold.
Well,it starts very promising,very exciting,a strange mix between fantasy,adventure and mystery but unfortunately it doesn't keep its promise. It just drags on and on,a bit of a never-ending story and I had a hard time actually finishing it. It really is too bad because a new take on the Grail myth is always interesting.

I finished this book but it seemed to take forever. I'd lay it down and read something else and come back. Lena has been raised by her grandmother in a home maintained by Count Angelo. When she is diagnosed with a terminal illness the Count sends her on a mission to find the Holy Grail, her only hope of surviving. Based loosely on the legend of the Grail falling from Heaven.