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The Crimson Chalice
Book 1 in the The Crimson Chalice Trilogy series.
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Around 450 CE, Roman authority has vanished from Britain and expanding Saxon settlements threaten fragmented Romano-British and Celtic communities. Gratia, known as Tia, escapes the destruction of her home and rescues Baradoc, a British warrior left to die by a treacherous kinsman. Their journey west leads through ruined estates, raiding parties, slavery and the uncertain protection of local rulers.
A priest entrusts them with a small chalice associated with the Crucifixion, beginning Canning’s reworking of the Grail tradition. Baradoc and the pregnant Tia eventually reach Lundy, where the reclusive Merlin assists at the birth of their son Arturo. The novel creates an origin story for Arthur from the social dislocation of post-Roman Britain, combining archaeological detail, landscape and legend without adopting the courtly world of later medieval romance.
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