Serpent in the Thorns by Jeri Westerson
'announce me to you master...the name is Crispin Guest' Murder and courtly intrigue recalling the people involved in the Tracker’s fall from grace are woven into Book 2 of the Crispin Guest novels including Lancaster, the Abbot of Westminster Abbey, and of course Richard. As a character, Guest has developed further in Westerson’s second novel. He’s rounding out, has substance and feels like an old friend. He’s still being beaten up by the Sheriff, still stiff with pride about being a knight and the inherent differences in class in 14 th Century England , and still quoting Socrates. We glimpse his unbroken ideals when he talks about his philosophy about life to Liveth. She asks him, ‘Why not become an outlaw on the highways? Other knights struck by poverty take to it readily enough.’ Eventually Crispin replies that life is more than climbing out of poverty, ‘…men need a challenge. They need to feel useful, that they fill an important place in the world.’ (p.108) ‘ The Tr...