Knight Errant (War of the Roses)

Product Description R. Garcia y Robertson is the author of a numerous of books and stories, many of them published in the SF genre. In addition, he has written two highly praised novels outside that genre, American Woman, and The Spiral Dance ("A remarkably realistic historical fantasy."--Ellen Kushner, host of Song and Spirit, NPR). Now Garcia y Robertson returns with a powerful time-travel romance that reaches new imaginative heights. Robyn Stafford, a young American woman executive, has flown from Hollywood to England to surprise her lover on his birthday, only to find that he's married and his wife's giving the party. So she takes a few days off to recover from her outrage and dismay, traveling and hiking in England near the Welsh border. There she encounters a young man on horseback, wearing a sword, chain mail, and a surcoat, who identifies himself as Edward Plantagenet, Earl of March, and asks directions to a nearby abbey. He thinks it is the year 1459, is amazed by her working cell phone, and invites her to ride along, although at first he thought her a young boy wearing pants! Then his pursuers show up, and Edward and Robyn ride madly across the hills until he drops her off and gallops back to face his enemies. After he fights them off, he returns and invites her to come with him and be his lady. Then he rides away, into the distant past, to the age of the War of the Roses. And so Robyn Stafford must find a way to leave the world of today for the fifteenth century, where she will fall in love with a young knight, a prince who will be king. This is the first of three books in a sweeping historical romance. Amazon.com Review Robyn Stafford, a thoroughly modern heroine, finds herself transported to 15th-century England in this novel of time travel, romance, witchcraft, and political intrigue, set in one of England's most turbulent historical periods. Robyn's search for a way back to her own time is complicated by her growing love for Edward Mortimer, Earl of March, a key figure in an escalating struggle for the English throne. As Robyn is drawn into the conflict, it becomes clear that she has her part to play in events--and she plays it with courage, dash, and intelligence. R. Garcia y Robertson brings to this novel his usual skill at creating setting through the details of culture, custom, and beliefs so that the reader is able to share Robyn's experience fully. A strong cast of characters and a healthy dose of adventure, along with love, magic, and humor, make Knight Errant an engrossing and entertaining read. --Roz Genessee From Publishers Weekly Without swooning over an ancient portrait or using any of the devices associated with time-travel romances, heroine Robyn Stafford goes back (and forth and back again) six centuries to medieval England to find and keep her man. Hers is, for the most part, an exciting romp: Robyn becomes a witch, is jailed by villains, charms mad King Henry VI and meets 15th-century counterparts of 21st-century people she had known. She fervently wishes to return, but once back, she willingly forgoes Hollywood, her job and the pleasures of her own time. All this she does in favor of the discomfort, dangers and lack of amenities of a ruder age and, especially, Edward Plantagenet, Earl of March, dashing, imperturbable and in love with her from the moment they meet. As for the time travel, it is engineered by a witch, whom Robyn encounters in each era she visits. Spunky and inventive, Robyn makes her own way, even using her credit card to unlock a door bolt. Robertson's (The Spiral Dance and American Woman) detailed knowledge of the era and the terrain usually complement his story, but at times it just gets in the way. It is unnecessary to know, for example, that Sir John Falstaff, rudely characterized by Shakespeare, was actually a hard-working knight, nor do readers need to be told the derivation of "Cheapside." The prose can be downright hokey ("Built like a college quarterback, the boy
ASIN: 0312869967
VSKU: KDV.0312869967.G
Condition: Good