The Table of Less Valued Knights - Hardcover

Phillips, Marie

3.74

1,451 ratings by Goodreads

9780307359940: The Table of Less Valued Knights

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0307359948 ISBN 13: 9780307359940

Publisher: Random House of Canada Ltd, 2014

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From Marie Phillips, author of the #1 national and international bestsellerGods Behaving Badly, comes a charming, funny story about a down-on-his-luck knight of Camelot, his eccentric band of misfits and their madcap quest to restore order to their lives, and the realm.
Sir Humphrey du Val has had enough. Relegated to the Table of Less Valued Knights--Camelot's least prestigious spot, boringly rectangular in shape and with one leg shorter than the other so that it has to be propped up with a folded napkin to stop it from rocking--he has been banned by King Arthur from going on quests, and hasn't left the castle in 15 years. After a chance meeting with Elaine, a young maiden in search of her kidnapped fianc�, Sir Humphrey, along with his squire Conrad (an undersized giant) and Jemima (Conrad's elephant), sets off on a journey to find the distressed damsel's betrothed, hoping to restore himself to a place of honour at the Round Table.

Meanwhile, Martha, an errant queen on the run from her new power-hungry husband, is in disguise and on a quest of her own to find her long-lost brother, the true ruler of her realm. Martha soon runs--literally--into Humphrey's eccentric group, who take the incognito queen captive, believing her to be a boy. As they journey through countryside, castles and villages, they gather unlikely friends and enemies along the way. While each member of the party secretly harbours their own ambitions for the quest, their collective success, and the fate of the realm, rests on their grudging cooperation and unexpectedly interconnected lives.

The Princess Bride meets Monty Python and the Holy Grail in this funny, charming, and delightful tale about lesser-known heroes in Arthurian England.

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Review:

"As if Jane Austen were rewriting Terry Pratchett: snorts and chortles plus elegant eyebrow-raising... Bold literary and historical misadventures, told with a twist and a lightness of touch." (Ian Sansom Guardian)

"The reader can enjoy the same level of affectionate detail that the Pythons brought to Monty Python and the Holy Grail... Phillips clearly delights in the world of [King Arthur] and...subverts fantasy motif in refreshing and absurd ways... Very good fun." (Leonora Craig Cohen Literary Review)

"The Table of Less Valued Knights infects Arthurian legend with a brio not seen since Monty Python and the Holy Grail" (New Statesman)

"Very funny... It’s a real joy to read a novel that makes you snort out loud with laughter." (Skinny)

Book Description:

Eagerly awaited second novel by the author of Gods Behaving Badly - a deliciously funny peek into one of the dustier corners of Camelot

Longlisted for the 2015 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction

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