WATCH FIRES TO THE NORTH

Arthur minus the mumbo-jumbo, the round table and Excalibur--here Artyr, an indifferent warrior but a great general. This is the memoir of a kind, Lucius Bedwyr Marcianus of Turris Alba, from the time he was sent out on his first mission at thirteen and returned with the badly wounded Artyr, to Artyr's death many years later while the chief of Bedwyr's army. Bedwyr writes formally, almost regally, of their many battles, of their trip to New Rome (Constantinople) to learn the art of cavalry warfare, of his marriage (""my dear Sybilla""), of many well-known characters--Gladhad (""a mystic""), Gwenyfer (""a good and loyal wife""), Mylan--their names spelled in the old way. Constant action is complemented by Bedwyr's reflections on character and history; as human as any diary keeper, he subtly records his own maturing and that of his elusive cousin Gwenyfer, but Artyr, he comments, was never youthful. An anthropological record of the period, a realistic look at a legendary figure--Artyr or Arthur he's especially convincing here.