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Tuesday, March 11, 2025

A Robert Shea 'commercial'


[This is a bit of prose from All Things Are Lights, one of my favorite novels by Robert Shea,  that appears at the front of the book. I've always thought it was a good "commercial" for the contents and decided to share it. All Things Are Lights is set in in medieval France; while  many characters in the historical novel are fictional, St. Louis, Louis IX (1214-1270) is one of the characters. Roland de Vency, a knight and troubadour,  is the protagonist of the novel. His friend the Templar also belongs to a secret society within the Templars. Free version in HTML, you should also be able to hunt up a used version that doesn't cost very much. The Mgt.]

“How much jousting have you done?”

“A little,” replied the young troubadour.

“A little!” the Templar said ironically. “In tournaments all over Europe, Count Amalric has bested hundreds of knights. Many times he has killed men. Of course, it is against the rules. But he is a master at making it look like an accident.” He looked at Roland with an almost fatherly kindness. “Indeed, Messire, the best advice I could give you would be not to enter the tournament at all.”

Roland laughed. “Such cautious advice from a Templar?”

“We fight for God, Messire. Have you as great a motive?”

“Yes, I do,” said Roland, seeing Nicolette’s eyes shining in the darkness before him. “I fight for love.”

5 comments:

Spookah said...

Do you think there is any chance this book, or other Bob Shea novels, might some day be repressed by Hilaritas?

quackenbush said...

That's a great idea.

Anonymous said...

I've had All Things Are Lights for a little while but haven't read it yet. Since this commercial was published the same day I finished another book, I decided to read ATAL next. Right there in chapter 1, when Roland and his family are being introduced, we learn his sister has married an Italian noble named Lorenzo Celino. That seems to link this to several other books I know.

Cleveland Okie (Tom Jackson) said...

Yes, and the description of Roland in Shea's novel is very close to the description of Hagbard Celine in "Illuminatus!"

Eric Wagner said...

I remember in 1986 waiting eagerly for the publication of this book.