Product Description

An exquisite novel of fantasy from a “true one-of-a-kind original” (Neil Gaiman).

Calvin Bryson has hidden himself away from the world, losing himself in his work and his collection of rare and quirky books. He never meant to let so much time go by without visiting his aunt and uncle in the tiny town of New Cyprus, California. When he gets there, he’ll discover the town’s strange secrets and a mysterious group dedicated to preserving and protecting holy relics—a modernday incarnation of the legendary Knights Templar…

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #527744 in Books
• Published on: 2008-12-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780441016532
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Blaylock's contemporary fantasy thriller features an intriguing and convincing reluctant hero, amiable cartoonist Calvin Bryson. Bryson's quiet life gets a jolt when his uncle, Al Lymon, invites him to visit New Cyprus, the isolated home of the mysterious Knights of the Cornerstone. Bryson's cousin also sends him a package to take to Lymon, but before Bryson makes it to New Cyprus, the parcel is stolen. Only afterward does Bryson learn it was a decoy, intended to mask the transport of the genuine Veil of Veronica, a legendary relic with magical properties. The plot line begins to sound familiar when Bryson falls for a childhood friend, but as the Knights and their enemies battle for control of the veil, Blaylock (The Digging Leviathan) bolsters the predictable climax with solid prose, summing to an enjoyable read. (Dec.)
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About the Author
Among other things James Blaylock writes, teaches creative writing, and occasionally builds sets for local community and children’s theatres. He is the author of some sixteen novels and scores of short stories and essays.

Customer Reviews

A lighthearted adventure through the eyes of a cartoonist
Calvin Bryson is a relatively reclusive cartoonist who hides away in his Southern California home, spending his days reading quirky books and maintaining his collection of "Californiana." Recently breaking up with his fiance, he receives a letter from his uncle and aunt in New Cyprus, a small town in the desert where the borders of California, Arizona and Nevada meet. They'd like him to come visit, which Calvin is reluctant to at first until he receives a package from his distant cousin in Iowa with the request to bring it to his relatives in New Cyprus. Thus Calvin heads out to deliver the package and learns about the Knights of the Cornerstone, a secret society which his uncle belongs to that collects artifacts and is involved in many other unknown mysteries which Calvin becomes a part of.

This book is good, light reading with likeable characters, fast moving action and lots of witty humor. It fits the Blaylock model of writing with its realistic setting sprinkled with fantastical elements. I sense a new series with Calvin and the Knights on the horizon, as I felt there was remaining stories to be told. More description on the Knights would have been nice, but if this becomes a series, the future books could be used for that. Overall, it's nice to have new James Blaylock novel after almost nine years of not having one. If you want an enjoyable book that's not too deep and easy to read, pick up Knights of the Cornerstone.

Still Superb N. American Magic Realist - Fabulist
The author of such California Gothics as The Rainy Season and All the Bells on Earth returns with another whimsical, nostalgic fantasy that seems gentle but then still manages to deliver a sharp-edged punch. Unemployed but comfortable, eccentric Calvin Bryson, a talented but not driven cartoonist, agrees to run an errand for his uncle and cancer-ridden aunt, who reside in the strange little desert community of New Cyprus. Immediately drawn into some sort of bizarre squabble between two groups of unusual people, Calvin soon learns that just about all the town's citizens are Knights of the Cornerstone, keepers of some very interesting relics such as the Veil of Veronica, which might just possibly be the real Shroud of Turin - or something. Their opponents will stop at nothing to acquire the relics and other treasure for their own unsavory purposes. Thrust and parry events escalate rapidly to a full-blown medievalist battle complete with siege engines and other logical but unexpected extremes. Revisiting similar themes as his earlier novel The Paper Grail, Blaylock effortlessly blends gentle fantasy with Knights Templar mythology transplanted to an unlikely but altogether very well-realized place. Calvin is just the sort of aimless, unfocused hero Blaylock prefers, a vessel who can be filled with purpose once a noble quest is shown to be his destiny. Deceptively simple narrative hides some astute observations about people rising to the occasion, doing right by others, the modern world, Time, and the imponderable nature of miracles and who owns them. Knights is a worthy addition to Blaylock's canon of North American magic realist novels peopled by the quirky, well-intentioned folks we might ourselves wish to be.

The Return of Blaylock
OK, so he hasn't REALLY been away - but if you know this author, you know he's had a couple of distinct "periods" - whimsy-and-wizardry, steampunk-silliness, contemporary-fantasy, ghosts-of-California. With this novel, Blaylock returns to the contemporary fantasy genre he last visited in 1995 with "All The Bells On Earth." If you enjoy Neil Gaiman or Charles De Lint, if you liked John Crowley's "Little, Big" or "Aegypt," or Blaylock's own "The Last Coin," "The Paper Grail," or "The Digging Leviathan," you're sure to enjoy the adventures of hapless cartoonist Cal Bryson as he finds himself juggling a miraculous artifact, a mystic feud between a secret society of California-desert eccentrics and a killer occultist, and a budding relationship with a shrewd waitress with a keen feel for his foibles.