One King, One Soldier

The story says that one day a Fisher King will rise to heal the land. In the 1950s, they’re still waiting. . . .

“A captivating historical thriller, a great spine-tingling romp through history in search of the Holy Grail. Fans of The Da Vinci Code will love this!”—Kevin Baker, author of Dreamland and Paradise Alley

At the turn of the twentieth century, a baseball player named George Gibson embarks upon a mystical journey to the Congo. His mission: to shepherd a powerful relic to its home in Abyssinia. But poet-turned-grail seeker Arthur Rimbaud is after what Gibson possesses—as others before him have been for millennia.

A half century later, after receiving an honorable discharge from the Korean War, twenty-year-old Lance Porter vows to put his civilian life back together—which means heading to commie-infested Berkeley to see his high school sweetheart, Ellie. But after Lance gets cold feet, he encounters instead a drunk, gay poet named Jack Spicer, who spews crazy stories about Lance being the Fisher King. It appears that the bearing of the grail has been bequeathed to young Lance, much to his shock and disbelief. Can a legacy born in the deserts of Ethiopia truly be reemerging in the bohemian bars of New York City and San Francisco? And is a vet with a lost soul really worthy of its care?

Alexander C. Irvine has breathed a refreshing burst of air into the Arthurian legend. In One King, One Soldier, ancient characters and Irvine’s pitch-perfect historical accuracy merge with a gritty, dark portrait of America in the cold-war ’50s. Here, three stories come brilliantly together in an edgy mix of baseball, imperialism, poetry, and grail mythology.

More what-if fantasy than secret history like his well-received debut, A Scattering of Jades (2002), Irvine’s literate second novel asks some provocative questions: What if centuries of retellings of ancient myths actually convey disguised truths? What if the Holy Grail was really a piece of the Ark of the Covenant? What if the Grail controls much of human history? In 1953, wounded Korean War vet Lance Porter meets poet Jack Spicer in San Francisco. Spicer sees Lance as the Fisher King, destined to regain the Grail, heal himself and restore the land. The poet tells Lance he’s "a serious monkey wrench in a very old plan" involving the Grail. Nothing in his life is as it seemed and people want him dead. Two subplots involve barnstorming baseball player George Gibson, who becomes the bearer of the Grail and undertakes a journey across Africa, and Arthur Rimbaud, past his days as a youthful poet and now a gunrunner in Africa. Irvine mixes myth, history, baseball, poetry, several belief systems and clear prose for an enchanting read. Sketchy characterizations are more symbolic than substantial, but they don’t distract from the magic of the tale. FYI: Irvine has won Crawford, Locus and International Horror Guild awards, all for best new writer.
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Still nursing a shrapnel wound from his recent Korean War service, Lance Porter repairs to an unlikely locale for a straight-laced small-town boy from Michigan-- 1950s San Francisco--in response to a cryptic letter from his girlfriend. She insists they rendezvous in nearby Berkeley, but before Lance can pinpoint her whereabouts, a chance encounter with homosexual poet and amateur magician Jack Spicer (an actual figure, 1925-65) opens the door to an exhilarating, sometimes disturbing adventure. As the two form an uneasy bond, Spicer draws startling parallels between the circumstances of Lance's life and the legend of King Arthur. Soon Lance forgets the girlfriend, surrenders his virginity to a Spicer acquaintance, and is almost murdered by a train-yard hobo as complications multiply. Relative newcomer Irvine, already widely and well noticed, here enhances his reputation with a sharply written blend of mystery and offbeat fantasy that should please fans of both genres as well as some, at least, of those caught up in the current, Da Vinci Code-inspired enthusiasm for Holy Grail mythology. Carl Hays
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