ALA Booklist (Thu Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 2005)

Sixteen-year-old Luneta is thrilled when her parents send her to live with her mother's friend, the beautiful Laudine. Escorted by her cousin Ywain and Rhience, a handsome young man who has pledged to live as a fool for one year, she travels to Laudine's castle. The ensuing adventures involve everything from a broken vow and a magical stone to a traitorous steward and an unsuspected talent for enchantment. Despite the dangers and trials encountered along the way, readers will feel confident of a happy ending. The wryly sympathetic portrayal of Luneta and the traditional duality of the fool provide ample scope for Morris' dry wit, which gives this medieval adventure his unmistakable stamp. In the appended note, Morris cites as his inspiration The Knight of the Lion, a poem by Chretien de Troyes, though he brings Luneta's story to the forefront and gives her a consort worthy of her mettle. Although the story has magical as well as heroic elements, this entry in the Squire's Tales series is memorable chiefly as a fine romance.

Horn Book (Sat Apr 01 00:00:00 CST 2006)

In the somewhat revised Arthurian kingdom of Morris's previous Squire's Tales fantasies, sixteen-year-old Luneta embarks on her own epic quest: to escape her overbearing mother. Aided by an overenthusiastic knight and a wisecracking fool, she proceeds to foil evil plots, learn sorcery, and discover just how much she and her mother have in common in this engaging blend of farce and adventure.

Kirkus Reviews

Morris's newest Arthurian tale is as clever, funny and wise as its predecessors. Spun with but a few changes from a romance by 12th-century poet Chretien de Troyes, it features a headstrong teenaged damsel named Luneta, who sets out in search of a more exciting life, falls in with two knights—impetuous, hunky Ywain and Rhience, who's under oath to act the Fool for a year—and in the course of many adventures experiences a salutary dose of consequences as a result some ill-conceived meddling. Braced by a supporting cast that ranges from a decidedly atypical Holy Man to a stray lion, plus the usual array of enchantresses, Fair Folk and Knights of the Round Table, Luneta plays a central role in a variety of knightly feats, both violent and otherwise, on the way to an ingeniously comic climactic duel, and an unabashedly romantic wrap-up. Once again, Morris brilliantly re-animates an old story, keeping readers engaged while gently, genially urging them to ruminate over the truths at its heart. (Fiction. 12+)

School Library Journal

Gr 6-9-Adventure, magic, love, and knights of the realm collide in this delightfully witty tale from the legend of King Arthur. Lady Luneta lives cooped up with her parents in a remote region of the kingdom and, like many teens, longs to get out and have some fun. When her parents agree to let her see a bit of the world, and to give them a break from mother-daughter turmoil, Luneta is thrilled. Soon she is on her way, accompanied by her cousin, the knight Ywain, to the castle of a family friend near Camelot. They meet Rhience, a former knight now pursuing the career of fool, and the three travel together, with Ywain imagining himself fighting gloriously in battle and Rhience spouting barbs and witticisms along the way. Once at Lady Laudine's castle, Ywain kills their hostess's husband in battle and immediately falls in love with the lady herself, Luneta becomes an enchantress under the direction of her great-aunt Morgan Le Fay, and Rhience proves to be a loyal companion and not such a fool after all. The characters are well developed and compelling and the dialogue is intelligent and sharp. While the plot goes on a bit long and occasionally veers off into several different directions, it's just too much fun not to find out what's around the next corner. With characters reminiscent of a Monty Python sketch and a knight with a Don Quixote complex, this romp through the land of King Arthur is a gem.-Kristen Oravec, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Strongsville, OH Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Voice of Youth Advocates

With sixteen-year-old Luneta's eagerness to get away from her "boring" mother Lynet, matched by her mother's irritation with her, Lynet's father-Sir Gaheris of Orkney-agrees to allow Luneta to travel with her cousin Ywain, a young knight off to Camelot in search of a quest, on her way to visit her mother's friend, Lady Laudine. On their way, Luneta and Ywain meet Rhience, a fool who is actually a knight pledged to put down his arms and wear the cap and bells of a fool for one year. Over the next year, Luneta's adventures include matchmaking, studying enchantment with her aunt Morgan LaFay, helping to free a castle of enslaved women, and all in all, growing up to be . . . very like her mother. In this witty retelling of eleventh-century ChrÚtien de Troye's groundbreaking poem The Knight of the Lion, Morris frames the story through the experience of Luneta, a "smart, willful lady" and a heroine in the original; changes Ywain's lion to a lioness; and adds the character of Rhience the Fool-perhaps the most winsome of all Morris's characters to date-whose sometimes subtle, sometimes barbed humor provides a running commentary on human foibles and inanities. The book is brimming with adventure, romance, insights, and just plain old silliness, containing what is unquestionably one of the most hilarious "fight scenes" this reviewer has ever read. Loyal Morris fans will be delighted, and those new to The Squire Tales will be hooked.-Kim Carter.