Arthur de Caldicot, now page to Lord Stephen, sets off to Bruges and thence across France to Venice as the first stage in the preparations for going on a Crusade. On his journey, he looks into the shining stone that Merlin gave him and sees the legends of King Arthur and his knights revealed to him. They make a counterpoint to his own experiences as he struggles to do the right thing in relation to his father, the cruel Sir William, to his brother Serle, and the complex situations he encounters in the Manor of Caldicot as well as on his travels. The Seeing Stone is being heralded as a classic in the making and pre-publication reviews include: 'it is of course wonderful to read such a lyrical, authoritative and accessible retelling of the Arthurian legends . . best of all is the figure of Arthur de Caldicot, a true child of his time, would-be man of action and poet in spite of himself. I truly love this book.' Jan Mark '...as bright and as vivid as the pictures in a Book of Hours. Deep scholarship, high imagination, and great gifts of storytelling have gone into this; I was spellbound.' Phillip Pullman

 

 

This book features in the following series: Arthur, Arthur Trilogy .

This book is aimed at Young Adult readers. The term Young Adult (YA) is used for books which have the following characteristics: (1) aimed at ages 12-18 years, US grades 7-12, UK school years 8-15, (2) around 50-75k words long, (3) main character is aged 12-18 years, (4) topics include self-reflection, internal conflict vs external, analyzing life and its meaning, (5) point of view is often in the first person, and (6) swearing, violence, romance and sexuality are allowed. This book was published in 2003 by Orion Publishing Co .

Kevin Crossley-Holland is well-known as a poet, broadcaster, and writer for children. He won the Carnegie Medal in 1985. For Oxford, he has written The Green Children and adapted Beowulf for children.