The Quest of the Fair Unknown -- Gerald Morris

Beaufils grew up in a remote area of the forest -- until he was seventeen years old (more or less), the only other human being he saw was his mother.  On her deathbed, she explains to him that his father is one of King Arthur's knights, and that after he buries her, he is to seek out Camelot and find him. 

Upon setting out on his journey, he almost immediately meets up with young Sir Galahad, who is, coincidentally, also seeking his father.*  That first quest leads to another -- the search for the Holy Grail.

Reading a new Gerald Morris book always makes me want to go back and read all of them again, from the very beginning.  The best books in the series are super-fab, the others are all solid at the very least.  If you have any sort of interest in the stories of King Arthur and his knights, his books are well worth a read.  While they do all work as stand-alones, reading them in order is much more fun -- major characters in earlier books pop up as minor characters in later ones, and vice versa.

The Quest of the Fair Unknown is a bit of a departure from the earlier books -- as it is the story of (among other things) the search for the Holy Grail, religion plays a much larger role than it has previously.  Even though this installment deals with heavier themes than the others, though, it's still lighthearted and even funny.  Galahad is a bit of a dip (as, in my opinion, he should be), but still understandable and (sort of) likeable.  (Well, understandable, anyway.)

The first couple of chapters felt a bit stilted to me -- but that might have just been due to my own expectations.  Beaufils is a very new kind of Morris hero, so it may have taken me some time to warm up to his innocence.  Regardless of differences, though, Morris fans will be happy.

*(Galahad is seeking out his own father.  Not Beaufils' father.  You know what I mean.)