Holy Grail, Holy Grail: Quest East, Quest West

Set in King Arthurs Britain, medieval Japan and modern Atlanta, Holy Grail, Holy Grail: Quest East, Quest West is a rich blend of fantasy-adventure, historical-romance and swords and sorcery--a transformative myth for our times.

Suppose all the legends of the Holy Grail were smoke screens to draw attention from the Grails real meaning. Suppose its message of male and female reconciliation could only be grasped by our own age. Not only that, but suppose the true Grail was lost not in Glastonbury, not in Avalon, but in the East; and its recovery required the interaction of Merlin's magic, Japanese shamans, and warriors trained in Sun Tzu's Art of War.

Youve heard only Galahad was pure enough to see the Grail? Nonsense! Only Lancelot--near forty, still guilt-ridden over his affair with Guenevere--has the gut-wrenching need for redemption. Diamonds are created under enormous pressure over eonsso are shamans!

Where is this true Grail anyway? Through a series of accidents, it has traveled from the Holy Land, over the Silk Road, through China, across the Sea of Japan, to become one of the sacred treasures of 5th Century Yamato (Japan). Accompanied by his page, Wee Willie, Lance is transported by Merlin to the ancient kingdom of pomp, magic and barbarism. A Japanese shaman-warrior agrees to help Lance capture the Grail if Lance will help him adjust the course of history. Lance and Willie are enmeshed in the assassination of the giggling, sadistic boy-Emperor. The only escape is through time. The two travelers are reconfigured in the Golden Age of 10th century Japan, where Lance falls passionately in love with Sagami. He would linger in this idyll, listening to the rustle of Sagamis silk kimonosbut

Hes blinded by the Blue Man--the assassinated boy-Emperors time-traveling angel of death. Through the shamans magic, Lance and Willie are transported again to the last days of Heian Japan, a time of warrior-shoguns. Two great families squeeze the nation in a vise. Willie, now a handsome, young man in his twenties, distinguishes himself in love and war, changing the outcome of a famous battle. The debt to the shaman should be paid

Buthistory has other plans. Or at least the Kami do. Spirit-beings who inhabit the winds; sparks of good and evil that fire the forge in the shaman's workshop, the Kami shape history in ways even the shaman cannot comprehend. Blind, maddened with fury, pain and shame, Lance is transported again--to modern Atlanta. It's springtime, the dogwoods are blooming, and the world is about to plunge into a millennial orgy of madness and self-destruction. Only Lance can save civilization. The problem is, Lance is now a homeless, hopeless amnesiac working as a mud-wrestler at the Renaissance Fair; and, the Blue Man, now transformed into a Yakuza thug, is obsessed with killing him.

Nubile, clueless, vulnerable Lorrie latches onto Lance, drags him to a public session of life-regressionists, and--poof--epiphany!--our hero recalls his quest. A charismatic, leviathan-buttocked TV hostess helps; a mysterious black quilting lady helps. Digesting the lessons of 2000 years of Western and Eastern thought, only Lance can get the spiritual chiropractic just right. Only a climactic battle between good and evil magic can restore the balance of the world. Only the one who masters the Self can possess the wisdom of the Grail.