Thomas of Hookton is a fictitious character from the mind of the author Bernard Cornwell. This character is from a series of books that Cornwell has written known as the Grail Quest. The Grail Quest series includes the Harlequin, the Vagabond, the Heretic, and his latest book 1356. These books follow the adventures of Thomas of Hookton as he leaves Dorset after the murder of his father and joins the English Army under Edward III as an archer. In Harlequin he is involved in battle in Brittany and subsequently at the Battle of Crécy. It is after this battle that Thomas's family links to the Grail come to the attention of the King and in Vagabond he is sent back to England to discover its whereabouts and becomes involved in the Scottish invasion of 1347. He soon discovers that his cousin, Guy Vexille, is working with powerful figures within the Catholic Church in France to discover the Grail for their own ends. The novel ends with fierce fighting at La Roche-Derrien back in Brittany. Heretic finds Thomas still in France, this time during a time of supposed peace with the French following the fall of Calais. Thomas leads a small band of men into southern France to find the Grail. He becomes the centre of a bitter local war with those also seeking the Grail as well as by the Black Death. 1356 sees Thomas as a veteran and a leader of a group of mercenaries comprised bowman and men-at-arms. The book is set in 1356, nearly a decade after the original trilogy, and culminates with the Battle of Poitiers. The book also follows a quest to find La Malice, a fabled sword and Christian relic which may turn the tide of the war.
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