As long as I could keep myself out of bondage, I would be true to Bear's teaching. And so it was that beyond all else, I was determined to keep my freedom.
After the death of their beloved mentor, Bear, Crispin and Troth are more desperate than ever, wandering the desolate French countryside, where they don't speak the language and know no one. The only hope they cling to is that somehow they can reach Iceland, where Bear had said there were no kings or lords, and where they can live in freedom. Crispin is determined to fulfill this dream, both for himself and to honor Bear's memory. But the road to liberty is filled with danger, betrayal, and loss. Crispin must decide for himself what freedom really means—and how high a price he is willing to pay for it.
The Horn Book
This final volume in the Crispin trilogy showcases the same strengths as the earlier books: brisk, suspenseful narrative with effortlessly interwoven details of medieval life and provocative questions of ethics and morality. Another rousing page-turner.
Booklist
"Along with plenty of action and adventure, this displays a solid emotional base. The combination will make fans eager for the final installment."
Booklist (starred review)
Along with plenty of action and adventure, this displays a solid emotional base. The combination will make fans eager for the final installment.
Children's Literature - Leona Illig
In the third and final book in this series, Crispin, a thirteen-year-old boy living in medieval France, confronts painful changes as he seeks to find a new life for himself and his friend, Troth. Tired and hungry, Crispin clings to a dream that his dead mentor, Bear, had instilled in him: that if Crispin and Troth can reach Iceland, they will find a land where they can live free and unafraid. The dream is shattered early on, however, when Troth decides to stay and work at a convent in the French countryside. Crispin refuses to abandon his dream and continues the journey alone, only to become the victim of a thieving, murderous gang of traveling musicians. Forced to do their bidding, Crispin befriends another of the gang's victims, and together they plot their escape to Iceland aboard a fishing vessel. Crispin is crushed, however, when he learns from the vessel's captain that Iceland is not the paradise that his mentor, Bear, had promised. After some harrowing adventures and a crisis of self-doubt, Crispin and his friend manage to escape the thieves and board the vessel for Iceland. Crispin realizes that all humans are fallible, and that "If you can go no farther than where you are, God has shown you your destiny." This unvarnished tale of the Middle Ages—dirt, cesspits, and all—is infused with religion, hope, and the dignity of mankind. Although the book is marketed as the last in this award-winning series, readers will hope that the author will consider another series about Crispin's adventures at sea and in Iceland. The uncorrected proof contains some errors (word tenses and punctuation) that will probably be corrected before publication. Reviewer: Leona Illig
Kirkus Reviews
Avi guides his hero toward a final, very satisfying destiny in this wonderfully realized conclusion to the Crispin trilogy. With Bear, their mentor and protector, dead, Crispin and the disfigured girl Troth wearily wander the French countryside. Finding refuge at a convent, the two ultimately make the wrenching decision to part when Troth decides to stay with the Sisters, comforted that she'll never again be shunned for her appearance and having accepted her own destiny as a healer. Bereft of his only friend, Crispin eventually falls in with a band of traveling musicians, who, he finds out in increasingly suspenseful scenes, are murderous thieves who hold a terrified boy in thrall. The story of how he and the child, Owen, escape their clutches makes for a heart-stopping read. As in the other titles in the saga, characters and setting are expertly rendered. The ending is almost unbearably intense and leads to a deeply moving final scene in which Crispin learns that Bear will always be with him. Thrilling and beautifully wrought. (Historical fiction. 10-14)
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