Skystone

Britain is dark and dangerous in the years before Arthur. Picts, Celts and invading Saxons fight one another across the land, and the Roman legions, the last safeguard for the civilized, are preparing to leave.

Roman families who have lived in Britain for generations face a hard decision. They can go to a Roman world that has grown corrupt and strange to them, or they can stay and meet the chaos that will follow the legions' departure.

Publius Varrus and his friend Caius Britannicus choose to stay. They want to keep the best of Roman life alive and to build a new culture out of the ruin around them. Both men are great-grandfathers of Arthur, though they do not know the legend they are starting.

This is historical fiction that goes back to the roots of the Arthurian story. It asks how the legend came about and follows the forces that shaped Arthur before his birth, including the forging of the sword known as Excalibur. The setting is violent and unstable, and the stakes are the survival of a civilization.