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Geeks and the Holy Grail (Camelot Code #2), by Mari Mancusi, for Timeslip Tuesday

The first book in the Camelot Code series, The Once and Future Geek, mixed time travel between the medieval world of King Arthur and our own, and it is a very entertaining book.  The second book in the series, Geeks and Holy Grail (Hyperion, October 2019), is also entertaining (though not quite as funny; King Arthur as a modern day high school student is hard to beat....).

When Morgana, sworn enemy of King Arthur, attacks the druids of Avalon, Nimue, the youngest of them, takes the Holy Grail and runs with it.  King Arthur is dying, and only the Grail can save him.  Desperate to keep it from falling into Morgana's hands, she stumbles into Merlin's Crystal Cave.  But instead of Merlin there to help her (he's on vacation in Los Vegas, in our time), there's only his very inexperienced apprentice, Emrys.  His attempt to hide the grail works, in a sense--as a small, flatulent dragon, it sure doesn't look much like a grail.  But it isn't much use to Arthur as a dragon....

Fortunately, help is on the way.  Sophie, in our world, gets a message that she's needed in King Arthur's time and immediately ditches shopping for bridesmaid dresses with her soon to be stepmother to go the rescue. Unfortunately, she takes along her soon to be stepsister Ashley, a sparkly and annoying cheerleader girl with nothing in common with geeky, gameplaying Sophie. Ashley, however, soon becomes useful as a grail dragon wrangler...Sophie isn't good with animals.

Merlin must be found to restore the grail to cup form ASAP, so Sophie and Ashley head for Las Vegas to find him, making a quick stop at home to pick up Sophie's partner in adventure, Stu. Emrys and Nemue head directly there from the middle ages, with Morgana hot in pursuit.  The Excaliber hotel has never seen such a vivid and convincing co-play extravaganza as ensues when they all meet at the medieval feast....but in order to turn the dragon back to a grail, fairy magic is needed, and the modern kids head off to the land of fairy to get the magic herb they need.

In any event, it all works out well.

It's light-hearted entertainment, given some depth by Sophie's discovery that there's more to Ashley than just glitter; Sophie does some nice growing up in realizing that other people have feelings and points of view worth respecting....Nimue and Emrys are solid additions to the cast of main characters, Merlin's time bending use of modern technology is always fun, and the Vegas high jinx, and the dragon grail, are delightful.  I look forward to the next book!

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