The Skystone // Excalibur — Jack Whyte

We all know the story - how Arthur pulled the sword from the stone, how Camelot came to be, and the power struggles that ultimately destroyed Arthur's dreams. But what of the time before Arthur? What were the forces that helped create him? And how did the legend really come to pass?

Before the time of Arthur and Camelot, Britain has become a dark and deadly place, savaged by warring factions of Picts, Celts, and invading Saxons. The Roman citizens who had lived there for generations were suddenly faced with a deadly choice. Should they leave and take up residence in a Roman world that was corrupt and utterly foreign? Or stay and face the madness that would surely ensue when the Roman legions - Britain's last bastion of safety for the civilized - leave? For two Romans, Publius Varrus and his friend Caius Britannicus, there can be only one answer. The will stay, try to preserve what is best of Roman life, and create a new culture out of the wreckage. In doing so, they will plant the seeds of the legend.

For these two men are Arthur's great-grandfathers and their actions will shape a nation... and forge a sword known as Excalibur.