It is the year 1349, deep in the Middle Ages still. The plague is killing scores of people all over Europe. The Pope is in Avignon, France, a corrupt individual; the world is enslaved by the Devil. He is now the owner of the Holy Grail, a stone cup once filled with the blood of Christ on the cross. The Devil has hidden it, deep down in Hell, in his lair. Four lovable characters, a poet, a kind of a monk, a knight and a girl who has visions embark on a journey to retrieve the Grail and save the world. They use Dante's Inferno as their roadmap so-to-speak. Lair is easy to read, though - or because - the prose is lyrical, rich and downright enchanted, and because the book really has a story to tell. I thoroughly enjoyed it, Latin and all.