We know relatively little about Troyes outside of the clues in his work, but we do know he was the inventor of the modern novel. Most trace his influences from the works of the ancient philosophers, but Murray(medieval literature and French, Baylor U.) finds a fresh and fascinating source of inspiration, namely Celtic literature, specifically that associated with the scholarly monks of Ireland. While enriching our understanding of Troyes's obligations to Plato's Timawus and Ovid's Metamorphosis and Marie de France's Lais, she also traces clues from Celtic epics (such as The Voyage of St. Brendan) and hagiography. She finds clues that Celtic works were strongly influential not only to Troyes but to other authors as well, but specifically locates Troyes's interest in and application of the works of the Celts then available . She also gives credit to Troyes for developing these varied influences into the novel form. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)