Le Fay / Sophie Keetch

 

4.25 out of 5 stars 

Halloween Bingo 2024

OMG, the second “ugly crying" book this week! Will my sinuses ever recover? And, yes, I know this is a Morgan le Fay and King Arthur retelling, so happy endings are just not probable.

Morgan stands up to Merlin, to the judgment of Christians (who frankly don't act very Christian), to Queen Guinevere (who is determined to control her), her brutal husband Urien of Gore, and to the unyielding misjudgment of her brother Arthur. She is not without fault—impetuous, easily angered, unwilling to be limited by anyone, stubborn. Yet I could strongly identify with her independence and determination. Merlin has managed to subvert her brother and his kingdom, leading him to seek power only through violence, foregoing negotiation and not caring to understand Morgan's position. Morgan has lost so much and feels it so deeply.

I must believe at this point that there will be a third book. There just has to be a continuation that includes Lancelot, to humanize Guinevere and teach her to judge less harshly. Does Morgan get a show down with Ninniane, with whom she once had an understanding? Where is Morgan's second child? Will Morgan make good on her vow to bring down the golden city of Camelot? It will undoubtedly make me cry again, but it will be worth it.

I read this for the Grimm Tale square on my Bingo Card.

The Guinevere Deception / Kiersten White

4.25 stars out of 5

There was nothing in the world as magical and terrifying as a girl.

Princess Guinevere has come to Camelot to wed a stranger: the charismatic King Arthur. With magic clawing at the kingdom's borders, the great wizard Merlin conjured a solution--send in Guinevere to be Arthur's wife . . . and his protector from those who want to see the young king's idyllic city fail. The catch? Guinevere's real name--and her true identity--is a secret. She is a changeling, a girl who has given up everything to protect Camelot.

To keep Arthur safe, Guinevere must navigate a court in which the old--including Arthur's own family--demand things continue as they have been, and the new--those drawn by the dream of Camelot--fight for a better way to live. And always, in the green hearts of forests and the black depths of lakes, magic lies in wait to reclaim the land. Arthur's knights believe they are strong enough to face any threat, but Guinevere knows it will take more than swords to keep Camelot free.

Deadly jousts, duplicitous knights, and forbidden romances are nothing compared to the greatest threat of all: the girl with the long black hair, riding on horseback through the dark woods toward Arthur. Because when your whole existence is a lie, how can you trust even yourself?

An excellent re-invention of the King Arthur mythos. Taking a cue from The Mists of Avalon, this version is told from the perspective of Guinevere, a changeling girl sent by Merlin to be King Arthur’s bride.

The big problem is that magic has been banished from Camelot and Guinevere is a manic pixie dream girl! She is looking at the relationship like a job and Arthur is willing to humour her, but as they spend more and more time together, both of them start to think that perhaps they would like to expand that role….now how do they let their desires be known?

White uses some interesting changes in relationships (Mordred isn’t Arthur’s illegitimate son) and some wonderful changes in gender of at least one character to make this a very up-to-date feeling version of the Arthur cycle. By doing so, she freshens up a story that most of us feel that we’re pretty familiar with.

I can hardly wait for the next installment in 2020.

Once & Future / Cori McCarthy & Amy Rose Capetta

4 out of 5 stars

I’ve been chased my whole life. As a fugitive refugee in the territory controlled by the tyrannical Mercer corporation, I’ve always had to hide who I am. Until I found Excalibur.

Now I’m done hiding.

My name is Ari Helix. I have a magic sword, a cranky wizard, and a revolution to start.

When Ari crash-lands on Old Earth and pulls a magic sword from its ancient resting place, she is revealed to be the newest reincarnation of King Arthur. Then she meets Merlin, who has aged backward over the centuries into a teenager, and together they must break the curse that keeps Arthur coming back. Their quest? Defeat the cruel, oppressive government and bring peace and equality to all humankind.

No pressure.

A very intelligent and cheeky retelling of the King Arthur legend. Merlin has been recalled more than 40 times to train various versions of Arthur and since he is aging backwards, he better get it right this time, as he’s soon going to be far too young to be taken seriously! This time, his student is a girl and he is beginning to hope for a breakthrough.

Written by two people who identify as enby (non-binary) and demigirl, their characters are a delightful mix of male, female, and several other flavours of identification. All of them fit well in the story and the “explaining” is minimal and easy to comprehend.

I love the tag-line for the story: I’m Ari Helix. I’ve got a magic sword, a cranky wizard, and a revolution to start.

With both Merlin and Morgause filling us in on the details of the Arthur legend as necessary, it’s easy to keep up with this Round Table in Space adventure. If you don’t care for cliffhangers, you may want to wait until the next book is published before you begin. I’m happy to have read it, although I think I’ll be quite comfortable waiting for the next part of the story.

The Once and Future King

I recently finished reading T.H. White’s book, The Once and Future King.  It was a blast from my past.  I distinctly remember, as a girl of about 14, discovering a book called King Arthur’s Daughter by Vera Chapman.  I picked it up because I was horse-crazy at that point in my life and there was a unicorn on the cover.  It was a fateful meeting.  The romance of the Arthurian legend really got its hooks into me.  I read every King Arthur-related book I could get my hands on.  And since it is such a good framework to hang a story on, there are always authors willing to retell it in various forms.  I’ve read Arthur as a Celtic chieftain, Arthur as a Roman officer, etc., etc.

            I had forgotten the joys of those tales, until I started reading TOAFK.  Suddenly, I was right back in that time period of my life, burying myself in a book and just absorbing the goodness and romance from it:  wrestling with the whole Guinevere and Sir Lancelot question (as only a teenage girl can agonize over it), mourning the treason of Mordred, and swanning about, imagining myself as a lady in King Arthur’s court.  (This may explain later dabbling that I did in the Society for Creative Anachronism, the medieval re-enactment group).

            I came to the realization that the Arthur yarn is a darn good one and the T.H. White version is an interesting variation.  I found the asides to the modern reader (about golf or horse racing, for example) to be a bit jarring at first, but that faded as I got into the spirit of the story.   It is a classic and certainly deserved its place on the list of best speculative fiction that I am currently reading. 

            The best part, however, was that it whetted my appetite for more King Arthurian tales.  This summer, at the When Words Collide writers’ conference, I had the good fortune to become acquainted with the work of Jack Whyte, a historical author, who has also produced his own version of the Arthur story, The Camulod Chronicles.  I am torn about whether to read these volumes immediately or to wait for the audio-book version, read by Jack himself (with his lovely Scottish brogue and deep, resonant voice).  [I know—the girlfriend who came with me to the conference kept saying “Down, girl, he’s too old for you.”]

            There are many good things about my current reading project and my program to give up television, but so far the best part is discovering all these happy memories from the past and re-discovering subjects that I haven’t thought about for years, maybe decades.   King Arthur, life on other planets, astronomy, mythology….who knows what else I’ll run into on the journey?