Read as part of CBR16 Bingo: fanfic. This is Lev Grossman’s take on the King Arthur mythos.
I don’t really know how to write this review because I loved it and I really want to give it my full throated endorsement. But there are things I loved about the book itself and things as an Arthur fan that I both loved and hated.
Let’s start here: it’s one of the best things I’ve read in 2024. I liked the first Magicians book, less so the other two. But I think about the first one monthly. I think Grossman did such a good job subverting the Harry Potter/Young Prodigy Trope in fantasy with a book that, in addition to being really good, was a visual spectacle. So when I heard the guy was writing his own King Arthur tale, I preordered it without thinking twice.
I want to go on but I really think the only way to do this in an organized, coherent manner is to list what I liked and didn’t like…
Likes:
-Writing is amazing. Prose, style, etc. Just home runs everywhere.
-Loved, loved, LOVED the examination of paganism-v-Christianity and how they clashed. So many Arthur stories of late are doing the Christian Good, Pagan Bad (looking at you, Marion Zimmer Bradley and Bernard Cornwall). This interrogates both in a healthy, considered manner.
-Loved looking at the lesser knights of the round table, examining sexual and gender queerness in a way that felt authentic.
-I really cannot say enough about how much I loved Nimue’s character. I thought she was so clever, so full, so realized. Of all the other characters, she might be the first one I think about.
-The notions of letting go of the past, getting to the Show too late, having to rebuild and find new adventures. Arthurian legend has desperately needed that breath of fresh air.
Dislikes (mind you, this is still a 5-star read and these are mostly coming from a diehard Arthur fan more than an objective critic of the book)…
-The ending…fine? I worry it undercuts the premise of the book.
-Collum just wasn’t an interesting character. And after a while, it felt like he was nothing more than a pseudo-Arthur with an annoying Is He/Isn’t He backstory (think Rey in Star Wars IX). And while he services the plot well, it’s not great when your lead isn’t that interesting. It’s what makes this book a very good one but falling just shy of the greatness of The Once and Future King.
–Flashback chapters with Arthur are weirdly distributed and too expository to land.
Overall though, this is a fun book and if you’re an Arthur diehard like me, you owe it to yourself to grab a copy at your earliest convenience. This solidifies Grossman as one of the great fantasy writers of the modern age.