I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley. This hasn’t affected the contents of my review.
I’m a big fan of Alix E. Harrow’s previous works. The Ten Thousand Doors of January is probably my favourite, but Starling House comes in at a close second. I don’t think I’ve read anything of hers that I haven’t liked to some extent, so I was excited to start her latest novel, The Everlasting, released last month.
The Everlasting tells the story of Owen Mallory and Una Everlasting. Owen is a scholar and former soldier. He studies the history of Dominion, and he feels inexplicably drawn to the tales of Una Everlasting, a legendary knight that lived a thousand years ago. He is sent a book in the mail, a book that appears to have been written by him, but that he has no memory of writing. When he digs deeper, he is sent backwards through time, where he meets the real-life Una and has to reckon with the fact that she’s not exactly as she appeared to be in the stories. He also knows where and how she will die, but if he warns her, the future will be changed.
This book had a very Arthurian feel, without being explicitly part of that mythos. There are knights, dragons, resurrections, magic trees, time travel, and quests for holy grails. But it still feels wholly unique. Owen and Una feel like very real characters. They’re older (30s – 40s over the course of the book), and I always like to see fantasy novels centered on non-teenaged protagonists.
Overall, this was great. I really like Harrow’s writing, and this managed to feel both fresh and comfortable at the same time.