Camelot's Library: April 2011

Welcome All- A Few Things to Know

Welcome All- A Few Things to Keep In Mind:

1. Hi all. I'm Storyteller Knight. You can find me on Fictionpress where I write novels about King Arthur, Superheroes and Vampires (but not at the same time) and at Pardon My Sarcasm where I rage about how the republicans are ruining all things.

2. Here is the Master List of books read, books owned and books needed to complete a series. Superscripts next to title links to reviews on this site. Or you can search using the lables.

3. I'm approaching this blog with the assumption that everyone reading already knows the ultimate spoiler of the King Arthur Legend: Everyone Dies. Those who read King Arthur books do so to see different interpretations of the characters and the stories. My goal here is to analyze the effectiveness of those interpretations. Thus, all my reviews will include spoilers.

4. This is not an Arthurian 101 blog. As I said above, I'm assuming that everyone reading already knows the legend and is looking for different interpretations of that legend. Therefore, I'm not going to take time to explain who the characters are and what roles they traditionally play. Links to Arthurian Encyclopedias at the bottom of the page.

5. These reviews are my opinions of the books. I may hate a book you love or I may love a book you hate. If you have a different opinion, write it up. I'd be more than happy to have some guest posts.

6. Please don't ask me (or any of the guest bloggers) to do your homework for you. As I said above, this is a blog dedicated at looking at these books from an Arthurian perspective. If you comment on posts asking us what the theme is or such, we're just going to screw with you.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

King Maker: Knights of the Breton Court I Review

Title: King Maker: The Knights of the Breton Court I
Author: Maurice Broaddus
Publisher: Angry Robot
Pages: 385
Synopsis: (from the publisher) From the drug gangs of downtown Indianapolis, the one true king will arise. The King Arthur myth gets dramatically replayed through the destiny of street hustler King, as he tried to unite the crack dealers, gangbangers, and the very real monsters lurking amongst them, to do the right thing. This is an edgy, fantastical debut, genuinely unlike anything you've ever read before.

I feel the need to add this disclaimer: I spent a lot of time while reading this book examining my privilege as a white, middle class female. A lot of times I had to stop myself and ask ‘Is this character really as horrible as I think or am I just making bad assumptions’. A lot of times, I concluded the later. I changed my mind a lot when it came to my sympathies for character (you will not see that change reflected in the review because it mostly happened with characters not related to the legend). That said, I still didn’t like this book.

Warning for Spoilers and a 3000 Word Review