SamoaPhoenix Guest Review: Gawain and Lady Green

Hi all!  ::waves::  I, being the flakiest flake you've ever met, got distracted midway through my review of Child of the Northern Sping by some straight up fantasy books.  And then Camp NaNoWriMo started and free time got sucked down a black hole.  I'll be back in the swing of things come September.

In the meantime!  My good friend and partner in crime, SamoaPhoenix, who can be found on fictionpress but is probably more famously known for her Beauty and the Beast retellings on fanfiction (I highly recommend everything she's ever written).  Also, she has a TV Tropes page (it's empty, but it's there), so you know she must be awesome.  She is a lover of all things Beauty and the Beast, which translates into a great love of Gawain because the Loathly Lady story is basically Beauty and the Beast with the genders reversed.  She is reviewing Gawain and Lady Green by Ann Eliot Crompton, sequel to Merlin's Harp (more of a midquel, actually) which I reviewed here.  Please give her a warm welcome and enjoy her review.

~Storyteller Knight

Title: Gawain and Lady Green Author: Ann Eliot Crompton Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire Pages: 216 Synopsis: (from the book)  Gwyneth wasn’t supposed to fall in love with Gawain. Not like this. Gawain was the May King—a sacrifice offered to the Goddesss for a bountiful harvest in return.  Gwyneth knows this.  His fate has been decided by powers beyond her control. But the warmth of his touch and the taste of his lips have blurred the lines of what she knows to be true. Now Gwyneth is willing to risk everything to keep Gawain alive, even if it means losing him forever…

Hello everyone, I’m SamoaPhoenix. Since Story is busy with NaNo Camp for two months and I just finished an Arthurian retelling, I thought I’d jump in with a review. While I am not the Arthurian expert Story is, I do know a lot about most of the more famous legends.  Especially Gawain (he and Gaheris are my favorites). So you may see a few other reviews from me pop up here and there, because believe it or not there are some Arthurian retellings I’ve read that she hasn’t. Le gasp!

Since Story began her review of Merlin’s Harp (by the same author and set in the same universe as this book) with a comment on the change in covers, I will do so as well. The original cover is a very standard one for an Arthurain tale: plain, with a painting of people in medieval dress. 

The new cover actually has pictures of Gawain and Lady Green on it. The cover is also mostly green!  I am more a fan of the new cover as it led me to purchase the book in the first place and actually has something to do with what happens in the book. However: two problems I see. 1. The new cover looks a little “young” for what I feel the intended audience is. There is a lot of sex in this book. Not graphic, but it is mentioned frequently enough that even in early high school I might have felt uncomfortable reading it (Story will tell me this is because I was a prude). That aside, this cover looks aimed at middle schoolers, not high schoolers. Not sure I want my future middle school child reading this.  2. It peeves me when cover designers don’t bother to read the book they are making a cover for. It is mentioned a lot in the book that Lady Green has red hair. Would it have killed them to actually find a redhead to put on the cover? Yeesh.

Anyway, on to the review! (Spoilers Ahoy!)

The Kevin Of It

I finished reading Persia Woolley’s Child of the Northern Spring, but the review of that probably won’t be up for another week because I also finished writing the Arthurian retelling I’ve been working on for nearly seven years.  So, mostly I’ll be working on typing that up instead of flipping through Child of the Northern Spring.  But first, I want to comment on something I found odd in the book and acknowledge that I may owe Marion Zimmer Bradley an apology (just a small one). 

Folks will remember from my Mists of Avalon review that I had major issues with the character of Kevin.  Mainly because I thought he was a major jerk who got off easy but also because I found the name choice to be a little… odd.  And jarring.  And I soundly mocked that name in my review.

Well, Persia Woolley also has a character named Kevin in her Guinevere Trilogy.  He is also crippled (born that way instead of injured like Bradley’s Kevin).  And while less jarring in Woolley’s book than in Bradley’s (Woolley uses the more modern spellings of the characters as opposed to Bradley who used the older ones and Woolley’s Kevin is actually Irish while I don’t think it’s ever said for Bradley’s), the whole thing got me thinking that maybe there was a character in the Arthurian Mythos named Kevin whom I wasn’t aware of.

Mists of Avalon was published in 1982.  Child of the Northern Spring was published in 1987.  Woolley says in an interview that she was disappointed that her trilogy was published so close to Mists that it caused her books to not only be overshadowed, but printed as sci-fi/fantasy or woman’s romance when it was intended to be historical fiction.  So, from that and the fact that the books were published within five years of each other, I can’t imagine that Woolley drew much of anything from Mists of Avalon for the first book (There’s a note in the preface of the second about drawing from Mists in regards to Morgan Le Fay’s character).  Maybe, maybe I could see the publisher asking that the character be renamed to jump on the success of Bradley’s book, but that’s just far-fetched speculation on my part drawn from my jaded cynicism of the publishing industry after what happened with the Twilight ‘phenomenon’. 

So, Kevin.  Before mocking that choice of name in my Mists of Avalon review, I checked to make sure that there was no minor Arthurian character named Kevin whom I had simply never heard of.  I searched the internet (Christopher Bruce’s Arthurian Name Dictionary, Early British Kingdoms and general Googling).  I searched my books (The New Encyclopedia of Arthurian Legends, The Oxford Guide to Arthurian Legends, The Encyclopedia of Arthurian Legends and the Arthurian Companion).  I searched for Kevin, Caoimhín, Caoimhghín, Cóemgein and Coemgenus.  Nothing.  That was when I decided it was safe to puzzle over (with mocking overtones) why Bradley had gone with that name when a- it was really out of place with how she was naming the rest of her characters and b- had no ties to any form of the original legend. 

Seeing the name appear again in a book which was published so soon after Mists of Avalon got me wondering again.  And after double checking, I still can’t find anyone in the Arthurian myth with any name resembling Kevin.  I even shifted gears and searched to see if there was any Kevin in Irish Mythology who had been transplanted to Britain.  The best I could come up with was St. Kevin of Glendalough who, as far as I can tell, never travelled to Britain (unlike St. Patrick) and was very much a Christian unlike the Kevins in Bradley and Woolley’s books, who are both pagans.  So, that seems unlikely.

I’m thinking I may learn more about this character as I read either Mary Stewart’s Merlin Trilogy or Rosemary Sutcliff’s Sword at Sunset.  My best guess is that the character was introduced in one of the modern retellings that are so often hailed as greats or inspiration by authors writing from Mists of Avalon and onwards.  If not, then it will simply remain a mystery—like who first wrote Morgan Le Fay as Mordred’s mother instead of Morgause.  One that I look forward to answering as I read and expand my Master List.

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

In Which Story Contemplates the Possibility of King Arthur Star Wars Style

So, I'm reading Maurice Broaddus' King Maker, which is a modern day, reincarnation retelling.  And there is this fantastic line that I cannot stop thinking about (pg 39).

Merle waved his fingers in front of him as if with a sudden display of jazz hands.  "These are not the droids you are looking for."

Warning for small spoilers and Story's insanity under the cut

Lionors: King Arthur's Uncrowned Queen Review

Title: Lionors: King Arthur's Uncrowned Queen Author: Barbara Ferry Johnson Publisher: Avon Pages: 291 Synopsis: (from the publisher) When she was thirteen, Lionors first saw Arthur.  Little did she know the consequences of that meeting.  The handsome young knight would be declared King of Britain, marry the beautiful Guinevere, and fall to the treachery of his court while Lionors, secretly married to him, would bear his child and wait for him to leave his palace to be at her side in fulfillment of the old prophecy: "You will be a queen, but you will die uncrowned and unknown."

I was super psyched when I recently found this book.  As I have stated before, I love books about side characters.  And unlike Viviane or Galahad, who usually appear in retellings but only in small roles, Lisanor is pretty much all but forgotten.  And here’s this book all about her!  I couldn’t wait to finish Merlin’s Harp so I could start reading this book. 

My feelings for Lionors went thus: In the beginning I was happy, in the middle I was bored and at the end I was really angry.

Warning for Spoilers and another 2000 word review

Merlin's Harp Review

Title: Merlin's Harp Author: Anne Eliot Crompton Publisher: Roc Pages: 298 Synopsis: (from the book) Among the towering trees of magical Avalon, where humans dare not tread, lives Niviene, daughter of the Lady of the Lake and apprentice to Merlin the mage.  Her people, the Fey, are folk of the wood and avoid the violence and avarice of man.  But when the strife of King Arthur's realm threatens even Avalon's peace, and Merlin needs his apprentice to thwart the chaos devouring Camelot.  And so Niviene will use her special talents to help save a kingdom and discover the treachery of men and the beauty of love.  This is a wondrous story of danger, enchantment, and charm... and of the greatest mystery of all, the power of the human heart.  Presented in a flowing musical prose, Merlin's Harp is a joy for followers of the legend-- and for anyone who appreciates a magical tale.

Merlin's Harp was recently republished by Sourcebooks Fire.  Cue standard YA cover. 

Oh look!  The promise of the too stupid to live heroine, a plotless tale and a sexy bady boy monster.  This book includes none of these.  The original cover is truer to the story Crompton tells. 

Warning for Spoilers under the cut

Not there yet...

I find myself not liking the way the first two reviews came out.  I reviewed them like books when I said I was going to review how the legend turned out.  It's going to take me a few more days than I anticipated to get the review of Merlin's Harp up while I try to figure out how I actually want to review these stories.  I'm still trying to find my voice in all of this (I know my voice when talking about things I hate and am good with the voices of characters my books-- my own voice when talking something I love?  Not so much).  Please bear with me as I try to figure this own.  It may be a few reviews before you see any sort of pattern in the formatting.

~Storyteller Knight

Grail Prince Review

Title: Grail Prince   Author: Nancy McKenzie   Publisher: Ballantine Books Pages: 510 Synopsis: (from the publisher) "The wheel is turning and the world will change... And a son of Lancelot, with a bloody sword and a righteous heart, shall renew the Light in Britain before the descent of save dark." So spoke the Lady of the Lake.  Now her grim prophecy is coming true.  King Arthur lies dead, struck down along with Mordred, his son and heir, and the greatest knights of Camelot.  Of that peerless company, only Lancelot survives, a broken man who has turned his back on Britain and on his forbidden love of Guinevere.  Yet one knight, scarcely more tha a boy, fights amid the ruins to keep Arthur's dream alive: Galahad, the son of Lancelot. Before his death, Arthur swore the young knight to undertake a quest: a search for the scattered treasures of an ancient king.  On the recovery of these powerful relics-- a grail, a spear and a sword-- hinges the future of Britain.  But it is the past that torments Galahad.  He cannot forget or forgive his father's betrayal of his king.  Nor can he banish thoughts of the intoxicating Dandrane, sister of his friend Percival, from his mind.  Yet only a man pure in heart can fulfill the prophecy of the Lady of the Lake. Not since The Mists of Avalon has an author so brilliantly reimagined and brought to life the enduring Arthurian legends.  Weaving back and forth through time, from Arthur's mightly reign and commanding influence to Galahad's ultimate quest to preserve the destiny of a nation, Grail Prince is an unforgettable epic of adventure and romance, of clashing swords and hearts set in a magical world as deadly as it is beautiful.

I didn't realize that Nancy McKenzie's books had been compared to Mists of Avalon until I typed up the summary.  They're not anything alike.  These characters are actually likeable. 

Warnings for Spoilers of both Grail Prince and Queen of Camelot under the cut

Mists of Avalon Review

Title: Mists of Avalon   Author: Marion Zimmer Bradley   Publisher: Del Rey (originally Ballantine) Pages: 876 Synopsis: (From GoodReads) Even readers who don't normally enjoy Arthurian legends will love this version, a retelling from the point of view of the women behind the throne. Morgaine (more commonly known as Morgan Le Fay) and Gwenhwyfar (a Welsh spelling of Guinevere) struggle for power, using Arthur as a way to score points and promote their respective worldviews. The Mists of Avalon's Camelot politics and intrigue take place at a time when Christianity is taking over the island-nation of Britain; Christianity vs. Faery, and God vs. Goddess are dominant themes. Young and old alike will enjoy this magical Arthurian reinvention by science fiction and fantasy veteran Marion Zimmer Bradley.

I’m not big on classics.  I’m trying to get over this as I read through my Arthurian collection.  I probably can’t call myself a true King Arthur enthusiast if I never read (at least what I consider to be) the Big Three: Mists of Avalon, The Once and Future King, and Le Morte D’Arthur.  And while I had heard things about Mists of Avalon, things that made me very wary about reading it, it seemed like a good place to start- being the youngest of the three books.  I’m sure my perception of this book was colored by my dislike of books that are hailed as classics, things I had read about the book before ever picking it up and the movie.  I tried to go into this book with an open mind.  I can’t speak to my success or failure on that.  All I know is that I did not like this book.

Warning for Spoilers and Language and over 2,000 words under the cut

Almost Ready

After finishing Mists of Avalon, I find myself holding what is sure to be an unpolular opinion.

I liked the movie better. Like, way better.

First review will go up tomorrow. It's going to be a long one. I have a lot to say about this book. A lot to say (That's why I created this blog- to talk about this book).