Easy Camelot, Easy Ganelon (original) (raw)

Yeah, I’m writing about books again.

The Bright Sword: A Novel of King Arthur, by Lev Grossman – I wasn’t sure what to expect of this modern take on the Arthurian legend, but I ended up quite liking it, despite a slow pace at times. Collum is a young, enthusiastic shepherd who wants to be a knight and serve Arthur at Camelot, only to get there not long after the King and many of the members of the Round Table were killed in the battle against Mordred. While the remaining knights are suspicious of him at first, they come to work as a team, trying to understand why Arthur fell and how they can find a new ruler who would restore the glory of Camelot. Some chapters flash back to the earlier lives of these knights, introducing some more modern themes, or at least more modern takes on old themes. Bedivere is gay and in love with Arthur, Dinadan is trans and has received assistance from the fairies in living as a man, and Dagonet is a court jester who’s clinically depressed. Morgan le Fay and Nimue are also heavily involved in the story, which includes a visit to Avalon and the wounded Arthur. Nimue is presented as a Christian sorceress who can summon nature spirits, who imprisoned Merlin in self-defense, and who becomes romantically involved with Collum. The clash between Christianity and paganism is another major theme in the tale. As tends to be the case with stories about Arthur, there are quite a few anachronisms. Geoffrey of Monmouth placed Arthur’s reign in the sixth century, but Grossman makes Palomides a Muslim from Baghdad, a religion and city that didn’t exist at that time. There’s a recurring joke about how, since he’s a Saracen, people assume he comes from a place called Sarras. A successor to Arthur is eventually crowned, but it’s made clear that the miracles of the old king’s reign are gone, and England would come to assimilate the Saxons Arthur had been keeping at bay. Geoffrey identified Constantine of Cornwall as Arthur’s successor, and while he is a significant character in the book, it’s someone else who ends up taking the throne here.

Maya and the Return of the Godlings, by Rena Barron – In the second book in this series, Maya discovers that the soul of her father, the orisha Eleggua, is imprisoned in the dark world. She and her fellow children of gods travel there to restore it, and find that not all of the inhabitants are totally in line with the plans of the Lord of Shadows. It definitely feels like an in-between sort of book, with most of the main characters already established, and a gradual build-up toward a more serious conflict in the final volume.

The Warrior of World’s End, by Lin Carter – While the last Carter story I read takes place in a prehistoric world, this one is set on a post-apocalyptic future Earth. That said, there are some similarities between these settings, both of them heavy in magic and monsters, the explanation being that the laws of physics have changed over time. Futuristic technology appears as well, although it’s from the distant past to the characters.

On the last remaining continent of Gondwane, named after the ancient landmass of Gondwanaland, the titular warrior, a creation of the ancient Time Gods, joins two wizards in battling malicious forces. I don’t really recall the plot so well, but it’s a fun read with some entertaining creations, including tiger-men and the mechanical Bazonga Bird. As Carter wrote some Oz stories and referenced the series in the Terra Magica books, it’s not too surprising that the bird comes across as pretty similar to some of L. Frank Baum’s magically animated constructs. There are also places called Sky Island and YamaYamaLand, and a god called Galendil the Good. The warrior is named Ganelon, also the name of a character in Roger Zelazny’s Amber series, which I’ve been reading recently. It’s also that of a villain in the saga of Roland, and one of the CD-i Zelda games is the similar The Wand of Gamelon. EDIT: I had forgotten that it was also the name of a character in Nicholas Eames’ Kings of the Wyld.

I’ll probably read the rest of this series eventually.

Spinning Silver, by Naomi Novik – I have to say that I found the frequent changes in point of view rather confusing, as we’re informed when we get a different narrator, but not who this narrator is. There are several elements to this book that I liked, but I had some trouble following the story. It’s somewhat based on the tale of Rumplestiltskin, with a Jewish moneylender in a Eastern European style setting gaining a reputation for turning silver into gold. Her story brings her into contact with a poor girl from an abusive family and a duke’s daughter who marries a tsar, as well as some supernatural beings. She becomes unwittingly engaged to the ruler of the Staryk, wintry fairy creatures who appear to be original creations of Novik’s, although they feel like they could easily fit into existing folklore. And the tsar is possessed by the demon Chernobog.

This entry was posted in African, Arthurian Legend, Book Reviews, British, Christianity, England, Fairy Tales, History, Humor, Islam, Judaism, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Maps, Monsters, Mythology, Names, Oz, Oz Authors, Religion, Slavic, Technology, Video Games, Zelda and tagged avalon, bazonga bird, camelot, chernobog, demons, eleggua, fairies, ganelon, geoffrey of monmouth, gondwane, king arthur, king constantine of britain, knights of the round table, lev grossman, lin carter, lord of shadows, maya and the return of the godlings, merlin, morgan le fay, naomi novik, nimue, orishas, paganism, roger zelazny, round table, rumplestiltskin, sir bedivere, sir dagonet, sir dinadan, sir mordred, sir palomides, sky island, spinning silver, staryk, terra magica, the bright sword, the wand of gamelon, the warrior of world's end, yama yama land. Bookmark the permalink.