Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Back to Standards


I haven't read an Arthurian novel since Yolan's Sword of the Rightful King (which I LOVED). In theory, I don't like the genre, but it may just stem from reading Mary Stewart too young and being tragically bored with it all, but feeling that I'd be a wuss if I stopped. I made it through two, and didn't read anything touching Arthur for many years. Anyway, The Book of Mordred takes the traditional antagonist and humanizes him. Told in three separate stories with three separate and equally strong female narrators, it chronicles Mordred, illegitimate son of Aurthur, before he becomes the enemy of Camelot. The characters, while often extraordinary, are flawed and believable. Ages 12+.

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