(no subject)

[darchildre]

Friends, I have a book question. I would like to read some retellings of Arthurian legend. There are...a lot of those out there and I am overwhelmed. Tell me which ones are good?

- I am more interested in works that lean further towards the fantasy side, rather than works that are more "this is a retelling in which Arthur could have been a real historical person dealing with real historical problems". Magic swords and enchanters and Grail quests, yes please.

- I am not particularly interested in "King Arthur, but in modern day!" or "King Arthur has returned in the modern day!" or "Modern people interact with King Arthur!" kinds of stories. (I would possibly accept "King Arthur, but in space!" or "King Arthur, but in the Old West!" or things along those lines, but I would prefer more traditional settings.)

- Books I am already familiar with: The Once and Future King, Mists of Avalon, Gillian Bradshaw's Down the Long Wind trilogy, Mary Stewart's books.

Thank you!

Comments

[aurumcalendula]

Have you read Caroline Stevermer's When the King Comes Home? (although imho it's more a riff on some Arthurian legends than a retelling)

[shadaras]

Once and Future, by Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy. King Arthur in Space! But like, written by genderqueer/nonbinary authors and also Arthur's a girl. (I fully accept that this might not be something you're into, since you said you weren't super interested in AUs, but I would like to mention it for people who look at this post and who would be into it. :) )

[skygiants]

My favorite, after The Once and Future King, is Idylls of the Queen, in which Kay and Mordred go on a road trip! It's very much a deconstruction in some ways, but one that knows the source material inside and out and is having a lot of fun with it.

To the Chapel Perilous, which I read recently, is also very weird and a lot of fun and traditional except for the fact that medieval England has newspaper reporters.

[sfred]

I enjoyed Stephen Lawhead's Pendragon cycle in my teens but have not reread since, so it's possible they've been visited by the suck fairy.

[sfred]

Also, your post reminded me that John Steinbeck wrote a sort of translation of Mallory's Mort d'Arthur. I haven't read it yet but I want to because I love Steinbeck!