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shonagh_catherine's review
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
stefhyena's review
2.0
It was faithful to the original legend- complete with muscular Christianity, women who make good characters if they are mothers or better still virgins or best of all dead and knights who prove their faithfulness to their God by injuring and hurting each other and everyone they meet.
When I was a child I tried to get into King Arthur, I really did and I found it hard to understand why when I loved Robin Hood as well as I did I struggled with any versions of King Arthur. This one made it obvious to me that the plot really is as illogical as it seemed to me as a kid. They go off to seek the grail. They know where the grail is but they can't go simply from a to b they have to ride around aimlessly for a while first having all sorts of misadventures. It's already foreordained who will succeed and who will fail and every time anyone happens theres a Deus Ex Machina moment.
Sutcliff is a skillful writer who knows her material but even she couldn't make it work. It is what it is. Probably worth reading before anyone attempts to write their own sword and sorcery for all that you would not do plot and characters like that these days (Thomas Malory got away with it because of his time).
When I was a child I tried to get into King Arthur, I really did and I found it hard to understand why when I loved Robin Hood as well as I did I struggled with any versions of King Arthur. This one made it obvious to me that the plot really is as illogical as it seemed to me as a kid. They go off to seek the grail. They know where the grail is but they can't go simply from a to b they have to ride around aimlessly for a while first having all sorts of misadventures. It's already foreordained who will succeed and who will fail and every time anyone happens theres a Deus Ex Machina moment.
Sutcliff is a skillful writer who knows her material but even she couldn't make it work. It is what it is. Probably worth reading before anyone attempts to write their own sword and sorcery for all that you would not do plot and characters like that these days (Thomas Malory got away with it because of his time).
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