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songwind's review
4.0
I enjoy well done remixes and extensions of classic tales, and with only a few exceptions, Maurice Broaddus has done that with the Arthur legends.
I started this book believing it to be a retelling of the story in a new setting. I quickly realized that wasn't the case after all. The events we all know from Mallory, White and others are referenced here and there in the narrative. They happened. Instead, King Maker posits a cyclic story that arises repeatedly as the conditions are right.
In the first chapter alone we see old friends' new forms - Luther White (Uther), (The) Green (Knight), Morgana (la Fey), Merle (Merlin), etc. White, a powerful street lord, has a son, King. He also has a tryst with Morgana and fathers another, before he's killed by Green and by treachery.
Some time passes, and we learn than the situation has changed. Green remains a lieutenant to a man called Night (Gwyn ap Nudd, maybe?). They are opposed by Luther's unacknowledged son, Dred. King, after a flirtation with thuggishness in his youth has stepped out of it, spending his time more with Wayne, a social worker and general do-gooder who's come up out of the same neighborhood.
The book's plot deals mostly with machinations between Dred and Night, though they have consequences for King, Wayne, and other characters. It's not until close to the end of the book that circumstances, fate, and crazy ol' Merle have convinced King that he needs to step up and protect Breton Court from the two gang lords.
The only real downside to the book for me was the writing, which was inconsistent. In many ways it was excellent; Broaddus uses different authorial voices depending on the POV characters, bringing them even more to life. At the same time, there were instances of pointlessly complex sentences, missing verbs, and other poor construction.
Still, those issues were infrequent enough to avoid making the book unpleasant. Broaddus' deft intermingling of straight and gang life, magic, and the fey made for a compelling read. The Arthurian underpinnings provided a strong foundation. Deviations from the story and the addition of crime and horror elements prevented it from feeling stale or rehashed.
I look forward to reading the second book in the series.
I started this book believing it to be a retelling of the story in a new setting. I quickly realized that wasn't the case after all. The events we all know from Mallory, White and others are referenced here and there in the narrative. They happened. Instead, King Maker posits a cyclic story that arises repeatedly as the conditions are right.
In the first chapter alone we see old friends' new forms - Luther White (Uther), (The) Green (Knight), Morgana (la Fey), Merle (Merlin), etc. White, a powerful street lord, has a son, King. He also has a tryst with Morgana and fathers another, before he's killed by Green and by treachery.
Some time passes, and we learn than the situation has changed. Green remains a lieutenant to a man called Night (Gwyn ap Nudd, maybe?). They are opposed by Luther's unacknowledged son, Dred. King, after a flirtation with thuggishness in his youth has stepped out of it, spending his time more with Wayne, a social worker and general do-gooder who's come up out of the same neighborhood.
The book's plot deals mostly with machinations between Dred and Night, though they have consequences for King, Wayne, and other characters. It's not until close to the end of the book that circumstances, fate, and crazy ol' Merle have convinced King that he needs to step up and protect Breton Court from the two gang lords.
The only real downside to the book for me was the writing, which was inconsistent. In many ways it was excellent; Broaddus uses different authorial voices depending on the POV characters, bringing them even more to life. At the same time, there were instances of pointlessly complex sentences, missing verbs, and other poor construction.
Still, those issues were infrequent enough to avoid making the book unpleasant. Broaddus' deft intermingling of straight and gang life, magic, and the fey made for a compelling read. The Arthurian underpinnings provided a strong foundation. Deviations from the story and the addition of crime and horror elements prevented it from feeling stale or rehashed.
I look forward to reading the second book in the series.
strayfe_angel's review
4.0
Always a sucker for Arthur Mythos - can't believe it's taken this long to get to the top of my read pile.
This book is gorgeous, in a dark and horrible way. It reads like a nightmare that is lush and decadent, while being set in squats and under bridges. Even those characters at the *top* of the hierarchy, live in conditions that most people wouldn't consider a basic standard of living.
I highly recommend this as a read that will shake you up a little and maybe pull you out of any comfort soon you might be in regarding Urban Fantasy.
I have some issues with the culture of the book and the relationship with women portrayed - It's hard out there for a ho... but it's not an issue with the writer - it's written beautifully - it's just that hard attitude and world view of the slice that is being written about really couldn't be portrayed any other way. Not and work or be realistic - but it is sort of depressing.
I have a lot of love for King, Lady G, Merle, Wayne - and a host of side characters that have relevant roles in the unfolding of the tale. Sometimes scenes jumped in a way that I had to figure out where I was - but I'm not sure if that was the formatting issue mentioned below or an authorial issue (or even just a me issue.)
Still gets a Bravo! from me as even with any *figurin* I might have had to do - still worth it. Can't wait to read Book 2.
Nit Picks:
The kindle edition I bought had some formatting problems that have been reported - so hopefully those get fixed - nothing major - some spacing issues that caused paragraphs with dialogue and end and beginning to get thrown together.
This book is gorgeous, in a dark and horrible way. It reads like a nightmare that is lush and decadent, while being set in squats and under bridges. Even those characters at the *top* of the hierarchy, live in conditions that most people wouldn't consider a basic standard of living.
I highly recommend this as a read that will shake you up a little and maybe pull you out of any comfort soon you might be in regarding Urban Fantasy.
I have some issues with the culture of the book and the relationship with women portrayed - It's hard out there for a ho... but it's not an issue with the writer - it's written beautifully - it's just that hard attitude and world view of the slice that is being written about really couldn't be portrayed any other way. Not and work or be realistic - but it is sort of depressing.
I have a lot of love for King, Lady G, Merle, Wayne - and a host of side characters that have relevant roles in the unfolding of the tale. Sometimes scenes jumped in a way that I had to figure out where I was - but I'm not sure if that was the formatting issue mentioned below or an authorial issue (or even just a me issue.)
Still gets a Bravo! from me as even with any *figurin* I might have had to do - still worth it. Can't wait to read Book 2.
Nit Picks:
The kindle edition I bought had some formatting problems that have been reported - so hopefully those get fixed - nothing major - some spacing issues that caused paragraphs with dialogue and end and beginning to get thrown together.
zoe_e_w's review
5.0
Imagine the legend of King Arthur told in a modern era, and set against a complex gangland turf war as a backdrop. King Maker is the first book in the series The Knights of Breton Court, though in this first installment it spends a great deal of time detailing the decay of the neighborhood created by the warring gang factions.
There are early hints of magic from the start, with the appearance of a nature elemental as well as a homeless guy named Merle prognosticating for Luther White. The story quickly shifts to the present day. Very little of the story follows King James White, son of Luther and heir apparent to the “kingdom,” though he doesn’t yet know it.
Instead, the reader is guided through the various street crews run by rival gang leaders Night and Dred. Neither care much for King, but instead of provoking him directly, the leaders choose to vie for the prime dealing locations in the various neighborhoods.
With Dred’s crew lacking the strength to take on Night, Dred hires a pair of trolls to work as extra muscle. This makes his crew feel inferior, and it inspires them into some reckless and stupid behavior to “look hard,” resulting in an escalating war.
Add to this a fey, a few magi, a dragon, the cops, drive-bys, tainted drugs, and you get a complex tale that moves at a breakneck pace.
The aforementioned knights are slow to react to the war in their hood, so their lives are like various subplots to the core plot of the war itself. This is not the story of how the heroes save the day so much as how the villains destroyed themselves. Which is not to say the Knights don’t get their chance to develop. They do, but these are brief glimpses of their lives in the midst of a war.
This is a solid introduction with a blazing pace, whetting the appetite for future installments. Though it’s a serious book, there are moments of humor that help lighten the mood at just the right times. (“I love her like a big-tittied play cousin at a family reunion.”) The conclusion is satisfying, and it opens up new threads to be pursued in the second book, King’s Justice. I know I’ll be standing in line to pick up that second book, and I give King Maker a full 5 stars.
There are early hints of magic from the start, with the appearance of a nature elemental as well as a homeless guy named Merle prognosticating for Luther White. The story quickly shifts to the present day. Very little of the story follows King James White, son of Luther and heir apparent to the “kingdom,” though he doesn’t yet know it.
Instead, the reader is guided through the various street crews run by rival gang leaders Night and Dred. Neither care much for King, but instead of provoking him directly, the leaders choose to vie for the prime dealing locations in the various neighborhoods.
With Dred’s crew lacking the strength to take on Night, Dred hires a pair of trolls to work as extra muscle. This makes his crew feel inferior, and it inspires them into some reckless and stupid behavior to “look hard,” resulting in an escalating war.
Add to this a fey, a few magi, a dragon, the cops, drive-bys, tainted drugs, and you get a complex tale that moves at a breakneck pace.
The aforementioned knights are slow to react to the war in their hood, so their lives are like various subplots to the core plot of the war itself. This is not the story of how the heroes save the day so much as how the villains destroyed themselves. Which is not to say the Knights don’t get their chance to develop. They do, but these are brief glimpses of their lives in the midst of a war.
This is a solid introduction with a blazing pace, whetting the appetite for future installments. Though it’s a serious book, there are moments of humor that help lighten the mood at just the right times. (“I love her like a big-tittied play cousin at a family reunion.”) The conclusion is satisfying, and it opens up new threads to be pursued in the second book, King’s Justice. I know I’ll be standing in line to pick up that second book, and I give King Maker a full 5 stars.
david_agranoff's review against another edition
4.0
This is an excellent and original first novel of urban fantasy, with dark horrific over tones. King maker is most easily described as King Arthur's court in reset in the ganglands of Indianapolis. Having grown up an hour south of Indianapolis, I grew up going to Indy to go to sporting events, metal and hardcore shows. So I was interested in this novel that took place in a city but familiar and unknown to me.
I think many of my friends who has lived in or around Indianapolis might still feel they have a little to learn about the from the point of view Broaddus provides. I admit I probably enjoyed the geography and local references a lot but there is plenty to like even if you have seen been to Indianapolis.
This book is a origin tale and has the difficult task of setting up characters who stand-in for King Arthur and his knights. Not to mention all the gang riff raff they have to deal with. It was smart to include a chart at the front of the book.
The fantasy elements are pretty restrained, and only appear in small doses until the end of the book, also it sets up the future books having a greater level of fantasy. This worked for me as Broaddus focused his energy on building strong and well defined characters. In this sense the first ¾ of King maker has more in common with The Wire than Excalibur. This is an excellent choice on the author's part because more than most Urban fantasy novels the world felt raw and real.
This is an excellent debut, but it is an origin novel and it's strength lies in strong characters and the road ahead. It's fortunate that Angry Robot has already released books two and three. They are already on my list.
I think many of my friends who has lived in or around Indianapolis might still feel they have a little to learn about the from the point of view Broaddus provides. I admit I probably enjoyed the geography and local references a lot but there is plenty to like even if you have seen been to Indianapolis.
This book is a origin tale and has the difficult task of setting up characters who stand-in for King Arthur and his knights. Not to mention all the gang riff raff they have to deal with. It was smart to include a chart at the front of the book.
The fantasy elements are pretty restrained, and only appear in small doses until the end of the book, also it sets up the future books having a greater level of fantasy. This worked for me as Broaddus focused his energy on building strong and well defined characters. In this sense the first ¾ of King maker has more in common with The Wire than Excalibur. This is an excellent choice on the author's part because more than most Urban fantasy novels the world felt raw and real.
This is an excellent debut, but it is an origin novel and it's strength lies in strong characters and the road ahead. It's fortunate that Angry Robot has already released books two and three. They are already on my list.
jwells's review
Add me to the list of readers who wanted to like this book. As a teenager, I was an insatiable reader of Arthurian retellings, and this one sounded original enough to get me back into them.
However, It suffers from an odd combination of traits. On one hand, there's a lot of gritty violence resulting from its inner city setting. On the other hand, it gets off to a really slow start in terms of actual plot movement. A lot of things happen, but 150 pages in, I'm still not sure what the book is about, or which character I'm supposed to bond to. I'd be more willing to sit through all the gun violence etc., if the plot was really gripping, but unfortunately it's barely there. It's pretty demanding to expect a reader to tolerate a lot of violence and at the same time a slow-moving plot. Those are typically two different kinds of books.
The original Arthurian romance was also set in a time with a lot of violence and grit. In Mallory, people are always getting chopped in half lengthwise. I stayed with the stories because of a spark of hope, idealism, and romance that they had. I need to see that in King Arthur no matter how the setting has changed.
However, It suffers from an odd combination of traits. On one hand, there's a lot of gritty violence resulting from its inner city setting. On the other hand, it gets off to a really slow start in terms of actual plot movement. A lot of things happen, but 150 pages in, I'm still not sure what the book is about, or which character I'm supposed to bond to. I'd be more willing to sit through all the gun violence etc., if the plot was really gripping, but unfortunately it's barely there. It's pretty demanding to expect a reader to tolerate a lot of violence and at the same time a slow-moving plot. Those are typically two different kinds of books.
The original Arthurian romance was also set in a time with a lot of violence and grit. In Mallory, people are always getting chopped in half lengthwise. I stayed with the stories because of a spark of hope, idealism, and romance that they had. I need to see that in King Arthur no matter how the setting has changed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Gun violence, Gore, Cursing, Violence, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Blood, Drug abuse, and Death
Moderate: Infidelity, Grief, and Cursing
misssusan's review against another edition
2.0
Well that was a disappointment. =( I had such high hopes for this book, I was looking forward to it months before it released. I mean a King Arthur retelling set in downtown Indianapolis? Starring a mostly POC cast with the side benefit of a cover model who is not whitewashed and is also pretty smoking hot? SOLD, anticipation levels through the ROOF. But this whole thing was full of what was imo unnecessarily graphic violence and misogyny with no real pay off for making it through. I mean when I read a King Arthur story I expect Arthur to make things better you know? I don't expect to be subjected to scenes of torture and side-eye inducing representations of women while the Arthur figure faffs around the edges occasionally making remarks about his repressed anger and feeling like he's a got a destiny or whatever. Hurry and step it up then King, you need to do a little more to keep my interest than just be the reincarnation of King Arthur. I'm regretting wasting so much time forcing myself through this book hoping it'd get better. Won't be picking up the sequel.
tregina's review against another edition
4.0
This is urban fantasy with a heavy emphasis on "urban"-the official description is "The Wire meets Excalibur" which is true in all of the best ways. King Arthur played out between rival drug dealers on the streets of Indianapolis, magic and mythic elements included. It's kind of glorious, with some wonderfully vivid language.
alyssaarch's review
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
tregina's review
4.0
This is urban fantasy with a heavy emphasis on "urban"-the official description is "The Wire meets Excalibur" which is true in all of the best ways. King Arthur played out between rival drug dealers on the streets of Indianapolis, magic and mythic elements included. It's kind of glorious, with some wonderfully vivid language.
tachyondecay's review
There’s something about the King Arthur legends that fascinate me and tug at my imagination. It’s probably the tragedy of the tale mixed with that message of hope—Arthur’s body spirited away to Avalon to await his return. Merlin is literally the wizard who helps Arthur answer the Call, and I’ve always identified with that archetype on account of my intellectual and autodidactic leanings. So I’m always happy to try a book that attempts to put a new spin on the legend of King Arthur—why not?
Maurice Broaddus deserves commendation for his Knights of Breton Court series. The idea is intriguing: retell (or rather, reimagine) the story of King Arthur as a story of Indianapolis gang warfare. And Broaddus is good at crafting a setting, atmosphere, and characters that all seem authentic. The characters in King Maker run the spectrum: some are not nice at all and have no qualms about using a gun to close a deal; others are more decent and more conflicted about the life they are leading. And because of the way he focuses on Breton Court, Broaddus creates this sense of community within the story that sets the groundwork for connections that would no doubt be important, if I had ever finished the book.
I didn’t even get halfway done. I just couldn’t get into King Maker, try as I might. There’s something to be said for reimagining the Arthur legend or keeping the allusions to it light and subtle—the last thing one needs is a story that hits the reader over the head with allusions to the classic Arthur mythos. Yet Broaddus is almost two subtle. Some things are obvious: Luther is Uther, and his son King is the Arthur analog; Merle is a Merlin figure. But the magic is tentative, almost non-present for what I managed to read of this novel. We get no sense of King’s larger plan, or indeed of anyone else’s plan.
I stopped reading when I realized I had been reading an entire chapter and didn’t know who it was about. There are plenty of characters … but which ones really matter? Which ones are the protagonists? Who should I be cheering for? These are not questions a reader should have to be asking! Obviously King is a protagonist, but he is absent for vicious swathes of the first half of the book, leaving a second string line of characters to take up the slack … and they don’t do it well. King Maker is a soup of scenes and characters that didn’t manage to hold my interest.
It’s conceivable I could return to this after I’m finished my practicum, which has placed constraints on my time that make me less charitable to what I’m reading. But I’ll have to think about it. King Maker isn’t necessarily a bad book; it has some glowing reviews here on Goodreads, so it obviously works for other people. Unfortunately, in my case, it was a clever idea with a payoff that just seemed too far away.
Maurice Broaddus deserves commendation for his Knights of Breton Court series. The idea is intriguing: retell (or rather, reimagine) the story of King Arthur as a story of Indianapolis gang warfare. And Broaddus is good at crafting a setting, atmosphere, and characters that all seem authentic. The characters in King Maker run the spectrum: some are not nice at all and have no qualms about using a gun to close a deal; others are more decent and more conflicted about the life they are leading. And because of the way he focuses on Breton Court, Broaddus creates this sense of community within the story that sets the groundwork for connections that would no doubt be important, if I had ever finished the book.
I didn’t even get halfway done. I just couldn’t get into King Maker, try as I might. There’s something to be said for reimagining the Arthur legend or keeping the allusions to it light and subtle—the last thing one needs is a story that hits the reader over the head with allusions to the classic Arthur mythos. Yet Broaddus is almost two subtle. Some things are obvious: Luther is Uther, and his son King is the Arthur analog; Merle is a Merlin figure. But the magic is tentative, almost non-present for what I managed to read of this novel. We get no sense of King’s larger plan, or indeed of anyone else’s plan.
I stopped reading when I realized I had been reading an entire chapter and didn’t know who it was about. There are plenty of characters … but which ones really matter? Which ones are the protagonists? Who should I be cheering for? These are not questions a reader should have to be asking! Obviously King is a protagonist, but he is absent for vicious swathes of the first half of the book, leaving a second string line of characters to take up the slack … and they don’t do it well. King Maker is a soup of scenes and characters that didn’t manage to hold my interest.
It’s conceivable I could return to this after I’m finished my practicum, which has placed constraints on my time that make me less charitable to what I’m reading. But I’ll have to think about it. King Maker isn’t necessarily a bad book; it has some glowing reviews here on Goodreads, so it obviously works for other people. Unfortunately, in my case, it was a clever idea with a payoff that just seemed too far away.
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