Reviews

A Tail of Camelot by Julie Leung

mharrison13's review

We just have too many books right now, and unfortunately this one is the least exciting. We might try it again in a few years. 

arrrgh_schooling's review against another edition

4.0

I enjoyed this story so much more than I expected. It is essentially an Arthurian Legend starring a cast of talking animals. A sort of underground animal version of Camelot, that even has its own knights of the round table. It reminded me quite a bit of Tale of Desperaux, with a touch of Redwall and even a bit of Game of Thrones mixed in for good measure.

This story is filled with great messages - even a very small creature can change the world, girls can be commanders and knights, and when everyone works together, amazing things can happen.

Magic, battles, talking animals, and brave heroes - this story has a little bit of everything and would make for a rollicking good read aloud!

randyribay's review

5.0

Loved this one! A talking animal adventure taking the mantle of REDWALL for a new generation.

imjustcupcake's review against another edition

5.0

Oh my goodness! A Tail of Camelot is so fun and cute!

It doesn't hurt that I am a huge fan of the time period that this book takes place in - the time in Camelot where Arthur is King. I love all the stories and mythology that surrounds this time period and the stories that go with it.

So obviously I really needed to read this book.

And I am so incredibly glad I did!

A Tail of Camelot has two sides of the story that you go long with. The majority of the time you are with the mouse Calib Christopher. Calib is in training to become a Knight of Camelot. Yes, that is right! Calib is a Knight, and he and a bunch of other mice, are training to be Knights! No the humans don't know about this, this is a thing that the mice and other animals do in secret out of the view of the humans.

Calib finds himself in the midst of things when things start happening in the animal part of the court. Things that he cannot stand for and that he must find away to fight against. Sadly, no one wants to listen to poor Calib.

Then, the other person we follow along with, though much less, is Galahad. Galahad is the son of Sir Lancelot and is brand new to the court. He is just a young kid about to start his training to become Knight of Camelot. And he too finds himself up against many hardships and tangled in some sticky stuff that no one wants to listen to him about either.

And so the adventure takes place!

So much fun! I found myself instantly sucked into the story and I couldn't put it down until I was done. I haven't read too many books recently where the animals are the main characters, so that made this read all the more refreshing and different for myself.

I actually didn't expect there to be any parts where we are watching the human part of the story unfold, so that was a nice surprise. And I will admit I had to look up who Galahad was so that I knew what was going on. I haven't read too many stories where Arthur is already the King. Most of them have taken place before all of that has really happened.

The whole story is very imaginative and fantastic. I really felt as though I was on the adventure with the characters and I cannot wait until the next one!

This review is based on an eARC provided by the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. All thoughts and opinions are mine and mine alone.

Find more of my reviews here:
http://readingwithcupcakes.blogspot.com/

jessicamarywrites's review

5.0

Calib Christopher has a lot to live up to starting with the expectations of a prospective knight of Camelot and ending with his family's name. When someone puts his name into the drawing for the Harvest Tournament, the final test to become a true knight, he is forced to participate or be branded a coward and never attain knighthood.

We took a little time getting into the tournament and I was worried the story would be mostly about Calib passing tests. Instead, we see Calib take on an epic journey all his own to save the kingdom and reveal everyone's own prejudices.

Read the rest here http://wp.me/p5Ex0C-1BR (full review will be live on Nov 2, 2016)

shakespeareandspice's review

4.0

Someone please make a movie out of this. It’s just pure joy.

evila_elf's review

4.0

Torn between 3 and 4 stars.

Firstly, whoever decided to make the pages have deckle/uneven edges, I hate you. I had a hard time sometimes turning the pages, which was annoying during the many tense scenes when I needed to get to that next page quickly!

I definitely saw the influence of The Redwall series while reading this book. At first, it seemed intended for very very young readers, much younger than Redwall's. But then, as the battles intensified, things took a surprisingly dark turn. Redwall gave me my love of reading, and love of reading about mouse heroes, and it was actually the reason why I picked this book up. So it was a nice surprise to see the influences scattered around.

This book takes quite a different turn than we begin with, with a competition that Calib mouse is afraid to participate in. I am actually a little disappointed that there was no conclusion to the tournament, though that would probably add to the cheese factor of the ending (pun not intended).

I think perhaps it might have been better told just from Calib's POV, instead of going along with the two-leggers.

And to find there are more in this series! I might have to take a peek at them. I did enjoy this book.