Review Summaries

• Readers appreciate the skillful reinterpretation of myth and the way the book treats legend as a matter of narrative power rather than heroics. Its gaps and shifts in voice are often read as part of its unsettling quality.

Reviews

• 美しい物語。

  アーサー王の伝説がいかにして作られたか、という想像上の物語。歴史的な栄光の影にある暗くて、汚くて、悍ましい現実と、そこから紡ぎ出される美しいアーサー王という伝説、そこから物語とは何か？という普遍的な問題を考えさせられます。アーサー王関連の物語としての必読書となってもいいのではないかといつも思っています。

• Another thrilling story from philip reeve. Beautiful prose coupled with a compelling story. He pulls no punches in demonstrating the brutal realities of life in the Dark Ages. The plot bears enough similarities with the legends to be recognisable, but has twists of its own to keep you guessing. The writing is fresh and evocative. His take on Merlin as Arthur's chief spin doctor gives a stark relevancy to the story, affording easy comparisons with the machinations and cynicism of today's political figures. After the fantastic Mortal Engines books and the charming and funny Larklight, Philip Reeve is fast becoming my favourite author.

• As other reviewers have stated, there are an abundance of Arthurian historical novels--and despite that, this one is unique. Having read at least a dozen, Here Lies Arthur is one of my top 3. It's so good that it merits review from several angles: (1) Reviewing it analytically, it's a clever example of deconstructing mythology, and it's exemplary in terms of historical research, and the language is well wrought. (2) Reviewing it as a young adult novel, it illustrates virtue without preaching, illustrates how one can see through lies and propaganda while still retaining faith in humanity, and enables readers to understand the fluidity of gender. (3) Reviewing it emotionally, I laughed, cried, groaned, and finally cheered--in short, the book drew me fully into an early Medieval setting and caused me to care deeply for its protagonists. Also worthy of note, the obligatory scene (dramatic finale) does not involve a violent show down--the major turning points of the story involve human relationships and emotions, so the narrative is engaging without needing to be action packed. If you enjoy historical/ medieval / Arthurian fiction, this is a must-read.

• Synopsis: Here Lies Arthur is an alternative take on the Arthurian legend, centering on the adventures of a young English girl named Gwynna. Made homeless when the Arthur of legend and his war band sack the homestead of her lord, she flees the battle and is later rescued in the woods by Myrddin, a bard who serves Arthur as an advisor and magician. Myrddin, a man who is agnostic by nature, uses Gwynna to masquerade as the lady of the lake and then raises her as a boy through the early part of her life. Gwynna watches the exploits of Arthur as she grows up, contrasting the rough, brutal man with the heroic stories Myrddin creates about him. The book ultimately follows her adventures and how they are intertwined with the legend of Arthur. Review Written by Philip Reeve, the author of the notable and very odd, Mortal Engines (The Hungry City Chronicles) science fiction series, Here Lies Arthur was originally published in England in 2007 to good reviews and a few awards. It now has made its way across the pond and has been published in the United States. Unlike many of the fantasy style recountings of the Arthurian saga, Reeve chooses a realistic approach, framing the Arthurian saga in a more realistic world, made with politics and rough men who fit the period. Presented in the first person as narrated by the girl Gwynna, there is no magic in this story aside from that which Myrddin makes reference to in the many tall tales he tells to help establish Arthur as a hero. Arthur himself is a rough and mostly non-heroic personage, who gains fame not through his own actions, but through the stories spun by Myrddin. Myrddin, who hopes to find a leader to unite England to stave off the depredations of the lawless world around them, is a charlatan with a ruthless nature. He only rescues Gwynna because she might serve a useful purpose to that effect. This is not the heroic tale of old, but a story of flawed men in a brutal world. Reeve is a good writer. His style is solid and readable, and this book certainly is well written enough to keep one's attention. I have a few quibbles with his choice to switch from past tense to present tense on occasion. It breaks the flow of the story and seems to serve no purpose. But I suppose it was an artistic conceit. I've always found the realistic take on legends to be an interesting artistic device. Reeve is not the first to do this sort of thing, though I think it's the first time I've seen it done with the Arthurian legend to such depth. And it's a fun tale in some regards, one which takes the old standards and characters of the legend and puts them into a realistic context. He does a good job of it too. It was fun linking the characters to the legend and seeing what he did with them. That said, I have to admit that a lot of Young Adult fiction leaves me cold these days with its dark take on everything. In this case, it's almost like Reeve wanted to throw cold water onto all of the mythic and magical Arthurian legends by painting Arthur as much of a brutal product of his era as he possibly could. There is an underlying depressed tone to the whole tale, filled with the cynicism of its main character. The whole bent of the tale is that heroes are never what the legends say they are and that stories have more power than real people do. It's not really a worldview I subscribe to entirely, though I suppose it does have some truth to it. In any case, if one is willing to overlook the tone of the novel, it is quite readable and somewhat entertaining. Reeve's fresh take on a well known legend will definitely appeal to a lot of readers.

• A good book for late teen or adult. Well written and moorish, read one and you're hooked. It is fantasy but you want to

• I won't give anything away here about the plot, but share what it leaves me with. The book is unexpected, covering an old legend from a refreshing angle. In this book you find issues about self-identity, self confidence, belief systems, gender roles, lies, propaganda, greed and war. Very relevant in these troubling times. It also exposes sweetly ideas about love, tenderness, yearning, compromise, patience, rites of passage and forgiveness. A short book which is very enjoyable indeed. To label this as a "young adult" book is pigeonholing it. I'm no young adult and I found it resonated with me well.

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