A Book Review: Lancelot
Title of the Book: Lancelot
Author: Giles Kristian
Publisher: Corgi Books
Publication Date: 2nd of May 2019 (First published 31st of May 2018)
Genre: Historical Fiction, Adventure
Why I picked up this book:
The Arthurian Legend, the stories of the Knights of the round table, are what a lot of us grew up with. Admittedly, as I wasn’t raised in the British Isles where this legend originates, I might have come later to it then some. It wasn’t until I saw ‘The Sword in the Stone’ by Disney when I was about 9 or 10 years old, but I was fascinated all the same.
I think a lot of us are. Why else would children still be running around with branches, pretending to be great knights, brandishing their make-belief swords at fierce dragons and rescuing damsels in distress, clamouring for days gone past, of mead and murder. Not that they have any idea what that would mean.
It’s a longing for adventure, for accomplishments that go well beyond our modern-day comprehension. Changing the tire on your car simply does not have the same gravitas as vanquishing a fearsome foe. So we read about it, we thirst for each new re-telling, casting ourselves alongside the heroes of days gone past.
About the Author:
Giles has led a varied life, to say the least. During the 90s he was the lead singer of pop group Upside Down, achieving four top twenty hit records. As a singer-songwriter, he lived and toured for two years in Europe and has made music videos all over the world, from Prague, Miami, Mexico and the Swiss Alps. To fund his writing habit, he has worked as a model, appearing in TV commercials and ads.
Family history (he is half Norwegian) inspired Giles to write his first historical novels: the acclaimed and bestselling RAVEN Viking trilogy. For his next series, he drew on a long-held fascination with the English Civil War to chart the fortunes of a family divided by this brutal conflict in The Bleeding Land and Brothers’ Fury. In The Rise of Sigurd novels – God of Vengeance (a TIMES Book of the Year), Winter’s Fire, and Wings of the Storm – he returned to the world of the Vikings to tell the story of Sigurd and his celebrated fictional fellowship.
Giles is currently hard at work on his next novel, Far Wanderer, a contemporary survival thriller set in Arctic Norway, due for publication in 2022.
Synopsis:
The legions of Rome are a fading memory. Enemies stalk the fringes of Britain. And Uther Pendragon is dying. Into this fractured and uncertain world, the boy is cast, a refugee from fire, murder and betrayal. An outsider whose only companions are a hateful hawk and memories of the lost.
Yet he is gifted, and under the watchful eyes of Merlin and the Lady Nimue he will hone his talents and begin his journey to manhood. He will meet Guinevere, a wild, proud and beautiful girl, herself outcast because of her gift. And he will be dazzled by Arthur, a warrior who carries the hopes of a people like fire in the dark. But these are times of struggle and blood when even friendship and love seem doomed to fail.
The gods are vanishing beyond the reach of dreams. Treachery and jealousy rule men’s hearts and the fate of Britain itself rests on a sword’s edge.
But the young renegade who left his home in Benoic with just a hunting bird and dreams of revenge is now a lord of war. He is a man loved and hated, admired and feared. A man forsaken but not forgotten. He is Lancelot.
Review of the Book:
The legend of Arthur has been told and re-told times beyond count. At times romantic, or scrubbed clean for the entertainment of youngsters. While others chose a more historical approach. Giles Kristian certainly leans towards the latter. This is not the fairy tale of the round table, where heroes are unbeatable, where magic will always be there to save the day, where those we love will ride into the sunset and live happily ever after.
This is a tale of lust and grit, of spending countless nights huddled under furs as you shiver on a winter’s night. A tale of mistakes made and penance paid. A tale of love and betrayal so utterly believable it takes you for a ride.
By casting Lancelot, not young king Arthur as the narrator and vocal point of the story, Kristian awards us with a unique view of the events. We follow the young prince, who would one day become the stuff of legends, from his early moments. A second son to a war-lord king across the narrow sea. He is robbed of all before we have time to get to know him, yet through this misfortune, we are awarded a unique insight into Lancelot’s mind. A mind we’ll soon become familiar with, we’ll soon emphasize with. A fiercely loyal companion, caught in a love-triangle perhaps only his own making through youthful naivety. His soul forever snatched by the one woman he could not have, Guinevere.
Gone are the days where most, if not all of Arthur’s misfortune are thrown at her feet. Kristian instead, offers us a Guinevere who is a fierce, pragmatic, level-headed and utterly magical woman. One who would have no equal in this story. One who all would fall in love with, not just Lancelot, not just Arthur.
Lancelot has an immense story to tell and Kristian channelled it well. The characters have a depth that is often lacking in historical fiction. The plot is tantalizing enough to keep you hanging on to every last word. The realism, the historical facts impregnated with just enough mystique to leave you wondering. The result is unique. I cannot wait to read more books by Giles Kristian’s hand. He’s gained another fan.
What are your thoughts? Did Lancelot leave you battle-weary and with broken resolve, or are you ready to take up arms against the Saxons and beat back these foreign invaders? Let me know in the comment sections below and, until then – just one more page!